God's almightiness.

[steph_86]

He could have made 3 a 2 and could have made a 2 a 3. But he prefered to make a 2 a 2 and a 3 a 3.

As a matter of fact, we could have done the same thing as well. But we didn’t and He didn’t.

It is all semantics. Any number can represent anything we wish. So if someone wishes 1 + 1 = 3 they can. But they can’t use it in a society which has chosen 1 + 1 = 2, because the gas and water cos won’t like that. However if everyone decides on 3 for 1 + 1 , then everything is sync again.

Language is a real thing, a real substance, or a form, that exists first, in the Mind of God. It is likely that language was given to humanity by God.

As Genesis states:

*"So the LORD God formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each living creature was then its name.

The man gave names to all the tame animals, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be a helper suited to the man."*

• Genesis 2:19-20

For this reason, language has meaning, and points to real things. Language is bound by meaning, as well as the rules of logic. The fact that 1+1 = 2, is based on Reality itself. The most fundamental mathematical truths and axioms are ideas, concepts, or forms which point to realities that have existence, in the known creation.

Creation is real, in very much the same way that, language is real. Without this realness of language, there would be no meaning to the spoken word. Creation itself, would be devoid of meaning. It would be a contradiction. I

 

[steph_86]

One of the explanations could be that 1+1=2 is God’s creation so he can change it whenever he wants it to 1+1=3. But how can we explain such a paradox? We all heard it. Can God make a rock so hard He couldn’t lift it? A possible answer might be no, He can’t because He can’t contradict his nature. But if He can’t contradict His nature, doesn’t that make him not almighty?

As stated earlier, God is Eternal Reason. He is rational Being by excellence, and pure Spirit. God is Eternal Reason, and for that fact, He is eminently Free. By the vision of His Essence, He knows what He can do and what He cannot do. But He cannot do a specific thing because it would involve a contradiction to His Being, to His Reason. Indeed, God cannot contradict Himself. The reason being because He seeks His own Good, and loves Himself necessarily. This is why God cannot sin. Sin, would involve a contradiction of His Being and of His Nature. It would be akin to God no longer loving Himself, and no longer seeking His own Goodness.

God is necessary Being, and without His Will, nothing has being. Angels, who are far more intelligent than humans, can know all that is possible for them to know. They know that which is rational, and concepts that involve possible contradiction. For example, an angel naturally knows that he cannot be God, because it is beyond his power, and his nature. This would involve a contradiction of his own angelic nature. An angel, however, can seek to be as God, as Lucifer, the Archangel, wanted before he fell from Heaven into Hell, and became the Devil, Satan. And the reason is revealed by the meaning of St. Michael the Archangel’s name from the Hebrew:

“Who is like unto God?”

Satan knows that he cannot be God, that would involve a contradiction, meaning, something that is beyond his power, and his nature. But he can be like unto God, that is, by ruling above men, like Christ would or attain to his own good under his own power.

St. Thomas on this subject, states the following:

Not that he desired to resemble God by being subject to no one else absolutely; for so he would be desiring his own ‘not-being’; since no creature can exist except by holding its existence under God. But he desired resemblance with God in this respect–by desiring, as his last end of beatitude, something which he could attain by the virtue of his own nature, turning his appetite away from supernatural beatitude, which is attained by God’s grace.

• Summa Theologica, First Part, Question 63.

Humans, however, are less intelligent than the angels. Part of the reason is that because the human is composed of body and soul, the flesh more or less slows down in humanity, the faculty of the intellect and the ability to use it properly. In addition, due to Original Sin contracted by every human being, the human intellect has defects, most importantly of which, is ignorance.

But to address the question directly, the fact that humans are unable to understand the impossibility of logical contradictions, comes the defect in our intellects. Contrary to angels, humans are not capable of knowing all that they are capable of knowing. For that reason, it is easy for us to make errors in reasoning.

God has no such defects. As a poster has stated, a logical contradiction is essentially devoid. God is no less Omnipotent because He cannot effect that which is contradictory. It shows even more His Omnipotence which being that, He is Infinitely Rational.

 

[steph_86]

But to address the question directly, the fact that humans are unable to understand the impossibility of logical contradictions, comes the defect in our intellects. Contrary to angels, humans are not capable of knowing all that they are capable of knowing. For that reason, it is easy for us to make errors in reasoning.

God has no such defects. As a poster has stated, a logical contradiction is essentially devoid. God is no less Omnipotent because He cannot effect that which is contradictory. It shows even more His Omnipotence which being that, He is Infinitely Rational.

*Correction:

But to address the question directly, the fact that humans are unable to understand the impossibility of logical contradictions, comes from the defect in our intellects.

God has no such defects. As a poster has stated, a logical contradiction is essentially devoid of meaning.

 

[steph_86]

One of the explanations could be that 1+1=2 is God’s creation so he can change it whenever he wants it to 1+1=3. But how can we explain such a paradox? We all heard it. Can God make a rock so hard He couldn’t lift it? A possible answer might be no, He can’t because He can’t contradict his nature. But if He can’t contradict His nature, doesn’t that make him not almighty?

Such statements being logical contradictions, are essentially irrational. God however, is Eternal Reason, one might even term Him, supra-rational, since His dictates, and His Providential works often contradict human logic and often remain a mystery to man.

And irrationality, has no being in God.

 

[steph_86]

Such statements being logical contradictions, are essentially irrational. God however, is Eternal Reason, one might even term Him, supra-rational, since His dictates, and His Providential works often contradict human logic and often remain a mystery to man.

And irrationality, has no being in God.

I should say: irrationality has not existence in God.

 

[CrowCrowCrow]

Can God be something he is not? If he cannot - doesn’t it make him not so all-mighty?

You can manufacture such puzzles infinitely (“Can God create a rock he cannot lift?”, “Can God create a … that he cannot… ?”). For me it comes down to simple - Lord created universe, the laws of physics, and logic. So we, as humans, are determined by the universe he shaped. Because of that those questions are irrelevant. Everything is working the way the God intended, so speculating if it could be not so is a bit narrow sighted. Could God create exceptions? Well - they would redefine the rule then.

When it comes to conflict between “perfection” and “fuliness” (not sure how to translate this from my language). The question about God being limited because he is perfect has been going around for many centuries. If I recall correctly one of the answers was that God can be perfect and unlimited because imperfections aren’t a substance but the lack of it. Thus only the good exists and bad/wrong/evil is the lack of goodness. It’s the answer I found to be exact for me personally. Only the good matters in the end, everything else is just a roadblock on the way to fulfilled existence. It also goes along with the Christian definition of fulfillment

Also - God cannot be me, as I am separate. How does it make him limited? If it makes him limited then how can we even say something is “unlimited”? If we go too far with puzzles we will have to trash a lot of words. At some point you realized that such speculation goes against logic, because you can create an abstract situation that can negate any “totality”. So “unlimited” doesn’t mean “free to change form from dog to duck at any given time” and almighty doesn’t mean “can negate itself and not limit itself at the same time”.

 

[clem456]

It seems to me that there is nothing that God cannot do, even if it seems to violate human reason. God is mysterious while at the same time revealing himself to us as reasonable.

Christianity can seem like foolishness (lose one’s life to save it?). It can be counterintuitive.