Preface to English Edition; Foreword; Some English Translations of Foreign Books Cited in the Notes; 1. The Problem of the Creation of the World in Hellenistic Judaism and EariyChristianity before the Gnostic Crisis in the Second Century; 2. The Question of the Origin of the World in Christian Gnosticism; 3. The Creation of the World in Basilides and the Valentinians; 4. Christian and Platonist Cosmology; 5. The Church Doctrine of Creatio Ex Nibilo; Recapitulation; Editions of Ancient Texts; Index of Biblical References; Index of Ancient Authors and Sources; Index of Modern Authors
Summary
A unique study challenging the assumption that the doctrine of 'creation out of nothing' was inherited by Christianity along with the Jewish scriptures which the Church adopted
