Thread: Question

Heres a neat question I found on the web.

If God is infinatly powerful, can he create a rock that is so heavy, he himself cannot lift it? Why?

I'm sorry if this is a repost.

reminds me of The Simpsons when Homer is stoned:

"can God make a burrito so hot that he can't eat it himself?"

god is everything, including that heavy rock. what is lifting, then?

Wrong forum?

And I heard that question so often. It's just the paradox that comes with infinite super power like the farytale of god.

i feel like making a comic out of this...

Though this is an absurd question, and it's kind of silly, it really should be in the religion forum.

Your right
sorry about that

Originally posted by Gwendolyn
Though this is an absurd question, and it's kind of silly, it really should be in the religion forum.

I disagree. The question is not absurd, it highlights a very crucial philisophical concept regarding the incompatability between logic and absolutes. My best answer to this question is that an all-powerfull being could make a rock that he could not lift, but he would not. To do so would undermine his omnipotence. It's very similar to the question: What happens when an unstoppable object strikes an immovable object? Although, I think the answer to that one lies in quantum logic.

Originally posted by O-Nieronaut


I disagree. The question is not absurd, it highlights a very crucial philisophical concept regarding the incompatability between logic and absolutes. My best answer to this question is that an all-powerfull being could make a rock that he could not lift, but he would not. To do so would undermine his omnipotence. It's very similar to the question: What happens when an unstoppable object strikes an immovable object? Although, I think the answer to that one lies in quantum logic.

being omnipotent means he can both be able to do something and not be able to do something at the same time. we are limiting are understanding of "omnipotence" only to the power to do something, but everything exists with an opposite counterpart, and omnipotence has to factor that in too. so yes, "god" could create a rock too heavy for him to lift, but he would be able to lift it anyway.

I really like your answer mongreloctopus. I haven't ever thought of omnipotence in that way before.

Originally posted by mongreloctopus


being omnipotent means he can both be able to do something and not be able to do something at the same time. we are limiting are understanding of "omnipotence" only to the power to do something, but everything exists with an opposite counterpart, and omnipotence has to factor that in too. so yes, "god" could create a rock too heavy for him to lift, but he would be able to lift it anyway.

So you're saying that God does not have to abide to the laws of logic. How can one escape logic though?

Logic is by no means the supreme conduit of truth and enlightenment. It's just a fairly reliable way of thinking that allows us to manipulate our environment to out liking. Logic replaced physical strength as our dominant trait just as physical strength replaced chemical potency as the first organisms waded through the primordial ooze. I can't wait to see what replaces, and consequently antiquates, logic.

god, by definition, is unbounded by the "laws" of logic.