Abstract. This article shows the meaning of the concept of “nothing” in the history of European philosophical cosmogony. The author considers positive natural-philosophical emanationism in early antiquity, the category of “nothing” in the context of emanationism and demiurgism in the Platonic tradition, the Gnostic concept of creation and its correlates in church heterodoxy, as well as the idea of creation from nothing in biblical Christian creationism. The ratio of Gnostic, Platonic and Church cosmology is shown in the context of the interpretation of the category of nothing in these currents. The article provides a critical analysis of the concept of “creation from nothing”. Particular attention is paid to the interpretation of “nothing” in the Gnostic tradition and church heterodoxy. The author shows the interaction of the emanative and demiurgic models in Christian orthodoxy.

Keywords: “nothing” category, creationism, Demiurge, creation from nothing, emanation,

philosophical cosmogony, gnosticism, heterodoxy, Nicholas of Cusa