Could an omnipotent being create a stone so heavy that even he could not lift it?
The solution to this
question lies in the fact that the question itself is logically flawed. It is actually asking multiple questions at
once. And the overarching question
itself is logically incoherent.
Part of the problem is that the question is actually trying to answer more than
one question at once:
1) Is there any limit to the size of stone God could create?
2) Is there any limit to the size of stone God could lift?
The answer to BOTH questions is "No!"
God can create any size stone. Imagine a stone as big as you like, and God can
create one bigger.
God can lift any size stone. Imagine a stone as big as you like, and God can
lift it.
So, when we parse out those two parts to the question, the answers are quite
simple to come by. Thus, the answer to the question is simply, "No."
God cannot create a stone to big for Him to lift,
because He can lift any size stone.
But this does not mean there is a limit in the size stone God can create. It is
not as if the answer of "no" to this question means that God can only
create a stone yay big, and no bigger. Rather, His omnipotence
is equally ultimate in both areas. He is all-powerful in stone creating
ability, and He is all-powerful in stone lifting ability. This fact actually
*supports* the fact of His omnipotence, rather than detracting from it.
But, then, why is the original question itself such a doozy? It is so problematic because it not only asks two
questions at once, but it also simultaneously includes its own incoherence and
inconsistency. This fact becomes clearer if we rephrase the question in more
general terms. After all, we are not worried about the specifics of giant
stones, but about God's power itself, as demonstrated in the creation and
lifting of them. So let's rephrase the Omnipotence Paradox thus:
Can an all-powerful being demonstrate such great power that he renders himself powerless?
As you can see, I have substituted "all-powerful" as a synonym for
"omnipotent", "great power" for the creation of a big
stone, and "powerless" for the inability to lift the big stone.
Once we rephrase the paradox as you see above, I hope you can see why the
question itself is hopelessly flawed, and internally incoherent. It is like
saying, "Can a number get so close
to infinity that it becomes zero?" It is like saying, "Is it possible to get so smart that you
become even smarter than yourself?" At the end of the day, the
question is asking whether God can be more omnipotent than himself. But
the phrase "more omnipotent" is self-contradictory. It is
simply nonsense.
Thus, trying to answer the question is so baffling, because the question itself is incoherent and flawed, not
because there is anything illogical about God's existence.
--- article by Joseph M. Gleason – January, 2006
Continue on to The Omnipotence Paradox - part 2
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