Against Heresies: Book II
Chapter 2: The world was not created by angels or any other being against the will of the almighty God, but was created by the Father through the Word
Those who say that the world was formed by angels or by any other creator against the will of the Supreme Father are mistaken, especially in claiming that angels created such a vast and mighty universe against the will of the Most High God. This would suggest that angels were more powerful than God; or if not, that God was either careless, inferior, or paid no attention to the events within His own creation, regardless of whether they were good or bad, preventing the bad and praising and rejoicing over the good. But if one would not ascribe such behavior even to a capable human, how much less to God?
Next, let them tell us whether these things have been formed within the limits set by Him, and in His proper territory, or in regions belonging to others and lying beyond Him. But if they say these things were done beyond Him, then all the absurdities mentioned before will confront them, and the Supreme God will be enclosed by that which is beyond Him, in which it will also be necessary for Him to find His end. On the other hand, if these things were done within His own proper territory, it would be very pointless to say that the world was formed in His territory against His will by angels who are themselves under His power, or by any other being, as if He Himself did not see all things happening in His own domain, or was not aware of the things to be done by angels.
If, however, these things were not done against His will, but with His agreement and knowledge, as some think, then the angels or the Former of the world will no longer be the causes of that formation, but the will of God. For if He is the Former of the world, He also made the angels or was at least the cause of their creation; and He will be seen as having made the world by preparing the causes of its formation.
Even though they claim that the angels were made through a long succession or that the Former of the world came from the Supreme Father, as Basilides asserts, the cause of those created things will still be traced to Him who was the Author of such a succession. The situation is just like success in war, which is attributed to the king who prepared the factors leading to victory; similarly, the creation of any state or work is credited to him who prepared the materials for achieving those results.
Therefore, we do not say that it was the axe that cut the wood or the saw that divided it; rather, we rightly say that the man cut and divided it who created the axe and the saw for this purpose, and created much earlier all the tools by which the axe and the saw themselves were made. Justly, therefore, following this line of reasoning, the Father of all will be declared the Former of this world, and not the angels or any other so-called former, other than He who was its Author and was the original cause of the preparation for this kind of creation.
This way of speaking might seem persuasive to those who do not know God, who compare Him to needy humans, and to those who cannot create anything immediately and without help but need many tools to make what they intend. However, it will not seem probable to those who know that God needs nothing and that He created and made all things by His Word. He did this without needing angels to help Him or relying on any power inferior to Himself and ignorant of the Father, nor on any defect or ignorance, so that one who knows Him might become man. Instead, He Himself, in a way we cannot describe or understand, predestined all things, forming them as He pleased, giving harmony to all things, and assigning them their place and the beginning of their creation. In this way, He gave spiritual things a spiritual and invisible nature, celestial things a celestial nature, angels an angelic nature, animals an animal nature, creatures that swim a nature suited to water, and those that live on land a nature suited to the land. In short, He gave all a nature suitable to their assigned way of life, forming all things by His Word that never tires.
This is a unique aspect of God's supreme power: He doesn't need any other tools to create things that are called into being. His own Word is both suitable and enough to form everything, just as John, the disciple of the Lord, says about Him: “All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made.” Among these “all things,” our world must be included. Therefore, it was also made by His Word, as Scripture tells us in Genesis that He made everything related to our world by His Word. David expresses the same truth when he says, “For He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created.” Whom, then, should we trust regarding the creation of the world—these heretics who speak so foolishly and inconsistently about the subject, or the disciples of the Lord, and Moses, who was both a faithful servant of God and a prophet? Moses first described the formation of the world in these words: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” and then all other things followed; but neither gods nor angels had any part in the work.
Now, that this God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul the apostle also has declared, saying, "There is one God, the Father, who is above all, and through all things, and in us all." I have indeed already proven that there is only one God; but I shall further demonstrate this from the apostles themselves, and from the teachings of the Lord. For what kind of behavior would it be if we were to abandon the words of the prophets, of the Lord, and of the apostles, in order to pay attention to these people, who do not speak a word of sense?