If you believe God can do everything...Can he make a rock so heavy that he himself cannot pick it up?

Question

Think about it!

Answer 1

No, did you know that God can NOT do anything?

1. God cannot change or be changed (Mal. 3:6: James 1:17).

2. God cannot lie (Tit.1:2.)
3. God cannot save a sinner without a suitable sacrifice (Heb. 9:22). (John 1:14)

4. God cannot take anyone to heaven who is not perfectly righteous in his sight (Mstt. 5:20; Heb 12.14. Christ is our righteousness, holiness, and sanctification (Rom, 5:19). We are complete in him (Col. 1:12; 2:10.

5. God cannot send anyone to hell for whom Christ suffered and died at Calvary (Isa. 53:11; Rom. 8:33-34).

6. God cannot save a sinner apart from the preaching of the gospel. He cannot because he will not (I Cor. 1:21-24; James 1.18: II Pet. 1:23-25)

7. God cannot fail to save any sinner who trusts the Lord Jesus Christ, his dear Son (John 3 16, 36)

Answer 2

While I think that Father K has the best answer, I also have an answer that disagrees.

If there is a limiting factor to God, then you cannot be talking about God. God is limitless, and His qualities are endless. God can make a rock so heavy He cannot lift it, and simultaneously become strong enough to lift it.

When somebody says, God can do anything within the boundaries of His character, I have to ask, "What boundaries"?
There is nothing that God cannot do, because however many limitations our minds have, God has no such limitations.

It is impossible for God........is a contradiction in terms.

Answer 3

Heavy is simply a human judgment in regards to gravity. While opinions on God are varied and diverse, most cultures believe that the powers of a deity can supersede the physical laws of the universe. So if your god is a pseudo human who inhabits the earth, then it would depend on the body that he decided to take form in.

In general the question assigns too many human limitations to a deity that most would assume it would be able to transcend said limitations (like not being able to pick up something heavy).

Answer 4

Yes, He can. And after he made the rock that's so heavy that he can't pick it up, He'll pick up that rock.
I'm an atheist but I think that's how the reasoning would go for those who believe in God.

Answer 5

The omnipotence paradox is actually a family of related paradoxes having to do with the question of what an omnipotent being can do, especially whether or not a being that is able to perform all actions can perform an action that would limit its own ability to perform actions. If the being can perform such actions, then it can limit its own ability to perform actions and hence it cannot perform all actions. If it cannot limit its own actions, then it could never have performed all actions.
This paradox is often formulated in terms of the God of the Abrahamic religions, though this is not a requirement. One version of omnipotence paradox is the so-called paradox of the stone: "Could an omnipotent being create a stone so heavy that even that being could not lift it?" If so, then it seems that the being could cease to be omnipotent; if not, it seems that the being was not omnipotent to begin with.
Without redefining omnipotence, the paradox can be refuted as a self-contradicting formulation. It can be helpful to re-state the paradox in this way: "Does total ability include disability?", or even, "Is the total lack of disability itself a disability?" Viewed in this light, a simple answer of "No" to the classical formulation of the question ("Can an omnipotent being create a stone...") involves no contradiction, no paradox and requires no re-definition of omnipotence. Other responses may require a nuancing of the notion of omnipotence.
Ultimately, the argument is not logical in that if applied to any variety of other sets of variables would fail.
It's interesting to me in that the only people I've ever encountered with this argument are people who trying to dissuade me from my belief in God or trying to reassure themselves that God doesn't exist.
I'd hate to base my future on such a flimsy premise.

Answer 6

There is no gravity wherever God exists, the only reason the rock would be heavy, its a nonsense. Also the heaviest rock imaginable would have an infinite dimension

Answer 7

Did you know this question gets asked and answered only about 100 times a day?'

But, I will offer the answer once again... please... spread it around.

As we see with Jesus, God can lower Himself if He chooses to. To create a rock too big for Him to pick up, He would have to lower Himself to do it. He lowered Himself to come as Jesus... and remember, He fell under the weight of the cross. So yes, God CAN make a rock too big for Himself to pick up.

Answer 8

About the question "Can God make a rock so big he cannot pick it up?" as a problem for a view of God as omnipotent...

Couple of points here...

First, Omnipotence has historically been understood as the ability to perform any task consistent with His character and essence. (At least that's the classical definition/understanding of it). This would exclude 'things' like...

Re his character:

It is impossible for God to lie (He actually is the one who told us this in the scriptures).
It is impossible for God to break an promise.
It is impossible for God to deny his existence and character (tantamount to lying, of course).
Re his essence:

It is impossible for him to split into two essences (a la cell division).
It is impossible for him to will himself out of existence.
(These above statements are beyond the scope of this email.)

Secondly, there are some things that we can build pseudo-sentences about, that actually don't end up being 'tasks'...some can be quite comical...
"Can God make this question into a declarative sentence?"
"Can God change the subject of this sentence to 'jello'?"
"Can God make this sentence so long that he cannot read it?"
"Can God make the slithy toves gyre and gimble in the wabe?"
(for any fellow Alice-in-Wonderland-Enthusiasts out there!)
These 'sentences' seem odd to us, for they look like regular sentences, but they have what philosophers of language call 'ungrammaticality' (cf.Language and Reality--An Introduction to the Philosophy of Language, by Michael Devitt & Kim Sterelny, MIT Press, pps.89-92).

Then there is another class of sentences in which grammaticality is present, but there are improper referents and relations, similar to the linguists' favorite: "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously". These sentences (and any questions based upon them like "Do colorless green ideas sleep furiously?") are said to have no truth value (neither true nor false)--they just don't have any meaning to BE true or false.

It is into this category that the following sentences/questions fit:

God can make a square circle.
(and the Q-version of it: Can God make a square circle?)
God can make colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
God can make a rock so big it turns into a peach.
God can make a rock so invisible that it casts a shadow 2 parsecs long!
It is in this category that the famous "God can make a rock so big he cannot lift it" fits. As a 'sentence' it actually has no meaning, and hence is neither true nor false.

Answer 9

I don't even understand this question, or why people keep asking it. Nothing is impossible with God. This seems to be presuming that God who is greater than our little minds can comprehend is so small as to be limited by the minds of the so called intellegent.

Answer 10

God is a power of LIGHT/you are LIGHT within and I am LIGHT within /LIGHT never dies. Light doesn't need to pick up a rock but I'll bet Superman is waiting in the sidelines wanting to be asked !