The issue of Omnipotence

One frequently encounters one form or another of the question "Could God make an object/rock/etc so large/heavy/etc that He Himself wouldn't be able to move/destroy it." My response (and all the reasoning here is my own, although it's likely others have figured it out on their own) is "Yes. In fact He has already done so."

That's the short answer, but it isn't very instructional. So for those who have patience, I provide the long answer. There is a medium answer, but it overlooks several important aspects.

The first thing I notice about this question is that it isn't really about God. Rather, it is about the definition of 'omnipotence'. It takes a particular definition of the term to satisfy the scoffer; a definition worthy of a small child, and a stubborn one at that; one unwilling to learn. Suppose I can do anything at all, but my capacity is such that I may need a thousand years or more to construct tools and gather resources, and formulate plans - stuff like that. Am I 'omnipotent'? Oooh! The experienced scoffer has to think about that one. The inexperienced just says "no".

There is a great danger here. If I can make an object over the course of 1000 years that I won't immediately be able to move/destroy/etc. that would mean the question can be answered in the affirmative, and the conflict is resolved because I would subsequently, after preparation, be able to move/destroy/etc. the object.

The definition of 'omnipotence' has to be sufficiently narrow, also. For a broad definition always results in an affirmitive answer. The whole question can be defined as a given task, and since the broadly-defined 'omnipotent' is capable of performing any task, the answer is affirmative. Only when the given task is broken up, which a broad definition does not require, can any trouble arise.

It should now be abundantly clear that the question is about the concept of omnipotence. Note that the question isn't restricted to God. I just got done asking if I would be omnipotent if I possessed certain qualities, and there was nothing wrong with that. Of course defining terms makes sense under some circumstances; basically any time there is reasonable potential for miscommunication. When we see that any entity described as 'omnipotent' would get the same results, we see that the issue isn't about God at all. It is about any omnipotent entity.

I was happy with this response initially, until it occurred to me that there's more involved. It goes a little deeper. When one says "God is omnipotent," what does that mean? I don't mean the term; I mean the statement itself. You see, some view the statement as describing God, while others view it as defining a god. Nothing that exists can be defined. Things that exist can be categorized and described; but they cannot be defined. You cannot pick up a stone and define it. You can define the term 'stone', and your definition may or may not apply. Either way, you haven't altered the stone by defining the term used to categorize it.

Things which do not exist are subject to definition. So right away we see that one's worldview alters one's approach to the simple statement, "God is omnipotent". Those who insist God does not exist see the statement as defining God, and they feel cheated when they perceive games to be played with a defining term. Those who understand that the statement is descriptive are able to understand that whether or not we have sufficient terms and intellectual capacity to accurately describe God, God will still be as He is.

Since the scoffer views the believer's response as a retreat from properly defining God, it is somewhat unsatisfactory. Remember that the scoffer is unwilling to grant that a descriptive process is involved.

So it's time to meet the bogus question on its own bogus terms. Well, almost. My goal is to glorify God, so permit me to apply the question to an hypothetically omnipotent Satan. If Satan is omnipotent, by the very shallow, narrow, juvenile definition the scoffer must advocate, we obtain the mutually desired result: Satan cannot make an object which Satan will not subsequently be able to act upon in the specified manner. His omnipotence must fail either on the creative side, or on the subsequent acting side. The "clever" trick is too much for Satan to overcome.

But God is not Satan! God has recourse to a two-step process. Just to make it obvious, for the first step I'll posit that He creates a small feather. Not even a grand eagle feather. Something like the delicate down I imagine a tiny hummingbird may possess. This may appear to be a jest, but it is not. For the second step is the one that distinguishes God from ALL other entities. The second step is for God to promise never to move/destroy/etc the feather.

Is not the only Living God splendid! He excels above all excellence! He alone can meet this challenge. Not you, or I, or Satan, or even the angels who have not fallen. Not anyone else. We do not have recourse to this two-step method. And He has indeed met the challenge already. He has given us His Word, and it shall not be altered forevermore. Amen.

Hello CTD,

May I add something a little more 'less confusing'?

ECCLESIASTES 12:13-14 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." THE PREACHER/ King Solomon

Omnipotent= all-powerful
Omniscient= knowing all things
Omnipresent= in all places at the same time
Immutable= unchangeable
Veracity= honesty, Truth

All of the definitions above describe our Holy God.

Jehovah Jireh = The Lord our provider
Jehovah Rophe = The Lord our healer
Jehovah Nissi = The Lord, my banner
Jehovah m'Kaddesh = The Lord who sanctifies
Jehovah Shalom = The Lord our peace
Jehovah Tsidkenu = The Lord our righteousness
Jehovah Rohi = The Lord my Shepherd
Jehovah Shammah = The Lord who is there

WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE! <><

Blessings and thank you, CTD!
Abishag

Omnipotence ~

Our soundest knowledge is to know that we know God not as indeed He is, neither can we know Him; and our safest eloquence concerning His is our silence, when we confess, without confession, that His glory is inexplainable, His greatness above our capacity and reach.
~~~~~~~~
By: Richrd Hooker
From 1001 Quotes, Illus, ..
Blessings, Abishag

God Became a Man ~

"He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing. He was born to be a man and became like a servant." PHILIPPIANS 2:7

~~~It all happened in a most remarkable moment...a moment like no other...

God became a man. Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.

The omnipotent, in one instant, became flesh and blood. The one who was larger than the universe became a microscopic embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl..

