Conquer Every Question With His Word

Resource from Got Questions? at http://www.gotquestions.org/about.html

This question is frequently asked by skeptics of God, the Bible, Christianity, etc. If God can create a rock that He cannot lift, then God is not omnipotent. If God cannot create a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it, then God is also not omnipotent. According to this argument, omnipotence is self-contradictory. Therefore, God cannot be omnipotent. So, the question, could God create a rock so heavy He could not lift it? The quick answer is "No." But the explanation is far more important to understand than the simple yes or no answer...

This question is based on a popular misunderstanding about the definitions of words like "almighty" or "omnipotent." These terms do not mean that God can do absolutely anything even the truly impossible. Rather, they describe the amount of God's power. Power is the ability to effect change - to make something happen. God (being unlimited) has unlimited power, and the Bible affirms this (Job 11:7-11, 37:23; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Revelation 4:8; etc.). Therefore, God can do anything that is possible to be done. However, God cannot do that which is actually impossible to be done such as creating a round triangle, married bachelor or 1 meter ruler that is 2 meter in length?!

This is because true impossibility is not based on the amount of power one has, it is based on what is really possible. The truly impossible is not made possible by adding more power. Therefore, unless context indicate otherwise (e.g. Matthew 19:26 where man's ability is being shown in contrast to God's), impossibility means the same thing whether or not God is involved.

So, the first part of the question is based on a false idea - that God being almighty means that He can do absolutely anything without the boundary of possibility in reality. In fact, the Bible itself lists things God cannot do - like lie or deny Himself (Hebrews 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:13; Titus 1:2). The reason He cannot do these things is because of His nature and the nature of reality itself. God cannot do what is actually not possible to be done, like creating a two-sided triangle, or a round square. Just because words can be strung together this way does not make the impossible possible - these things are contradictions, they are truly impossible in reality.

Now, what about this rock? A rock would have to be infinitely large to defeat an infinite amount of lifting power. But an infinite rock is a contradiction since material objects cannot be infinite. Only God is infinite. Besides, there cannot be two infinites or else it would not be an infinite anymore as it contradicts the meaning itself (such as there can’t be two champions as champion can only be one, when two persons are champions it is no longer a champion anymore since it contradicts the meaning itself).

So the question is actually asking if God can make a contradiction - which He cannot as He is Truth, not a lie. Our faith in God is not blind but supported by sound understanding as it is based on truth. Those who do not believe in God are actually those who need to support their standing for unbelief.