Could God create a rock so heavy He could not lift it?

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True Bible Answers · Accepted Answer

This is a famous philosophical puzzle — the "omnipotence paradox." It assumes that God's power is a raw, abstract force that should be able to do literally anything, including what is self-contradictory. But Scripture approaches the question from a very different angle: God's power never operates apart from His nature. The things Scripture says God "cannot" do are not limitations on His power — they are expressions of His perfection. What God "Cannot" Do — and Why Scripture is remarkably clear that there are things God cannot do: He cannot lie (Heb. 6:17-18; Titus 1:2), He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13), He cannot be tempted with evil (James 1:13). Far from being weaknesses, these reveal the absolute integrity of His being. James Boyd addresses this principle directly: When we speak of a person not being able to sin we do not mean that the person is so weak that he is unable to do the act which would be a departure from right, but that his nature is such that it would be impossible for the notion of that which is sinful ever to rise in his heart or mind. James Boyd Boyd then applies the same logic to God's truthfulness — a question that cuts directly to the paradox: If God cannot lie, wherein lies the virtue of His truthfulness? his nature is such that it would be impossible for the notion of that which is sinful ever to rise in his heart or mind The answer is that the "cannot" is not inability — it is the perfection of His character. These are not external restraints but expressions of what God is. "He Cannot Deny Himself — He Must Be True to His Own Nature" James Boyd develops this further elsewhere: If God intervene He must do it in righteousness. He cannot say, I will be merciful to their unrighteousnesses… so that if they cannot go on with Me in My uprightness I will go on with them in their crookedness… The very thought of such a conclusion on the part of God would be akin to blasphemy. He cannot deny Himself. He must be true to His own nature. Our confidence in Him lies in the fact that He is righteous, holy and true, and that He cannot deny Himself. Whatever may be the consequence of the entrance of sin into His universe, whatever it may cost Him to deal with it… He cannot change, He must deal with it in harmony with His nature and character. James Boyd This is the key insight: God does not act in one direction with His power and another with His character. They are one. "God Is What He Is" Frank Hole captures the point with striking simplicity: God is what He is, no matter how failing I or any one of His saints may be. God is not what He is because I am very good, and He will not change because I am very naughty. Frank Hole And in his comments on Psalm 37: "If we believe not [are unfaithful] yet He abides faithful: He cannot deny Himself" (2 Tim. 2:13). It is therefore most happily true that they who are weak in faith, and consequently do not trust Him wholly, yet find Him wholly true. "Impossible for God to Lie" J.T. Mawson draws out the force of Hebrews 6:17-18: God will not go back on His Word, for the "I AM" changes not, and He "willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation." J.T. Mawson He then adds this remarkable sentence: He would deny Himself if He were not [faithful]. He would not be Alpha and Omega. it was impossible for God to lie God's Attributes in Perfect Harmony Edward Dennett unfolds God's essential nature: When the word of God speaks of what He is absolutely in His nature, one word describes it, and that word is LOVE… It was there in the death of His beloved Son that He told out all that He is, His righteousness against sin, His love in providing the sacrifice; yea, every divine attribute was displayed in the cross, and in all the perfection of their entire harmony because there every question of good and evil was for ever solved. Edward Dennett God's attributes — love, righteousness, holiness, power — are not separate compartments that can be set against one another. They exist in perfect, indivisible harmony. Trust over Philosophical Traps A.J. Pollock gives this counsel: In cases where we cannot understand, we may well believe that if we had the full knowledge of the case as God has, and were possessed of the wisdom and power of God, and were called upon to act, we should act exactly as God has acted. A.J. Pollock And his practical conclusion: We have to learn to look at circumstances in the light of our knowledge of God, and not decide on the character of God in the light of circumstances, as we see them, or think we see them. Synthesis The "rock so heavy God cannot lift it" treats omnipotence as brute, abstract force that should be able to do anything — including what is logically self-contradictory. But Scripture never presents God's power that way. His omnipotence is the power of the One who is perfectly holy, righteous, true, and loving. He "cannot lie," He "cannot deny Himself," He "cannot be tempted with evil" — and these are not limitations. They are the very things that make Him infinitely trustworthy and worthy of worship. To ask God to create a self-contradiction is not to test His power — it is to ask Him to deny Himself. And that, Scripture says plainly, He cannot do. Not because He lacks strength, but because He is perfectly, unchangeably, gloriously consistent with Himself. As Boyd puts it: His nature is "such that it would be impossible" for what contradicts that nature ever to arise.

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