Could God make a rock...

[qfnol31]

Now that's an interesting answer.

[Aloysius]

I agree with that as well. My answer is more trying to explain to those who would say this limits his omnipotence. quite the contrary, to say He can do this would be to say He is not omnipotent-- to say He cannot do this would be to say He is omnipotent.

though I like your answer, it leaves open one thing. could God make a spirit so large He couldn't move it? hehehe :

[Socrates]

This "paradox" is fallacious - God not being able to move the rock would be a limitation of power.

It seems I read a thread some time back where some atheist was trying to actually use this as an argument against God! - LOL

[jezic]

um question ....

since when did rocks get that big?

another one,

who says God "lifts" things like humans do? (unless you mean Jesus of course)

[Cam42]

Hey guys......

The reason that the answer is no, is because the first premise is a fallacy.

The question is nonsensical.

One of the things about our language is that we can say things that don't make sense. This doesn't call into question the omnipotence or omniscience of God, but rather the limitations of our knowledge of God.

It is on the same plane as saying, "Can God make a 4 sided triangle?" or "Can God make a square circle?"

The premise is flawed. The conclusion cannot follow, it is a logical impossiblity.

[philothea]

[quote name='Semalsia' date='Nov 9 2005, 05:06 PM']Well there you have it. Brother Adam has proved that there is no God.
*runs away*
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Naughty little atheist!

[Cam42]

The fallacy? We are thinking of God in finite terms. God is not finite. He is infinite. Again, this speaks to our understanding or better yet, lack of understanding of God.

[Brother Adam]

Wow. There are two new interesting answers to the question that I have never heard before, and more correct as well. Cool.

[Paphnutius]

[quote name='Cam42' date='Nov 9 2005, 10:48 PM']The fallacy?  We are thinking of God in finite terms.  God is not finite.  He is infinite.  Again, this speaks to our understanding or better yet, lack of understanding of God.
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[/quote]Indeed, we can only know God through way of negation. Apophatic knowledge. What God is not, rather than what God is.

[Mrs. Bro. Adam]

I'm onto your little game here, and this answer is the appropriate one.

[Laudate_Dominum]

Could God make a bag of chips so big that even He couldn't eat it?

hehe, its just that the question assumes a radical anthropomorphism. God doesn't lift rocks. And there is no such thing as "heavy" to God who is by nature infinite and infinitely beyond quantity as such, or any other accidental.

If we are talking about God Incarnate, in His human nature, I suppose God could and did make rocks so heavy that God couldn't lift them.

[God's Errand Girl]

Can God create a rock so big that he couldn't lift if?

No...

God will not be limited by his own creation.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Laudate_Dominum' date='Nov 10 2005, 01:36 PM']Could God make a bag of chips so big that even He couldn't eat it?

hehe, its just that the question assumes a radical anthropomorphism. God doesn't lift rocks. And there is no such thing as "heavy" to God who is by nature infinite and infinitely beyond quantity as such, or any other accidental.

If we are talking about God Incarnate, in His human nature, I suppose God could and did make rocks so heavy that God couldn't lift them.
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Well, He had the capability of lifting them, but only in as much as, say, Samson did...by the strength of God working a miracle, not by human strength.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='Raphael' date='Nov 10 2005, 08:56 PM']Well, He had the capability of lifting them, but only in as much as, say, Samson did...by the strength of God working a miracle, not by human strength.
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yes, but miracles transcend the laws of nature, even limits of weight and size, therefore that doesn't count. The only way God could "lift" something in any meaningful sense of the word would be if God someone manifested or united Himself with a finite reality, in this case human nature. God does not lift rocks, and if you mean a miraculous lifting, well, size and weight are irrlevent because the entire galaxy is about the same weight as a speck of dust to God because the category doesn't even exist when talking of that which is beyond time and space.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='Raphael' date='Nov 10 2005, 08:56 PM']Well, He had the capability of lifting them, but only in as much as, say, Samson did...by the strength of God working a miracle, not by human strength.
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and besides, I said "in His human nature", which was intended as a qualification specifically to avoid that objection. No miracles allowed.

[Laudate_Dominum]

I still don't like the question because it is so stinking anthropomorphic. Why not say something more abstract like, can God create a being that is in some respect greater than or more perfect than God?
If God can create a being more perfect in some respect, then God is not the fullness of absolute perfection. But if God cannot create a being with at least some greater perfection, than God cannot do "everything" and thus is not omnipotent in any strict sense of the word.

This entire argument as well as the conclusions are fallacious just so you know. I just wanna see what people say.

[Laudate_Dominum]

what I don't get is how people can think that these types of "arguments" prove that God does not exist.

Assuming an argument of this kind was even valid, it hardly touches the numerous arguments for the existence of God, so in my mind the best it could hope for is to prove that we don't and/or can't understand God all that much, which is pretty obvious already. But I'd say all these arguments really prove is that we don't always understand what language is and what is a meaningful statement verses a meaningless statement.

[onathing1]

HAHAHAHAH!!! Me and my dad got to thinking about this question one day, and my dad said "What if that's the one question you have to answer to get into Heaven? I mean, what if how bad or good you were on earth didn't matter, you just had to answer this question?" (he was kidding of course) So we came up with an answer and decided that we would be the only two people in Heaven. Our answer was "If you want to, sure!"

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='onathing1' date='Nov 10 2005, 09:19 PM']HAHAHAHAH!!! Me and my dad got to thinking about this question one day, and my dad said "What if that's the one question you have to answer to get into Heaven? I mean, what if how bad or good you were on earth didn't matter, you just had to answer this question?" (he was kidding of course) So we came up with an answer and decided that we would be the only two people in Heaven. Our answer was "If you want to, sure!"
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That's be hilarious if you got to heaven and someone like St. Peter was giving the tour during orientation and he pointed at a big rock saying, "and here we have the rock so heavy that even God can't lift it! Appearantly God lost a little game of dice with Einstein and it was either that or the bag of chips so big that even God can't finish it."

alright, i'm a dork

[onathing1]

[quote name='Laudate_Dominum' date='Nov 10 2005, 10:26 PM']That's be hilarious if you got to heaven and someone like St. Peter was giving the tour during orientation and he pointed at a big rock saying, "and here we have the rock so heavy that even God can't lift it! Appearantly God lost a little game of dice with Einstein and it was either that or the bag of chips so big that even God can't finish it."

alright, i'm a dork 
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