2006-11-28 09:41:35 · 34 answers · asked by Da_maximus 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
again, this is a misunderstanding of who God is.
God is infinate. We can't explain a God who has more dimentions that we have or can understand. He's infinate - he has no beginning and no end.
Is it "YES he can create a rock he can't lift"?
or is it "NO he can't create a rock he can't lift"?
Neither is correct if you admit there is a God.
The only answer to this question is: He can create a rock that YOU cannot lift.
Therefore there is no answer to this question.
2006-11-28 09:46:42 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
"I can't give you a smart answer to a dumb question!"
The question is constructed in such a way that no matter how one answers it, God's omnipotence is compromised. If one answers 'no', then God cannot create such a rock, thus God is not powerful enough to do something, therefore He is not 'all powerful'. If one answers 'yes', God creates a rock that He cannot lift, but because He cannot then lift it, God is not powerful enough to do something, therefore He is not 'all powerful'.
However, when we examine the question by analogy, its unfairness is made known. Compare the 'rock' question with the following:
A genius is so smart that he should be able to successfully pass any test, including a test that would qualify him as an idiot.
It is obvious that the 'rock' question itself contains a contradiction. In other words, the question itself does not make logical sense. It's the same type of contradiction that is made when we say that someone has accomplished the impossible. If they have, then it wasn't impossible to begin with. We see language at its logical limits; we understand what is being said (someone has accomplished what was previously thought to have been impossible to accomplish) but the language that is used to convey the idea makes it logically incomprehensible.
Rephrased, the 'rock' question is actually asking, "Is God so powerful that he can successfully do anything, including things that he couldn't do?"
It would seem, then, that the most correct answer would be 'no'. God cannot do those things that God cannot do. (And, yes, the Bible does say that there are things that God cannot do.) No matter how big a rock is created, God will always be able to move it. God is not powerful enough to compromise His own power.
However, if we get beyond the deficiency of language in order to understand the concept behind the question, the answer in the affirmative can suffice just as well. When we say that God is all powerful, the definition need not be carried to hyper-literalism that renders it incomprehensible. 'All powerful' can be taken as hyperbole and be more accurately defined as 'the most powerful thing that can possibly exist'. Can the most powerful thing that can possibly exist create a rock so large that it could not lift it? Yes, it certainly could. Although we may ask why, and if, it would choose to do such a thing, it would still remain the most powerful thing that exists.
Despite the above argumentation, I still prefer the answer, "I can't give a smart answer to a dumb question"!
2006-11-28 09:57:58 · answer #2 · answered by Br. Dymphna S.F.O 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The age old question. God can create a rock so great that he cannot lift, and I will tell you why. First, God can create anything he wants, therefore a very large rock can be created. God is all powerful and if he chooses to not be able to lift the rock he created then he is within his power to NOT do so. He is powerful enough that it is in his power to not be able to do something.
2006-11-28 09:44:24 · answer #3 · answered by Presagio 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
By definition, God must remain God. A temporary god is neither reliable nor fit for the future cf. alcohol. So the answer is no for the rock would then be greater than God. The same holds true with sin. There is no sin greater than God's forgiveness - the question always remains whether or not we will receive it.
2006-11-28 09:45:17 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
God is omnipotent, meaning limitless power.
For God to create something then not have power over it would limit God.
God has total power over all He creates.
So no God cannot create anything that He does not have 100% power over.
2006-11-28 09:57:25 · answer #5 · answered by JaimeM 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God can create a rock and choose not to move it- but He can move anything and do anything. He is all powerful, all knowing and nothing is to difficult for Him- and nothing is impossible with Him.
Luke 1:37
For with God nothing shall be impossible.
2006-11-28 09:45:07 · answer #6 · answered by Mandolyn Monkey Munch 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes. He would be in the rock and in the unmovablility and in the God that can't move the rock. Infinite means everywhere, even in the midst of a contradiction.
2006-11-28 09:44:51 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
God couldn't create a rock that He or man couldn't move. With faith all things are possible.
2006-11-28 09:53:45 · answer #8 · answered by straightup 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That is a stupid question... that's like saying if you have a ray (a line going from a point infinetely in one direction) and a tangent (a line going infinetely in two directions) which one is longer?
By the way, He can make a rock big enough so You can't move it.
2006-11-28 09:43:56 · answer #9 · answered by buckhouse_ryan 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
GOD created logic.
2006-11-28 09:43:22 · answer #10 · answered by St. Mike 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