What kind of physical impossibilities can God create?

[Langdell]

Barth would be an excellent example, I think. His affirmation of God’s utter transcendence and of the folly of attempting to extrapolate from our logic to God’s nature is in part a reflection of these cultural developments. (I find myself in a lot of tension these days between Barth and Aquinas. I’m still basically loyal to Aquinas but I find Barth’s position challenging and thought-provoking.)

I wonder if we are not speaking at cross purposes here. Does non-Euclidean logic violate the law of non-contradiction? I am not well-versed in the complex subject of modern philosophical logic, but I didn’t think that the eternal validity of basic logical principles such as non-contradiction was at stake. Am I wrong?

Thanks for the tip on Barth. I’ve been wanting to explore his work ever since I heard how highly Pope Paul VI (?) spoke of him.

As I understand it (I’m no expert!), the significance of non-Euclidean geometry is that it showed that a completely coherent geometry could be built up from axioms different from, and inconsistent with, those of Euclid. At first it was mainly a mathematical curiosity, but then, in the twentieth century, physicists found that the behavior of light in distant space is better explained & predicted by non-Euclidean geometry than by Euclidean geometry. So that forces one to wonder, which geometry is the “real” one?

My own thinking, as I mentioned above just now, is that logic(s) and math(s) are tools that God enabled us to create by giving us reason, memory, and observational powers. But I hesitate to say that these things are of God, because if we find better ways of reasoning and calculating, where would that leave God?

.

 

[Prodigal_Son]

However, I am reluctant to associate God too closely with math and logic (of any sort), because I think it paints us into the corner of needing to defend this or that mathematical or logical approach as an aspect of our faith. It strikes me as similar to the problem creationists face, in refusing to accept the weight of evidence for evolution because they have linked the literal truth of Genesis to the existence of God.

I sympathize with this reluctance. Perhaps it is enough to say that mathematics *is *objective, and to suggest that there are plenty of conceivable metaphysical hypotheses that would make this possible. (The most plausible one, perhaps, is God.)

But it is worth remembering that the mind of God is expressed just as clearly in creation itself as in any religion. Thus, when we discover things about the mental or physical worlds we inhabit, this knowledge does not proceed from religious understanding. Religion, like mathematics, is a cultural artifact that aspires to truth. One of the tools that it uses to sustain truth is dogma, but dogma cannot be used as argument in the realm of science.

I suspect that God is as interested in psychology and the sciences as he is interested in religion. In fact, I’m afraid that some religious folks rather bore him, and some scientists delight him daily. (Yes, I know these are anthropomorphisms, but you get the idea.)

 

[david_friol_1]

When asked if God can create logical impossibilities, the answer is uniformly: “no”. On the other hand, it is also uniformly asserted that God can create physical impossibilities. The laws of nature are not an obstacle for God.

So, let’s see a few examples:

1. 
   *]There is an absolute zero, which is the “coldest” possible temperature, there the Brownian motion of molecules stops. To achieve minus one degree Kelvin is only a physical impossibility. Can God do it?
   
   *] There is an absolute maximum speed, the speed of light in a vacuum. No physical object with a resting mass of more than zero can achieve, much less surpass it. This is just a physical limit, so it should not hinder God. Can God move anything faster than the speed of light?
   
   *] There is also a maximum of heat, where the molecules would move with the speed of light. Can God make anything “hotter” than this maximum?
   
   *] Time is unidirectional, it goes from the fast to the future. Theoretically, it could go in the other direction. Can God reverse the direction of time? Can God make time travel possible? Can God change the past?
   
   *] Opposite electromagnetically charged objects attract each other, like electromagentically charged ojects repel each other. Can God create the opposite, where like charges repel and opposite charges attract? Or something else, where all charges repel each other? Or all charges attract each other?
   
   Think about it.

1. 
   Hey Spock
   I like these questions, I’m just glad you did not ask the one about God making a stone so heavy that he would not be able to lift it!
   The questions you asked are not logical contradictions like the one about the stone. I do not have a problem believing that God’s omnipotence can do the things you ask, the problem comes in trying to get him to demonstrate for us all to see. The way I look at it though is if God created this universe and set up all the laws of the universe then he probably would have no problem suspending any one of them if he so chooses. But God, as far as I know is not into doing party tricks. Perhaps you could try to come up with a legitimate reason for him to used his power in one of those ways it might be helpful. I just can not think of one right now myself. I think maybe his omniscient mind knew that there would be no reason to make the universe to go to those extremes. Who knows!
   God bless you and you family Spock