What can God do?

[clipperride]

We are taught that God is Omnipotent and can therefore do anything. However the following question has left me somewhat confused.

“Could God create a rock so huge that He could not move it?”

I have been trying to answer this question but have only managed to come up with other examples, such as “could God ever become lost?”

I would be very grateful for any thoughts you might have in how I can answer the above points.

 

[JohnDamian]

“Could God create a rock so huge that He could not move it?”

God’s powers of creation are identical to his powers of manipulation.

In the same way as he could create a rock of infinite size and weight, he could move and manipulate such a rock.

It is a rather silly question to be honest, it is like saying;

Can God create a square circle?!?!

It is just ridiculous, the idea that God could create a rock too big to lift is exactly as contradictory and absurd as asking if he could create a square circle. The answer is no - no God can’t.

Doing the impossible or logically contradictory is impossible, no matter if one has infinite power or not.

 

[clipperride]

Thank you for your quick reply and for providing a new way of thinking about this problem!

 

[JohnDamian]

Thank you for your quick reply and for providing a new way of thinking about this problem!

No problem.

If you encounter any more problems or questions of this type feel free to ask about them… The old “giant rock” question has been shown to be silly for some time now (hence the quick reply); so some new materials would be fun!

 

[John7]

“could God ever become lost?”

To a person maybe.
To some he has never been found.

“seek, and ye shall find” Matt 7:7

 

[lizaanne]

“could God ever become lost?”

“Lost” in what sense? Do you mean like we could become lost in a forest?

If this is the case - then no. It would mean that God did not possess some knowledge to get Him where He needed to go to get un-lost. And that is not possible.

~Liza

 

[Tantum_ergo]

I guess it would be kind of like the ultimate GPS --“GOD position system”.

 

[jmcrae]

We are taught that God is Omnipotent and can therefore do anything. However the following question has left me somewhat confused.

“Could God create a rock so huge that He could not move it?”

I have been trying to answer this question but have only managed to come up with other examples, such as “could God ever become lost?”

I would be very grateful for any thoughts you might have in how I can answer the above points.

God can’t do anything that would contradict His nature.

 

[Apollos]

We are taught that God is Omnipotent and can therefore do anything. However the following question has left me somewhat confused.

“Could God create a rock so huge that He could not move it?”

I have been trying to answer this question but have only managed to come up with other examples, such as “could God ever become lost?”

I would be very grateful for any thoughts you might have in how I can answer the above points.

A rock that size would have a gravitational field so strong it would collapse on itself and drop out of existence. So the question is moot.

 

[Apollos]

“could God ever become lost?”

Of course he could. People all the time are saying they’ve found him.

 

[MindOverMatter2]

Of course he could. People all the time are saying they’ve found him.

Are you joking?

 

[4Horsemen]

We are taught that God is Omnipotent and can therefore do anything. However the following question has left me somewhat confused.

“Could God create a rock so huge that He could not move it?”

I have been trying to answer this question but have only managed to come up with other examples, such as “could God ever become lost?”

I would be very grateful for any thoughts you might have in how I can answer the above points.

God created the laws of nature and science, the laws of logic and reason and morality. He will abide by His own laws unless He performs a miracle. (He wouldn’t be doing anything regarded as magical or fanciful).

 

[Soulewolf]

God’s powers of creation are identical to his powers of manipulation.

In the same way as he could create a rock of infinite size and weight, he could move and manipulate such a rock.

i’m afraid not. This would imply that god’s limit is infinity. A truly omnipotent being has no limits.

I would say that god could create a rock in which he set a specific “boundary” in the nature of that rock that states that “god can not lift this rock”, and as such he would not be able to lift it.

If he chose however, he could change this boundary to “god can lift this rock” whenever he wants and then be able to lift it.

A catholic philosopher friend of mine once asked me when i asked this same question, “do fish move fast?” to which i answered “yes”.
He then went on to say “what if you remove them from the water, would you then say that fish are fast?” to which i replied “huh…”

If you take the question out of context, it becomes completely meaningless, that is removing the Divine from its environment and placing it within ours.

 

[Soulewolf]

…

 

[spockrates]

God can’t do anything that would contradict His nature.

Agreed! For example, God cannot lie:

… it is impossible for God to lie … .

(Hebrews 6:18)

I suppose then that when it comes to speaking lies, we have power to do what God is powerless to do! Guess that makes us more powerful than Him?



I suppose that was the thinking of the Father of Lies.

