My Answer to the Omnipotence Paradox

[MattMVS7]

I have come up with an answer of my own to the omnipotence paradox that I believe to be a fact that almost everyone with logic will agree with. My answer is that God can create a stone He can't lift, but at the same time the stone can never be greater than His own power. I will now explain why.

Infinity can not be greater than infinity. In the case of God's infinite power vs the infinite weight of a stone, infinity is infinity (it's the same). Therefore, if both God and the stone have infinite power, then it would actually be impossible for Him to create a stone that is greater than His power. Nothing can be greater than infinity. Now as for not having "enough" power to lift the stone, the word "enough" implies a limit. And since there is no limit when it comes to God's infinite power, that word does not apply. Even the word "greater" does not apply (when it comes to both God and the stone having infinite power) as that also implies that there was something limited in comparison as the only way to say something is greater is to have something that is of limited value and to have something else greater than that set limit (and again, just like I stated before, the infinite weight of the stone cannot be greater than God's infinite power or vice versa). Finally, if it is a stone that is less than His power, He would be able to lift it. And, of course, if it's greater than His power, then it would mean He can't lift it. But if it's equal (in this case of infinity vs infinity), He still wouldn't be able to lift it because the only way to lift something is to exert greater power than the weight of the stone in order to lift it.

Now that I have given my answer, feel free to object to it. If it can't be objected against, then go ahead and tell me if it's indeed a worthy answer that practically everyone with logic can agree with.

 

[Dene]

Using your logic, the original premise is nonsensical. Therefore the phrase "God can create a stone He can't lift, but at the same time the stone can never be greater than His own power" is just a load of bullocks, stated by a crazy person or someone with no grasp of proper language (in this case English).

 

[MattMVS7]

Using your logic, the original premise is nonsensical. Therefore the phrase "God can create a stone He can't lift, but at the same time the stone can never be greater than His own power" is just a load of bullocks, stated by a crazy person or someone with no grasp of proper language (in this case English).

I'm not trying to disappoint anyone in making this topic (I just wanted to share my answer). But in regards to what you just said, could you explain further what you mean?

 

[cubeaddicted]

That does not make any sense.

 

[10461394944000]

Infinity can not be greater than infinity.

wrong

 

[Tempus]

...if both God and the stone have infinite power...

Stones do not have power. Stones have mass. Mass creates gravity. Now, my understanding of relativity theory is far from perfect, but if we presuppose a god of infinite power, who then uses that power to create a stone of infinite mass, there would then seem to be two immediate effects:

1. A gravity well of infinite intensity and infinite scope would form around the stone, causing all matter that exists everywhere in the universe to suddenly be inside the event horizon of a black hole.
2. Given that time slows in a gravity well, a gravity well that is infinite in both intensity and scope would cause all time everywhere to stop.

I imagine, then, that this is what would make this infinite-powered god unable to lift the stone: Time would cease to exist. Lifting is applying force over time. If there is no time, there can be no lifting.

 

[cmhardw]

Stones do not have power. Stones have mass. Mass creates gravity. Now, my understanding of relativity theory is far from perfect, but if we presuppose a god of infinite power, who then uses that power to create a stone of infinite mass, there would then seem to be two immediate effects:

1. A gravity well of infinite intensity and infinite scope would form around the stone, causing all matter that exists everywhere in the universe to suddenly be inside the event horizon of a black hole.
2. Given that time slows in a gravity well, a gravity well that is infinite in both intensity and scope would cause all time everywhere to stop.

I imagine, then, that this is what would make this infinite-powered god unable to lift the stone: Time would cease to exist. Lifting is applying force over time. If there is no time, there can be no lifting.

Wow, that is an impressive retort

 

[Dene]

I'm not trying to disappoint anyone in making this topic (I just wanted to share my answer). But in regards to what you just said, could you explain further what you mean?

In short:
You use the word "greater", and then eliminate it because it has implications that are contradictory. If this is so, using the word in the first place doesn't make any sense. In fact, by putting the word in there you are forming a sentence of which no sense can be made.

 

[pinser]

Building on your idea,
There can only be one infinity. If God were to create another infinity, He would be making a contradiction. Can God lie? No, because it is not in His nature. Can God make a square with no edges? Yes, but in order to do that He would have to change the laws of nature (which He Himself put into place). Does this mean He is not omnipotent? Definitely not!

 

[DeeDubb]

It's a paradox. There's no valid answer. End.

 

[cmhardw]

Infinity can not be greater than infinity.

wrong

Building on your idea,
There can only be one infinity. If God were to create another infinity, He would be making a contradiction.
...

In math there are two well known concepts of countably infinite and uncountably infinite. To say that "infinity" cannot be greater than "infinity" sounds a bit strange when considering mathematics. In math you can have two sets of numbers, both of which are infinite, and one of which is measurably larger than the other. I am abusing the terminology a little bit here, but the basic idea is that I have two infinitely large sets of numbers, yet I can still prove that one set of numbers has more elements than the other set.

clicky
another clicky
also clicky

---------------------

In response to the original post, the response to this paradox that I like the best is that not even God can create a contradiction. This is essentially like dividing by 0 in math where you can make pretty much anything possible after you do it (even though these things that you "discover" after dividing by 0 are not true things).

The idea is that not even an omnipotent being can do something logically contradictory (create an immovable stone).

 

[Soren333]

Here's a solution.

It would depend on the definition of omnipotence. By omnipotence do you mean the power to do anything at all? Or do you mean the power to do anything that is logically possible?

If the latter definition, then the omnipotence paradox is nullified because it is not logically possible for God to create a stone so heavy that God himself can't lift.

 

[IRNjuggle28]

I'm agnostic, and I have a pretty open mind towards theology, so this comment is not meant as a diss of religion, but trying to answer questions like that is pretty pointless. Religion will never win debates against naturalism. The entire point of theology is that it's faith based, not fact based, and therefore, it's destined to die in debate settings.

 

[Tempus]

...trying to answer questions like that is pretty pointless.

He's right, guys. This discussion is a silly use of our time when compared to important things like rapidly aligning the colored stickers on a plastic toy. It's all about perspective.

 

[IRNjuggle28]

He's right, guys. This discussion is a silly use of our time when compared to important things like rapidly aligning the colored stickers on a plastic toy. It's all about perspective.

I'm laughing hysterically right now. Oh my gosh. I don't know why I found that so funny but I really did. Perfect answer.

 

[zmikecuber]

Using your logic, the original premise is nonsensical. Therefore the phrase "God can create a stone He can't lift, but at the same time the stone can never be greater than His own power" is just a load of bullocks, stated by a crazy person or someone with no grasp of proper language (in this case English).

This. To say that there is an action, (X), which a being which can do all actions cannot do, is simply a contradiction.

It's assuming...

X is able to be done
X is not able to be done

 

[zmikecuber]

I'm agnostic, and I have a pretty open mind towards theology, so this comment is not meant as a diss of religion, but trying to answer questions like that is pretty pointless. Religion will never win debates against naturalism. The entire point of theology is that it's faith based, not fact based, and therefore, it's destined to die in debate settings.

Yeah, but there's typically a distinction drawn between natural theology and revealed theology. Revealed theology is based on faith, and natural theology. Natural theology is supposed to be truths we can know via reason alone.