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Who Created God?
Christians say God did not begin, so the question treats him as a creature. Psalm 90 says from everlasting to everlasting he is God, and John 1 says the Word was God and all things were made by him.
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Nobody created God, on the Christian claim. God is the one who did not begin, the one on whom everything that begins depends. Psalm 90:2Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Psalms 90:2 · King James VersionOpen source says that from everlasting to everlasting, he is God.
Key points
- “Who created God?” treats God as one more thing that started. Christians say he did not start.
- Psalm 90:2
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Psalms 90:2 · King James VersionOpen source says that before the mountains, from everlasting to everlasting, God is God. - Isaiah 43:10
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isaiah 43:10 · King James VersionOpen source says that before the LORD no God was formed, and there will be none after him. - John 1:1–31:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:2The same was in the beginning with God.
1:3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:1–3 · King James VersionOpen source says the Word was God, and that all things were made by him. - Acts 17:24–2517:24
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
17:25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Acts 17:24–25 · King James VersionOpen source says God made the world and is not served by human hands as though he needed anything. - The Westminster Confession says there is one living and true God, infinite and eternal, and that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, not made. (6)
- Whether Jesus was created is What Is the Incarnation? and Is Jesus the Creator or a Creature?.
Why the question asks about a beginning
A cause is the right question to ask of whatever begins. A house has a builder. A person has parents. If God is not that kind of thing, “who made him?” has already decided that he began, and then asks for the maker.
Christians do not say God is an older object inside the universe. Does God Exist? is that claim: everything that exists depends on a God who is not one more thing. The sentence people sometimes put beside it is plain. Whatever begins to exist has a cause. The universe is the kind of thing that can be asked about a beginning. God, on this confession, is not.
That is not a laboratory result. It is the shape of the claim. If the claim is wrong, the question “who created God?” is a fair way to say so. If the claim is right, the question has changed the subject.
What the Bible says about a beginning
Psalm 90:2Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Psalms 90:2 · King James VersionOpen source, King James Version:
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Psalms 90:2 · King James Version
Isaiah 40:28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
Isaiah 40:28 · King James VersionOpen source calls him the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, who does not faint. Isaiah 43:10Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isaiah 43:10 · King James VersionOpen source says that before him no God was formed, and none will be after him. Isaiah 44:24Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Isaiah 44:24 · King James VersionOpen source says he stretches out the heavens alone.
John 1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source says that in the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God. John 1:3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:3 · King James VersionOpen source says all things were made by him, and without him nothing was made that was made. The Word is not listed among the things that were made.
Acts 17:24–2517:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
17:25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Acts 17:24–25 · King James VersionOpen source says God made the world and everything in it, that he is Lord of heaven and earth, and that he is not worshipped with men’s hands as though he needed anything, because he gives life and breath and all things. A God who needs a creator would be a God who needed something he did not have. That sentence says the opposite.
Genesis 1:1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source says that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The verse starts with God already there.
What a careful atheist is saying
A careful atheist is not required to grant an eternal mind and then ask who built it. They can say the cause question stops wherever a person decides to stop. If God does not need a cause, they ask why the universe does. If every explanation needs a further explanation, stopping at God is a choice, not a discovery. Some say the public evidence does not justify the God Christians describe at all.
That is a real position. It is stated, in the words of atheist organizations, on What Do Atheists Believe? and What Do Atheists Argue against God?. Suffering is the problem of evil. This page does not put a quotation in their mouths beyond those pages.
What a confession says the Son is
The Westminster Confession of Faith, on the Orthodox Presbyterian Church site, chapter 2: (6)
There is but one only, living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute.
The same chapter says the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding, and that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father. “Eternally begotten” is that confession’s way of saying the Son has no start. It is not a sentence that the Son was made.
Was Jesus created?
Colossians 1:15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Colossians 1:15 · King James VersionOpen source calls the Son the firstborn of every creature. Colossians 1:16–171:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Colossians 1:16–17 · King James VersionOpen source says that by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, and that he is before all things. John 1:3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:3 · King James VersionOpen source says nothing that was made was made without him. A reader who thinks “firstborn” means “first creature” is reading a real word. The same paragraph says the creatures were made by him.