God had come near.
~~~~~~~~
God Came Near
Max Lucado <><
Blessings, Abishag

Blessings CTD!

In the DICTIONARY/CONCORDANCE of my husband's "New American Standard Bible", I find these interesting definitions:

OMNIPOTENCE- An attribute of God whereby He exercises absolute power over everything and accomplishes whatever He desires, always consistent with His own nature. His creation of the universe is an example. However, He cannot do anything contrary to His own nature, e.g. commit sin.

OMNIPRESENCE- An attribute of God, referring to the fact that He is everywhere at all times. This also allows for the fact that God is specifically present in some places and time; e.g. Jesus Christ as the Son of God is eternally present everywhere, but was specifically present on earth beginning with His incarnation, and is now specifically present in his resurrection body with the Father (Trinity).

OMNISCIENCE- An attribute of God, whereby He knows everything past, present, and future. His knowledge includes the thoughts of every person. When Jesus, the Son of God, says that He does not know the time of the Second Coming, but only the Father does (Matt. 24:36, etc.), it must be understood that this is a limitation which He temporarily places upon Himself, and not an exception to divine omniscience.

Our Lord is so AWESOME!
Thank you, and Blessings,
Abishag <><

Thanks,Abishag. It is a demonstration of monumental arrogance to claim that because one's understanding of omnipotence is faulty God cannot be omnipotent. Yet we encounter it time and time again.

"Being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
Romans 3:24 ~

~~~~SALVATION is free! God puts no price tag on the Gift of gifts--it's free! Preachers are not salesmen, for they have nothing to sell. They are bearers of Good News--the good tidings that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3).

Money can't buy it. Man's righteousness can't earn it. Social prestige can't help you acquire it. Morality can't purchase it. It is, as Isaiah said, "without money and without price."

God is not a bargaining God. You cannot barter with Him. You must do business with Him on His own terms. He holds in His omnipotent (all powerful)- hand the priceless, precious, eternal gift of salvation, and He bids you to take it without money and without price.

The best things in life are free, are they not? The air we breathe is not sold by the cubic foot. The water which flows crystal clear from the mountain stream is free for the taking. Love is free, faith is free, hope is free, and SALVATION IS A FREE GIFT FROM GOD!

~~~~~~~~~
Billy Graham/ Evangelist

Ephesians 2:8-9- "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."

Blessings, Abishag <><

Thank you, CTD for this outstanding article on the OMNIPOTENT , powerful LORD JEHOVAH M-Kaddesh!


This article was meant to receive 5 STARS * * * * *
Thank you for giving glory to Jehovah Tsid Kenu / THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS! [size:14pt]

Blessings, Abishag <><[/size]

It is a privilege to share things that are worthy to be shared.

It's funny too. Even in spiritual warfare, Murphy's Law seems to apply. In all the years since I learned how silly that challenge really is, I've only encountered it once. When I was relatively unprepared, I heard it at least three times.

Maybe Satan's keeping track of who knows what? It's anecdotal - not enough data to really go on.

"O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me." (Psalm 139:1)

-----Perhaps the most frightening attribute of God is that He knows everything about us. Everything! He has "searched (literally "penetrated") us and "known" ("understood" us. And since God is both omnipresent and omniscient, it obviously follows that nothing escapes His conscious knowledge about us. He observes our ordinary activities (v.2) and our innermost thoughts. We are transparent to Him; we cannot deceive Him in any way. He knows what we are going to think; we cannot hide anything from Him. God knows what only we know about ourselves, and those things we won't even admit to ourselves. WOW!

Furthermore, He is everywhere around each one of us (vv.7-10), wherever we are or could be. He fills all space, and there is no escape. We cannot hide from God. He is wherever we go. God's salvation is a very marvelos matter. "for when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:6-8).

God loves us in spite of what we have become. Yet, since He knows what we 'could' be, He gives us eternal life through His son so that we will realize, one day, what He knows we 'shall' be.

----------
HMM
Days of Praise -
ICR + + +
Blessings,

Blessings CTD, there is such maravelous insight in our Lord's attributes. Thank you for beginning this fantastic thread!

WOW!
Romans 11:33-36
----------------

Who is like You, O LORD, among the Gods?
Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in
praises, doing wonders?"
---Exodus 15:11

--------ONE blustery day in June, our family, holidaying in the Canadian Rockies, went to a tourist site that was billed as a "must see." The cold wind made me reluctant to go on until I saw a group of people returning from the scenic spot. "Is it worth it?" I asked. "Definitely!" was their response. That gave us the incentive to go on. When we finally reached the spot, its beauty rendered us virtually speechless. WOW! was all we could manage.

Paul reached that point as he wrote in the book of Romans about the work of God in saving Jew and Gentile. Three things about God "Wowed" Him!

First, God is all-wise (11:33). His perfect plan of salvation shows that He has far better solutions to the problems of life than we are capable of devising.

Second, God is all-knowing. His knowledge is infinite. He needs no counselor (v.34) and nothing surprises Him!

Third, God is all-sufficient (v.35). No one can give to God what He has not first given to them. Nor can anyone ever repay Him for His goodness.

We can say with Moses, "Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?" (Ex. 15:11 ESV). What a marvelous God we serve, indeed!!

By God's grace I stand on tiptoe,
Viewing all His wonders grand,
Praising Him who freely gave me
Simple faith to understand!
______________________________________
IN GOD'S CHARACTER AND IN HIS CREATION,
WE SEE HIS MAJESTY !

C P Hia
Our Daily Bread
Blessings, Abishag