Some teach that the opening verse(s) of Genesis delineate(s) five elements necessary to fully describe material creation. One version of this teaching asserts that Gen. 1:1 reveals:
A variant of this theme (and possibly where it all started) goes like this:
Just as creation was accomplished by a triune (threefold) Godhead, we exist within a threefold (not fivefold) universe, generally referred to as a "mass-space-time" continuum. Each constituent of this continuum is also triune. Time is identified in terms of past, present, and future. Space is identified in terms of length, width, and height. Matter is identified in terms of quantity (how much), quality (what kind), and physical state (solid, liquid or vapor).
The "fivefold" theories fail to distinguish God and his actions from the material universe he created. It is true that Gen. 1:1 describes all material creation in terms of time (in the beginning), space (heavens), and mass (earth). But, God is above and beyond creation, so it is not proper to equate the eternal God with energy or his divine actions with motion or force. Here's why:
Energy: As Einstein explained, energy and mass are equivalent, or different forms of the same thing. They are related by the famous equation: E=mc2 (Energy = mass x speed of light squared). The first law of thermodynamics (conservation of mass and energy) states that the sum total of all mass and energy in the universe is constant. Thus, energy is part and parcel of material creation, and only exists as an equivalent of matter, not as a divine attribute. In other words, to say that God had to expend energy to perform the work of creation would limit and reduce him to the level of his creation.
Motion: This simply describes the change in spatial location of matter or energy over time. Action of the Holy Spirit to impart motion to material substance is not equivalent to the motion he thus imparted.
Force: Force represents "the action of one body on another." As stated in Fundamentals of Classical Thermodynamics, Van Wylen and Sonntag, p. 23 (1973), "Force, mass, length and time are related by Newton's second law of motion, which states that the force acting on a body is proportional to the product of its mass and the acceleration in the direction of the force." Thus, force can only exist within the framework of the mass-space-time continuum. It cannot be equated to the act of creation by the living word of God.
As stated in University Physics, Sears and Zemansky, p.
1 (1970), "It has been found possible to express all the
quantities of mechanics in terms of only three indefinables.
Length [aspect of space] and time are two of the indefinables
of mechanics. The third may be taken to be 'mass' or 'force' with
equal justification. We shall choose mass as the third indefinable
of mechanics." In other words, the creation is triune (threefold),
not fivefold.
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