WLC On Creatio Ex Nihilo, or Why Christians Should Consider A Panentheistic Model of God

William Lane Craig discusses Creatio Ex Nihilo. He brings up several issues that highlight the mystery of the 'source' of the material universe. He uses Beethoven's 5th Symphony, for example, as an analogy to try and describe the relationship between God and the Universe. Consider Beethoven's symphony: it's contingent on Beethoven (he composed/created it) but you can't say it exists, let's say, as notes penciled in on the pages of a music sheet. So, Beethoven highlights the example of an efficient cause (he created a symphony) absent any material cause (the symphony doesn't 'exist' somewhere, rather "instances" of it appear, or exemplars, according to Craig), and this is supposed to be analogous to God himself being the efficient cause of the Universe. But one might ask if Beethoven is only the efficient cause, from whence does the sound of music arise in my ears? Likewise, God is sufficiently powerful to 'efficiently' cause the Universe to come into existence. Granted. But from whence arises the "material" Universe?

I say the Bible teaches that God himself is the source of the material world. See Romans 11:36 and Acts 17:24-29.

Original Video Source: ReasonableFaith.org Youtube Page

Doctrine of God: Excursus on Natural Theology Part 8: The Kalam Cosmological Argument

https://youtu.be/585Bl_tSipA