If God can do anything can he create a stone so heavy he cannot lift it?

Answer 1

The Bible tells us there are only two things that God can NOT do:

1. He cannot die. (See Habakkuk 1:12 and Psalm 90:1,2) and
2. He cannot lie. (See Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 6:18)

Read the definition of the word Paradox.

Alternate Answers:

No. He did exactly that when He gave humans the power of free will. Any more questions?

Yes, he can, but why would he?

Questions of this nature are "Show stoppers!" that are supposed to bring believers to their knees. Others are "Can God forget, even if he wants to?", " Can God tell a lie or does it just become true because he says it is?" etc.

The religious ask "Where did your big bang come from?", and "Why does π= 3.14...." for the same reasons.

This all comes from the inherent ability of language to cover all cases. The questions, while good for laughs, have no meaningful answers.

God CAN do everything, he CHOOSES not to do some things, so he chooses not to MAKE everyone believe in him (i.e. free will). You may say there has to be a yes or no answer to any question but trying to answer this is like trying to understand infinity, NOT POSSIBLE - but very much proof that God is real and very powerful (and a bit mind-blowing).

God is wise and knows that creating a rock or stone that is so heavy is useless.

Answer

None of these 'answers' actually answer the question. This question contradicts the argument that God is omnipotent. It basically means that no one can be omnipotent... not even 'God'. If God could create this hypothetical stone, then he is not all powerful because he can't lift it. If God could not lift this stone then he is therefore not powerful enough to create such a heavy stone in the first place. No one can be omnipotent.

Mis-constructed question

"God is omnipotent" means that God does everything, not that God can do any nonsense you imagine. All (non-fictitious) power exists. God has all of it, by definition. This fact cannot imply a contradiction. Everything includes all power, and Everything does not imply a contradiction. If it did, Everything couldn't exist, so nothing could exist, and you couldn't exist, but you do exist.

So the problem is with the hypothesis, not the conclusion. "God can do anything" is false, but it's falsehood doesn't contradict "God is omnipotent."

Christian dualism encourages this misunderstanding more than earlier, Abrahamic monotheism. Many Christians do not attribute all power to God, because they divide power between God and Satan. This division of power differs from the earlier, monotheistic view, in which Satan is God's agent, as in Job. The later view is not properly monotheistic at all.

It's called a paradoxical question...

Anything that you believe God can do, I would assume that your god can do... because you imagined him, made him up. You can't ask god if he can do these things, he wouldn't answer... he can only answer in your mind. Kind of like if I tell you that my god can do whatever he wants, he can even destroy your god!! Then I'm right, because it's my imaginary god, and he can do whatever he wants. I've given him that power!

Not everything is paradoxical

Everything includes all power. Everything cannot create a stone so large that Everything can't lift it, but everything includes all power regardless. My "God" is a word denoting everything. If you want to imagine something labeled "god" destroying everything, you can do that, but your god must destroy itself to destroy my God, because my "God" is just a word denoting everything.

Huh?

Whenever a question produces paradoxical answers you should examine the assumptions within the question for flaws.

In this case it is analogous to the old "Irresistible Force/Immovable Object" question.

Like that old question, the OP's question contains internal contradictions. God would be analogous to the irresistible force and the stone the immovable object. The existence of one denies the existence of the other.

Another assumption within the OP's question is that God is a material being.

Also, does the Bible not say that Thou Shalt Not Test The Lord Thy God? Either accept, on faith, His omnipotence or dismiss Him as a paradoxical invention.

Another answer among the many

He could create a heavy stone and then give up the ability to lift it. But that would be as pointless as this question, so who cares?

This is not a paradox, it's a stupid question

In asking this question, the questioner had already assumed the existence of gravity because of the word "lift" in the question. What is "lift"? My definition for "lift" is: Moving an object to the opposite direction of gravity. By definition, God created everything. Hence, God created gravity. Since God can create gravity, he can certainly make it disappear. So God can "lift" any stone. Put another way, this question could become: if God were to have an arm Wrestling match between his left arm （gravity）and right arm (to "lift" the stone), which one would win? Both arms belong to God. This is not a contest; there is no winning or losing. Therefore this is a stupid question.

