God and omnipotence
Readings
Quotes
- Job 42:2 I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.
- Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
- On the other hand:
- Augustine: God cannot die or be deceived
- Anselm: God cannot be corrupted
- Aquinas: God cannot move, fail ...
The problem
- (a) Suppose God can create a stone that he cannot lift. Then (b) there is a stone that God cannot lift. So (c) God cannot be omnipotent.
- (a) Suppose God cannot create such a stone. Then (b) there is something that God cannot do. So again (c) God is not omnipotent.
- Given 1 and 2, it follows that either (a) God does not exist, or (b) if God exists, then God is not omnipotent.
Some initial remarks
- God could be "she" or "it".
- The argument is not directed specifically at the Christian God. Any version of theism that postulates an omnipotent God would have to deal with this problem.
- There is no reason why the problem has to be formulated in terms of creating a stone. A similar question is whether God can create a creature that He cannot control.
- Unless it is necessary that God is omnipotent, God can still be the most powerful agent rather than an omnipotent one.
- It is sometimes said that even if God cannot create such a stone, we cannot conclude that God is not omnipotent.
- The purported justification is that to create such a stone is to do something logically impossible, and not being able to do something logically impossible does not imply not being omnipotent.
- However, this response is not quite correct. It is true that if God cannot create a round square, we should not conclude that God is not omnipotent. But creating a stone that the creator of the stone cannot lift is not logically impossible.
Compare:
- Can God create a stone so heavy that God cannot lift?
- Can God create a round triangle?
- Can God create a stone so heavy that the creator of the stone cannot lift?
The "beyond logic" response
"The argument relies on man-made logic. God is more powerful than logic. God is beyond logic. So this argument cannot show that God does not exist."
Rene Descartes
@I do not think that we should ever say of anything that it cannot be brought about by God.
@
- D: God made the laws of logic and can change them.
- God can bring about logical impossibilities.
Comments:
- The short response - nothing is "beyond" logic. Logic is not conventional.
- The longer response - if logic is given up, we cannot reason about God at all and we would not know what to believe about God.
How should "omnipotence" be defined?
X is omnipotent =
- For any logically possible state of affairs S, X is able to bring about S.
- If it is logically possible for any agent to perform action A, then X is able to perform A.
- X is able to do whatever X wants to do.
- X is able to do whatever that is logically possible for X to do.
Anthony Kenny:
@[An omnipotent being has] ... every power which it is logically possible to possess.
@
But see the McEar example
Misc issues
Do you think God (if there is one) is able to:
- destroy himself
- change the past
- do something evil
- create another God