Can God created a rock so heavy that even He cannot lift it?
Questions of this nature are ages old. They are asked by various people for various reasons. Sometimes, they have been wielded by atheists to attack the true nature of God and thereby deny His existence. They say, “If God claims He Himself is omnipotent (all-powerful) and the source is truth, then He cannot in fact be God (or at least not the Christian one) because He is not all-powerful and therefore has lied.”
At other times, questions like this are asked by the sincere believers or seekers to truly know what God is like. We think, “If God is so powerful, then what’s the deal with this stumper?” Or perhaps it gets a little more personal, and we wonder, “If God truly is all-powerful, why doesn’t He get rid of this evil and suffering in my life?” When faced with difficult questions like these, people tend to respond in one of three ways:
Lose their belief in God,
Become confused but still try to hold on to their belief in God, or
Hold on to their belief in God by seeking a rational answer.
Our question about God’s omnipotence usually comes with an argument that runs something like this. We will use “John” and “Sally” to illustrate.
John: Do you believe that God is omnipotent?
Sally: Yes, I do.
John: So, God has the power to do absolutely anything?
Sally: Of course. (Hint: This is where Sally has put herself into the clutches of John. At this point, she has already forfeited the argument.)
John: So, if God can do anything, can He create a rock that is so heavy that even He cannot lift it?
Sally: Ummm....I don’t know....(here is the point where Sally, after much sputtering and consternation attempts one of the three responses we listed above.)
If Sally says yes to John, then God cannot do something (pick up an infinitely heavy rock), and she concedes that God is not omnipotent, though we are using John’s definition of omnipotence which we will see is suspect. If she says no, then God still cannot do something (create an infinitely heavy rock), and she concedes that God is not omnipotent. Either way Sally is in a dilemma. But is this really the only outcome? Doesn’t there seem to be something slippery and wrong with John’s argument?
As I have indicated in the dialogue, YES! The real problem here is not with the power of God but with the way the question is asked. Posing the question in this manner is like asking, “When did you stop beating your wife?” No matter how you answer the question, you sound guilty because the question assumes guilt. You have to say, “Wait, I never started beating my wife.” The same is true here. The question assumes something about the nature of God’s power that makes the argument unwinnable. Sally went wrong when she said that God can do absolutely anything. “Wait!” you say, “Isn’t that what omnipotence means—that God can do absolutely anything?” I would say “Not quite.” There are some things that God cannot do. So, let’s clarify what omnipotence actually is.
Right about now, you might be thinking, “This guy is a heretic! He’s denying God’s omnipotence.” Before we get too far, let me ask a series of questions. Can God create a square circle? Can God create a married bachelor? Can God cause Himself both to exist and not exist? Surely we would answer these questions with a clear “No.” But why? Because a square circle, a married bachelor, and an existing and non-existing God are logical impossibilities. If we reflect on this line of thinking for a moment, then we will see that there are some things which God cannot do—not because God doesn’t have enough power but because any person operating with the logical parameters of reality could not do them. Isn’t an infinitely heavy rock a logical impossibility? Couldn’t you always have a rock that weighs one pound more than the one you just created? Therefore, what we have to say is that there is no non-logical limit to God’s omnipotence. In addition, we would want to add that God cannot do anything that would be against His nature such as engaging in sin, telling a lie, or failing to keep His promises. All of these would in fact be logical contradictions to the very nature of God. (Do you have a headache yet?)
From all of this, we can formulate a more accurate definition of what it means for God to be omnipotent. Omnipotence is the power to do all things that do not involve logical contradictions. When we face the argument that God can do “absolutely anything,” we can say, “Wait a minute…we need to clarify some terms.” And when someone asks you a question like, “Can God create a rock so heavy that even He can’t lift it?” We can say with confidence, “That is a stupid question…” Ok, maybe don’t say it quite like that. Instead, with a bit of tact and a lot of patience, explain to the questioning soul that the question is quite simply irrelevant because no one can answer a question about impossibilities.
