Classic Solutions

If God is all-powerful, is it such that He could create a stone so heavy even He could not lift it?


Oh, the fun question, a classic atheist fight against God. It's so simple, so easy to understand...and immediately presents a problem for those who believe in the classical conception of God. There are two answers possible (yes and no). Both create a problem: if it is that God cannot create such a stone, He wouldn't be all powerful, and if it is that He can create it and then not be able to lift it, He's also not all powerful. Therefore, God isn't all powerful. Right?

Nope.

Both answers are in fact correct and do NOT in any manner reduce the power of God.

1. Yes. God can both create a stone so heavy He cannot lift it and then He would lift it. He's God and can do all things. He could make circles square and 1+1=7. He's God, He makes the rules: deal with it. (Oh, Descartes, I love you. Stubborn, pigheaded and obnoxious all before your time.)

2. No. Creating a stone that's too heavy for God to lift is a paradox, an impossibility: like a round square or a dark light--things that contradict by matters of words cannot exist in our universe. Therefore, a stone too heavy for the all powerful God to lift is a contradiction of terms rather than a contradiction of God. Rather than disproving God, the questioner is proving himself stupid by suggesting such a thing. (A Thomas Aquinas proof, more subtle, more compelling...though severely less satisfying than Descartes.)