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> If he literally created the universe and all the laws of nature, couldn’t he create such a concept? What is not, is not. Omnipotence means "being able to do

> If he literally created the universe and all the laws of nature, couldn’t he create such a concept? What is not, is not. Omnipotence means "being able to do anything that is possible to do", not "being able to do anything that is possible to be spoken of". Re-stating your argument: * "He could even make a square circle" * "He could even tell a true falsehood" * "He could even do that which contradicts itself" Making a rock too large to lift is "He could even make something that He could not control". What you have wound up rhyming with is Anselm's argument for the existence of God [1] - for if your god can make a rock to heavy for him to lift, then there exists a greater omnipotence that could lift that rock. Therefore, your god is not omnipotent, and is not god. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proslogion#Faith_Seeking_Understanding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proslogion#Faith_Seeking_Under...

IgorPartola 8y ago
> Omnipotence means "being able to do anything that is possible to do" Would you say that omnipotence includes the ability to define what omnipotence means? My limited understanding of theology is that polytheistic religions resolved a lot of this by not having omnipotence, and by having hierarchies of gods. You had a sort of overarching force of nature thing that gave creation to everything else, and to which gods answered. And then you had gods like Zeus that were almost all powerful, but still bound by laws of the higher tier being/force/whatever. And below gods like Zeus you had another tier that obeyed even more rules, but was still more powerful than a mortal. Dualistic religions postulated that there is god and an evil counterpart with which god is in eternal struggle. God in this sense is not omnipotent since an omnipotent god could defeat any foe just by changing the rules of the struggle. Monotheistic religions hold that there is only god, an omnipotent being and the source of all creation. Christianity is an inconsistent mix of this and dualism where god is omnipotent, yet cannot just do away with the devil.

IgorPartola 8y ago

> Omnipotence means "being able to do anything that is possible to do" Would you say that omnipotence includes the ability to define what omnipotence means? My limited understanding of theology is that polytheistic religions resolved a lot of this by not having omnipotence, and by having hierarchies of gods. You had a sort of overarching force of nature thing that gave creation to everything else, and to which gods answered. And then you had gods like Zeus that were almost all powerful, but still bound by laws of the higher tier being/force/whatever. And below gods like Zeus you had another tier that obeyed even more rules, but was still more powerful than a mortal. Dualistic religions postulated that there is god and an evil counterpart with which god is in eternal struggle. God in this sense is not omnipotent since an omnipotent god could defeat any foe just by changing the rules of the struggle. Monotheistic religions hold that there is only god, an omnipotent being and the source of all creation. Christianity is an inconsistent mix of this and dualism where god is omnipotent, yet cannot just do away with the devil.