Jehovah’s Witnesses read that paragraph as creation of a creature, and their New World Translation prints “all other things.” That reading, and the Greek beside the King James, is Is Jesus the Creator or a Creature? and What Does “Firstborn of All Creation” Mean?. The Christian claim that the Son took a human nature and remained God is What Is the Incarnation?.
The Qur’an, in Saheeh International, says that God is one, that he neither begets nor is born, and that there is none comparable to him — Qur’an 112:1–41 Say, "He is Allāh, [who is] One,
2 Allāh, the Eternal Refuge.
3 He neither begets nor is born,
4 Nor is there to Him any equivalent."
Qur’an 112:1-4 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source. That is a denial that God has an origin, and also a denial that he has a son. Can God Have a Son? and Tawhid and Christian Monotheism put those sentences beside John. What Hindus say about God is What Do Hindus Believe? and How Many Gods Are in Hinduism?. This page did not fetch a Hindu verse on who created God.
Frequently asked questions
What did God do before he created the world?
Psalm 90:2Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Psalms 90:2 · King James VersionOpen source says he is God from everlasting to everlasting. Acts 17:25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Acts 17:25 · King James VersionOpen source says he does not need anything, because he gives life and breath. The Bible does not narrate a schedule of activities before the first day in Genesis 1.
Who saw God first?
Exodus 33:20And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
Exodus 33:20 · King James VersionOpen source says no man shall see God’s face and live. John 1:18No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
John 1:18 · King James VersionOpen source says no man has seen God at any time, and that the only begotten Son has declared him. Those verses do not name a first person who saw God.
Which sin will God never forgive?
Mark 3:29But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
Mark 3:29 · King James VersionOpen source says that whoever blasphemes against the Holy Ghost has never forgiveness. The verse names that sin. It does not give a second list.
Is 777 God’s number?
This page did not find a verse that calls 777 God’s number. Revelation 13:18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Revelation 13:18 · King James VersionOpen source says the number of the beast is six hundred threescore and six.
Who created Jesus?
John 1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source says the Word was God in the beginning. Westminster says the Son is eternally begotten of the Father. (6) The taking of a human nature is the incarnation. Matthew 1 and Luke 1 are the birth from Mary, not the origin of the Son.
Who created the universe?
Genesis 1:1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source says God created the heaven and the earth. John 1:3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:3 · King James VersionOpen source says all things were made by the Word. Can Christians Believe in Evolution? is the churches’ disagreement about the days and the age, not about whether God is the Creator.
Is it a sin to ask who created God?
The question is the subject of this page. Psalm 13:1How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
Psalms 13:1 · King James VersionOpen source asks God how long he will forget. Asking is already in the Psalms. The problem of evil is the protest against suffering.
Keep reading
References
- Book of Psalms, 90:2
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Psalms 90:2 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Book of Isaiah, 40:28; 43:10
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
Isaiah 40:28 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Gospel of John, 1:1–31:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:2The same was in the beginning with God.
1:3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:1–3 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Acts of the Apostles, 17:24–2517:24
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
17:25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Acts 17:24–25 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Letter to the Colossians, 1:15–171:15
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
1:16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
1:17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Colossians 1:15–17 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Westminster Confession of Faith, 2.1; 2.3 (The Orthodox Presbyterian Church publishes this English text. Chapter 2 is on the same page.)
- Qur’an, 112:1–41
Say, "He is Allāh, [who is] One,
2Allāh, the Eternal Refuge.
3He neither begets nor is born,
4Nor is there to Him any equivalent."
Qur’an 112:1-4 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source (Saheeh International.)
See also
- Does God Exist? — Christians say everything that exists depends on God, who is not one more object inside the world, and they point to what has been made and to Jesus.
- The Problem of Evil — Scripture records the protest against suffering. Christians answer from the cross and the resurrection, and they do not itemize a reason for each horror.
- Can Christians Believe in Evolution? — Christians confess that God created the heavens and the earth and made humans in his image. They do not agree on the age of the earth or on the means.
- Do Buddhists Believe in God? Is Buddhism a Religion? — The Buddha’s first sermon, in Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s translation, does not confess a creator. It teaches the end of further becoming. Christians confess the God who made the world.
- Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? — Is Allah the same God? Muslims and Christians both confess one Creator, the God of Abraham. They do not confess the same account of who that God is: Christians say Jesus is God, and the Qur'an denies it.