If God is omnipotent, God must be everything, everything must be God. There is nothing outside God, not even empty space, because God created space and time. The fact is, "Outside God" is an oxymoron: if there is God, then there will be no "outside"; if there is an "outside", then there will be no God. There is no gravity "outside" God. God doesn't live in a gravitational field. For an omnipotent God, there is no such concept as "lift". "Lift" only exists in human experience. Gravity, like everything else, exists inside God. For an omnipotent God, there is no such concept as "stand" either, because there is no ground "outside" God. By the same token，for an omnipotent God, there are no such concepts as "breathe"，"eat"，"drink"，"excrete", "wear clothes", "walk"，"sit", "lie down". God doesn't have a body. All bodies have skin, skin is the boundary of the body. God doesn't have boundary. Therefore, God doesn't have a face，nor shape. An ant looks at you while you are talking, it could see your lips and tongue moving. The ant asks you: "How do you lift your lips and tongue?" You reply: "It's a stupid question." A man sees that the Moon is moving, he asks God: "How do you lift the Moon?" God says: "It's a stupid question."

Answer 2

This question has plagued enough people for it to receive it's own name in Philosophy. It is called the Omnipotent Paradox. Unfortunately, many Christians, over the years, have found themselves silenced by this ideological paradox. Essentially, it is understood that if God is omnipotent, than there is nothing that he cannot do. However, the scenario presented creates a situation where either God cannot create or God cannot lift. The conundrum is generated when one realizes that both solutions lead to a failure in the omnipotence of God and therefore nothing can be all-powerful, not even God.

What this question truly poses is a false question. The rules of an actual question do not apply in this scenario because it bends the rules of information gathering to achieve a desired result. This question now must be looked at in light of it's own flaws and fallacies. For example;

Please look at this Math solution:

Statement : a = b

Assuming a and b > 0, then;

Step 1 : a2 = ab

Step 2 : a2 - b2 = ab - b2

Step 3 : (a + b)(a - b) = b(a - b)

Step 4 : (a + b) = b

Step 5 : b + b = b

Step 6 : 2b = b

Solution : 2 = 1

Obviously someone can state surely 2 does not equal 1. The steps look sound and each utilize a proven law of mathematics so the solution must be true right? This is one of those situations where the equations look right until you enter the true information. (a - b) will always equal zero. This means that you may only divide (a - b) by itself if a ≠ b. So using a statement which is true in one sense ( (a-b)/(a-b) = 1 ) in this particular sense creates a nullification of the proof. Likewise, when calculating God's strength we have to concede that it is not measureable simply by the constraints applied to our understanding of physics.

To properly study this question it must be redesigned with controls in mind to gauge a proper answer. The weight of this question is the akin to, "Was Einstein stupid or mentall handicapped?" Either option elicits a negative outcome but it neccessitates an educated solution. The answer for this question would be quite simply "Neither, these two attributes were not associated with Einstein." The same applies to this questioning.

God is indeed omnipotent but to attempt to create an object He can not lift is illogical. The same as if one would ask if God can kill Himself, if God can sin, or if God can give birth to himself. My inability to understand God's nature does not hinder it. It merely suggests that I need to study more, to search more, and to remain open to the possibilities I see.

The question now becomes what does Omnipotence mean or connotate?

Answer 3

Its a paradox. That paradox proves that omnipotence is impossible so therefore god cannot be omnipotent.

If god were to create such a stone he wouldn't be able to lift it so he wouldn't be omnipotent.

If he couldn't create such a stone again he would not be omnipotent.

Answer 4

Most monotheistic religions such as Christianity and Judaism believe that God is all powerful, therefore He could lift any rock no matter how big.

Answer

That depends on your opinion. some scholars say that God can only do the logically possible, and as he is omnipotent then creating a rock with those specifications is not possible,. Some scholars such as Rene Descartes though stated that as God was omnipotent he could do anything even the logically impossible such as your above question.

Answer 5

Yes, in a metaphorical sense. The hearts of the wicked are called "hearts of stone" (Ezekiel 11:19), and God chooses to grant everyone free-will (Deuteronomy 30:15-20), making Him "unable" to elevate their "stone hearts" unless they return to Him.

Answer 6

Yes. To understand God correctly he made us to love and serve him and to love one another. Lifting and making rocks is not the correct job description.

Answer 7

God can lift anything.