Saturday, March 16, 2002
Theological Foray #6: The Omnipotent God
One of the things that most irritates me is when people deliberately use semantics to avoid facing the real question. One of the best examples of these is the "If God is all-powerful, could he make a rock so big he couldn't lift it?" In a question where you lose no matter if you answer yes or no, you must debunk the question. I would say that there are some things that can't be created. Is it because God is limited? No. God couldn't create a stone too big for him to lift because he is all-powerfuln and thus nothing beyond him (to quote from Star Wars, "size matters not"). Similarly, God couldn't just create humans who loved him unconditionally. To do so would defeat the purpose, since there's no joy in the assured. Is God cruel for doing this, knowing that some people will be unable to be saved? No. The Bible says that even Satan is salvageable, and he's far worse than any humans. Thus, everyone has a chance. I don't think that fully answers the Problem of Evil, but it's a start.
One of the things that most irritates me is when people deliberately use semantics to avoid facing the real question. One of the best examples of these is the "If God is all-powerful, could he make a rock so big he couldn't lift it?" In a question where you lose no matter if you answer yes or no, you must debunk the question. I would say that there are some things that can't be created. Is it because God is limited? No. God couldn't create a stone too big for him to lift because he is all-powerfuln and thus nothing beyond him (to quote from Star Wars, "size matters not"). Similarly, God couldn't just create humans who loved him unconditionally. To do so would defeat the purpose, since there's no joy in the assured. Is God cruel for doing this, knowing that some people will be unable to be saved? No. The Bible says that even Satan is salvageable, and he's far worse than any humans. Thus, everyone has a chance. I don't think that fully answers the Problem of Evil, but it's a start.
