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[Alexandr Korol]

“Demiurge in Christian Theology.

In Christian theology the term demiurge (along with the appellations “Maker,” “Creator,” “Artist,” “Poet” — Gr. ποιητής) characterizes God as the Creator and Arranger of all that exists. At the same time God may be called Demiurge not only in relation to the creation of the world out of nothing, but also in the case of the creation of this or that being out of previously existing material. In patristic literature the term Demiurge was used both in relation to God in general and in relation to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit separately, as well as to all the persons of the Holy Trinity together, since “the whole Trinity is the One who has made and created.” In patristic theology there existed a stable conception that since the Son as the Word of God brings into execution the creative plan or will of the Father concerning the world, the name Demiurge befits Him first of all. This view was clearly expressed by St. Basil the Great (330 — 379), who in creation distinguished “the Father as the predestining cause of beings, the Son — as the demiurgic, and the Holy Spirit — as the perfecting one.” At the same time the saint emphasized that the endowment of God the Word with demiurgic functions is determined exclusively by the will of the Father. The term Demiurge in patristic theology could occasionally be applied to man and angel, but only in the sense of “author,” “source,” “cause.””