 

[4Horsemen]

Agreed! For example, God cannot lie:

… it is impossible for God to lie … .

(Hebrews 6:18)

I suppose then that when it comes to speaking lies, we have power to do what God is powerless to do! Guess that makes us more powerful than Him?



I suppose that was the thinking of the Father of Lies.

To be able to lie is not a power but reveals the lack of, or absence of, the power to tell the truth. Absence = void = apart from God. Powerless. Under the spell or diabolical “power” of the Father of Lies.

 

[spockrates]

To be able to lie is not a power but reveals the lack of, or absence of, the power to tell the truth. Absence = void = apart from God. Powerless. Under the spell or diabolical “power” of the Father of Lies.

Yes, hence the wink.

I suppose it all depends on whose perspective you rely. It might be that Satan and his minions believed doing something that God cannot do (that being sin) gave them power God did not have. My thought is that you are right, and such “power” is, in reality, weakness.

 

[4Horsemen]

Yes, hence the wink.

I suppose it all depends on whose perspective you rely. It might be that Satan and his minions believed doing something that God cannot do (that being sin) gave them power God did not have. My thought is that you are right, and such “power” is, in reality, weakness.

Sorry I missed the . It’s hard to understand that Satan can be so full of pride that He could even think or conjure up doing anything more powerful than God. The only real weapon he knows he can wield is the power of lies to distract souls from their eternal goal and win them by making them turn from God through mortal sin and despair.

A book I’m still reading (here and there), written by Sister Josefa Menendez (who lived in the early twentieth century) at the bidding of Our Lord and demands of her superiors, reveals the favors given to her as well as the penances. It was her vocation to win souls by helping Christ carry His cross, wearing His crown of thorns and visiting Hell to see the suffering damned and demons like coals of fire. By the way, the title of the book is The Way of Divine Love. It’s like a precursor to St. Faustina’s Diary.

 

[spockrates]

Sorry I missed the . It’s hard to understand that Satan can be so full of pride that He could even think or conjure up doing anything more powerful than God. The only real weapon he knows he can wield is the power of lies to distract souls from their eternal goal and win them by making them turn from God through mortal sin and despair.

A book I’m still reading (here and there), written by Sister Josefa Menendez (who lived in the early twentieth century) at the bidding of Our Lord and demands of her superiors, reveals the favors given to her as well as the penances. It was her vocation to win souls by helping Christ carry His cross, wearing His crown of thorns and visiting Hell to see the suffering damned and demons like coals of fire. By the way, the title of the book is The Way of Divine Love. It’s like a precursor to St. Faustina’s Diary.

Sounds like a good book, but a bit more serious look at demons than the one I’m rereading: C.S. Lewis’ The Skrewtape Letters.

 

[4Horsemen]

Sounds like a good book, but a bit more serious look at demons than the one I’m rereading: C.S. Lewis’ The Skrewtape Letters.

I read that book 2 or 3 times. It’s an excellent study of how Satan uses our human frailties to enter our minds and tempt us to sin.

Following is the description of Hell from the 3rd vision at Fatima, Portugal in 1917:

“Upon saying these last words, she again opened her hands as in the preceding two months. The reflection appeared to penetrate into the earth and we saw, as it were, a sea of fire. Submerged in that fire were demons and souls in human shapes who resembled red-hot, black and bronze-colored embers that floated about in a blaze borne by the flames that issued from them with a cloud of smoke, falling everywhere like sparks in great fires, without weight or equilibrium, amidst moans of pain and despair that horrified us and made us shake with terror (that must be when I shouted ‘aahii’ people said they heard.) The devils had horrible and disgusting shapes of scary and unknown animals but were transparent like black burning coals. Scared and as if asking for help, we raised our eyes to Our Lady, who said with goodness and sadness:

“You have seen hell, where the souls of poor sinners go; in order to save them, God wants to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. If they do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace…”

The vision lasted but an instant, during which Sister Lucia let out a gasp as described above. She explains that if it were not for Our Lady’s special graces and the promise that the seers would be taken to heaven, they would have died of fright and terror.

And here’s all you need to know about Hell in a nutshell, so to speak:

americaneedsfatima.blogspot.com/2010/07/real-truth-about-hell.html

Also, Google Father Gabriel Amorth, chief excorist at the Vatican, for a good synopsis of the evil of our time. (I had listened to one of his talks on tape). Father Euteneuer from Human Life International is also doing exorcisms and said that there is reason to believe that incidences of diabolical activity is on the increase due to the evils of abortion and homosexuality.