An Atheist's Challenge
Linkity

Article synopsis- “I've challenged you repeatedly to cite even a single instance of an atheist stating that nothing created everything, and have been met with silence every single time. Every time.” - C. Howdy
QUOTE MINE PALOOZA!

A quote mine is the process of taking a quote from an individual out of context in order to misrepresent that individual's position on a particular subject. In this case, the author of the article wants to make it appear that there are Atheists claiming that the universe came from nothing. Implying that every scientist studying the origins of the universe is an atheist. He does this by taking scientific papers or popular articles on the subject of the origins of the universe out of context. Some of his attempts are outrageous, some are downright dishonest.
To avoid confusion, the "Nothing" the author is constantly describing is better refered to as "non existence." As opposed to the "nothing" some of the sources cited refer to, which can be described as "the non existence of matter." Or "the non existence of the space-time continuum." An idea that usually involves the transformation of the universe from one state to another. For example the transformation of a quantum singularity via a big bang to a continuum of four major and seven minor dimensions. This will become relevant later.

The first quote mine: “It is now becoming clear that everything can—and probably did—come from nothing.”
- Robert A. J. Matthews, physicist, Aston University, England.
The reference is http://www.nanogallery.info/news/?id=8735&slid=news&type=anews. Reading the reference it becomes clear that Mr. Matthews is talking about quantum vacuums. It's bit of a complicated read, but I sincerely doubt that the Mr. Matthews is making the claim that everything magically appeared from non-existence.

The second: “Space and time both started at the Big Bang and therefore there was nothing before it.”
- Cornell University "Ask an Astronomer.” Again, the reference suggests the article is about the nature of the knowable universe, the astronomer is not suggesting the universe poofed into being. http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=364

The third: "Some physicists believe our universe was created by colliding with another, but Kaku [a theoretical physicist at City University of New York] says it also may have sprung from nothing." Reading the quote in context, it would seem the the individual in question is talking about the relation of the four observable dimensions and the matter contained within as it relates to the other seven theoretical dimensions. http://scienceline.org/2006/08/21/ask-snyder-bang/

The fourth: “Even if we don't have a precise idea of exactly what took place at the beginning, we can at least see that the origin of the universe from nothing need not be unlawful or unnatural or unscientific.” Again, quantum physics is being discussed. The author of the source argues that if quantum particles flit in and out of existence (and it has been demonstrated that they do) and the space time continuum was at one time compressed into a quantum singularity, then it would be effected by the laws of quantum physics. I highly recommend reading this article to understand more in this line of reasoning. At any rate, nobody has yet to make the claim that non existence is responsible for existence. http://www.fortunecity.com/emachines/e11/86/big-bang.htm

The Fifth: “Assuming the universe came from nothing, it is empty to begin with . . . Only by the constant action of an agent outside the universe, such as God, could a state of nothingness be maintained. The fact that we have something is just what we would expect if there is no God.” This is the most dishonest quote mine in the whole bunch. The author takes segments of several sentences and strings them together to make a statement which did not exist in the original argument. If you want to know what the original source is about you will just have to read it. Its a PDF and a but long but an interesting argument all the same. http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/
Godless/Origin.pdf

The Sixth: “Few people are aware of the fact that many modern physicists claim that things—perhaps even the entire universe—can indeed arise from nothing via natural processes." Again, read the whole article in context, the source even goes so far as to state: "In modern physics, there is no such thing as "nothing." Even in a perfect vacuum, pairs of virtual particles are constantly being created and destroyed. The existence of these particles is no mathematical fiction. Though they cannot be directly observed, the effects they create are quite real. The assumption that they exist leads to predictions that have been confirmed by experiment to a high degree of accuracy. (Morris, 1990, 25) . http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/mark_vuletic/vacuum.html