KJCKorea
Journal Central

Among the texts where <ruach> is used, this study focuses on those in which <ruach> means the Spirit of God. It particularly analyses the meaning of the creation of God among the activities of the Spirit of God. The represented texts in which <ruach> is regarded as the Spirit of Creation in the Old Testament are Genesis 1:2, Psalms 33:6, 104:29- 30, and Isaiah 32:15. The first two texts deal with the Spirit shown in the original creation (creatio prima), and the last two are mentioned in the continuing creation (creatio continua). In Genesis 1:2, the Spirit of God is allusively described as ‘the Spirit of Creation’ that creates the world, cooperating with the Word of God. The Spirit of Creation is the co-worker of the creative Word. Psalm 33:6 clearly shows what is alluded to in Genesis 1:2. The psalmist here elucidates that the Spirit concretely actualizes the creativity of the Word. That is, the Spirit is the power to make the Word an event. In Psalm 104:29-30, the Spirit of God as the power that creates life, continuously creates and renews all lives in the world. That is, the Spirit is the Spirit that consistently creates life. In Isaiah 32:15, the Spirit of God works not only within human beings but also in the natural world. The Spirit of God is the power that renews history, and it is the Spirit that restores the first world, which God saw as very good.

ruach, the Spirit of Creation, creatio prima, the original creation, creatio continua, the continuing creation, Genesis 1:2