Abstract

This chapter concerns Chrysostomus Javelli’s discussion of creation in his Quaestiones super Metaphysicam. Javelli promotes a certain reading of the concept of creatio ex nihilo, which according to him – as a faithful Thomist – characterises God’s creation of human souls as well as of the world as a whole. God’s act of creation is manifested in time, yet it does not require pre-existing matter, and hence we may attribute to God creation ex nihilo cum novitate essendi. Javelli arrives at this formula dialectically, as he mentions and criticises several other Thomist authors in the course of his discussion. In addition to reconstructing Javelli’s doctrine regarding creation, the chapter also points to certain curious aspects of his account and offers a hypothesis which allows to contextualise these aspects within Javelli’s overall theoretical edifice.