Editing Creatio ex materia

{{titlelang|la}}
{{Short description|View that the universe originates from pre-existing matter}}
'''{{lang|la|Creatio ex materia}}''' is the notion that the [[universe]] was formed out of [[Eternity|eternal]], pre-existing [[matter]]. This is in contrast to the notion of ''[[creatio ex nihilo]]'', where the universe is created out of nothing. The idea of ''creatio ex materia'' is found in [[ancient near eastern cosmology]], [[early Greek cosmology]] such as is in the works of [[Homer]] and [[Hesiod]],{{Sfn|De Almeida|2021}} and across the board in [[ancient Greek philosophy]].{{Sfn|Chambers|2021|p=96–103}} It was also held by a few early Christians, although ''creatio ex nihilo'' was the dominant concept among such writers. After the [[King Follet discourse]], ''creatio ex materia'' came to be accepted in [[Mormonism]].{{Sfn|Harrell|2011|p=233–234}} 

Greek philosophers came to widely frame the notion of ''creatio ex materia'' with the [[Philosophy|philosophical]] [[dictum]] "'''nothing comes from nothing'''" ({{langx|el|οὐδὲν ἐξ οὐδενός}}; {{langx|la|ex nihilo nihil fit}}). Although it is not clear if the dictum goes back to [[Parmenides]] (5th century BC) or the [[Milesian philosophers]],{{Sfn|Roecklein|2011|p=37–56}} a more common version of the expression was coined by [[Lucretius]], who stated in his ''[[De rerum natura]]'' that "nothing can be created out of nothing".{{Sfn|Mumford|2021|p=8}}

Alternatives to ''creatio ex materia'' include ''creatio ex nihilo'' ("creation from nothing"); ''creatio ex deo'' ("creation from God"), referring to a derivation of the cosmos from the substance of God either partially (in [[panentheism]]) or completely (in [[pandeism]]), and ''creatio continua'' (ongoing divine creation).{{Sfn|Oord|2014|p=3}}{{Sfn|McQuillan|2019|p=140}}

== 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}}

== See also ==
{{Columnslist|colwidth=30em|
* [[Antimetabole]]
* [[Creatio ex nihilo]]
* [[Empedocles]]
* [[Eternity of the world]]
* [[Jainism and non-creationism]]
* [[Melissus of Samos]]
* [[Nothing from Nothing (Billy Preston song)]]
* [[Principle of sufficient reason]]
* [[Problem of the creator of God]]
* [[Spontaneous symmetry breaking]]
* [[Vacuum energy]]
* [[Why there is anything at all]]
}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{Cite book |last=Chambers |first=Nathan J. |title=Reconsidering Creation Ex Nihilo in Genesis 1 |date=2021 |publisher=Penn State University Press}}
* {{Cite book |last=De Almeida |first=Isabel Gomes |title=Tradition and Innovation |date=2021 |publisher=CRC Press |editor-last=Monteiro |editor-first=Maria do Rosário |pages=391–397 |chapter=The Mesopotamian primordial ocean(s): Changes and continuities on the creative agency of the primeval aquatic deities (3rd and 2nd millennia BC) |doi=10.1201/9780429297786-56 |isbn=978-0-429-29778-6 |editor-last2=Kong |editor-first2=Mário S. Ming |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9780429297786-56/mesopotamian-primordial-ocean-changes-continuities-creative-agency-primeval-aquatic-deities-3rd-2nd-millennia-bc-isabel-gomes-de-almeida}}
* {{Cite book |last=Harrell |first=Charles R. |title="This Is My Doctrine": The Development of Mormon Theology |date=2011 |publisher=Greg Kofford Books}}
* {{Cite book |last=McQuillan |first=Martin |title=Critical Practice: Philosophy and Creativity |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mumford |first=Stephen |title=Absence and Nothing: The Philosophy of what There is Not |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
* {{Cite book |last=Oord |first=Thomas Jay |title=Theologies of Creation: Creatio Ex Nihilo and Its New Rivals |date=2014 |publisher=Taylor & Francis}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rasmussen |first=Adam |title=Genesis and Cosmos: Basil and Origen on Genesis 1 and Cosmology |date=2019 |publisher=Brill}}
* {{Cite book |last=Roecklein |first=Robert J. |title=Plato Versus Parmenides: The Debate Over Coming-into-Being in Greek Philosophy |date=2011 |publisher=Lexington Books}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Young |first=Frances |date=1991 |title='Creatio Ex Nihilo': A Context for the Emergence of the Christian Doctrine of Creation |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/scottish-journal-of-theology/article/abs/creatio-ex-nihilo-a-context-for-the-emergence-of-the-christian-doctrine-of-creation/6D4D6D164A6B895D0B1B920F069E51EE |journal=Scottish Journal of Theology |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=139–152|doi=10.1017/S0036930600039089 |url-access=subscription }}

== External links ==
* [http://classics.mit.edu/Carus/nature_things.1.i.html Lucretius' ''De Rerum Natura'', translated by William Ellery at the Internet Classics Archive]

[[Category:Philosophical arguments]]
[[Category:Philosophy of physics]]
[[Category:Physical cosmology]]
[[Category:Ancient Near Eastern cosmology]]