Editing Creatio ex materia (section)

== Greek philosophy ==
Greek philosophers widely accepted the notion that creation acted on eternally existing, uncreated matter.{{Sfn|Chambers|2021|p=96–103}} [[Parmenides]]' articulation of the dictum that "nothing comes from nothing" is first attested in [[Aristotle]]'s ''[[Physics (Aristotle)|Physics]]'':<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lexundria.com/parm_frag/1-19/grk |title=Parmenides, Fragments 1-19 |publisher=Lexundria.com |access-date=2020-02-04}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|<poem>τί δ᾽ ἄν μιν καὶ χρέος ὦρσεν ὕστερον ἢ πρόσθεν, τοῦ μηδενὸς ἀρξάμενον, φῦν; οὕτως ἢ πάμπαν πελέναι χρεών ἐστιν ἢ οὐχί.</poem>}}

In English translation:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lexundria.com/parm_frag/1-19/b |title=Parmenides, Fragments 1-19 |publisher=Lexundria.com |access-date=2020-02-04}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|<poem> Yet why would it be created later rather than sooner, if it came from nothing; so, it must either be created altogether or not [created at all].</poem>}}Though commonly credited to Parmenides, some historians believe that the dictum instead historically traces back to the [[Milesian philosophers]].{{Sfn|Roecklein|2011|p=37–56}} In any case, Parmenides believed that non-existence could neither give rise to existence (genesis), nor could something that exists cease to exist (perishing). That which does not exist has no causal powers, and therefore could not give rise to something.{{Sfn|Mumford|2021|p=8}}

A typical expression of it can be found in the writings of the [[Middle Platonism|Middle Platonist]] [[Plutarch]], which conditions that the structured and formed things that exist now derive from earlier, unformed and unshaped matter. Therefore, the creation act was the process of ordering this unordered matter.{{Sfn|Young|1991|p=139–140}}

The Roman poet and [[Epicureanism|Epicurean]] philosopher [[Lucretius]] expressed this principle in his first book of ''[[De rerum natura]]'' (''On the Nature of Things'') (1.149–214). According to his argument, if something could come from nothing, it would be commonplace to observe something coming from nothing all the time, even to witness any animal emerge fully-made or to see trees at one point bearing an apple but later producing a pear. This is because there is no prerequisite for what would come out of nothing, as prior causes or matter would have no place in limiting what comes into existence. In short, Lucretius believed that ''creatio ex nihilo'' would lead to a lack of regularity in nature.{{Sfn|Chambers|2021|p=98–99}}

In their interaction with earlier Greek philosophers who accepted this argument/dictum, Christian authors who accepted ''creatio ex nihilo'', like [[Origen]], simply denied the essential premise that something cannot come from nothing, and viewed it as a presumption of a limitation of God's power; God was seen as in fact able to create something out of nothing.{{Sfn|Rasmussen|2019|p=92–93}}