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The Omnipotence Paradox – part 2
How does the fallacy of the Omnipotence Paradox apply to the fallacy of Arminianism?
NOTE: If you haven’t already read The Omnipotence
Paradox – part 1, then please go back and read it before continuing with this
article.
I would now like to point
out the application of the Omnipotence Paradox to the logical
incoherence of Arminianism ---
Again, let's rephrase the Omnipotence Paradox like this:
"Can an all-powerful being demonstrate such great power that he
renders himself powerless?"
Have you ever noticed that this is
*precisely* the Arminian's argument for the creation
of libertarian free-will?
In fact, just a few weeks ago, my dad said, "The Arminian
God is actually more sovereign
than the Calvinist God!" He went on to explain: "The Arminian God is able to create free-will if He wants to . .
. but the Calvinist God can't do it!"
You see, the very same argument can be reduced to the same basic question posed
in the Omnipotence Paradox. This is true
because libertarian free-will, by definition, has beings having thoughts over
which God does *not* have control. Thus, He is *powerless* over those
particular thoughts.
(Of course the Arminian would not state it this way .
. . he would just say, "It's not God's fault that guy thought of doing
something sinful." --- But now matter how you describe it, God is still not the
originator of that thought. Thus, God is not in control of that thought, because that thought did
not arise by God's doing.)
The Arminian's argument originally runs like this:
God is so powerful that
He can create a situation in which His creatures have libertarian free-will.
And we can fairly restate the Arminian's argument
thus:
God is so powerful that
He can create a situation in which He is powerless
(over their thoughts/motives).
And, as I have pointed out earlier, that very statement is incoherent nonsense.
The imagined increase of God's
power cannot possibly result in a decrease
of His power. You cannot get a negative balance by depositing more and more money
into the bank.
Omnipotence, by definition,
is the pinnacle of power. Thus it is incoherent to speak of Omnipotence somehow
outdoing itself.
God cannot overcome Himself.
--- article by Joseph M. Gleason – January, 2006
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