Block, SkipCaptcha, apieditor, Automoderated users, Bots, edit, ratelimit-exempt
58,992
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 12:
Line 12: − +
→The Paradox of the Stone: Spelling/Grammar Check, typos fixed: existant → existent
== The Paradox of the Stone ==
== The Paradox of the Stone ==
The paradox of the stone is the common argument given by atheists (and some theists, such as Peter Geach)<ref>https://www3.nd.edu/~afreddos/papers/mp.htm</ref> to attempt to show that the concept of Divine omnipotence is incoherent and thus non-existant. If God can create a stone too heavy for him to lift, goes the argument, then God cannot do something, namely, lift the object; if God cannot make such a stone, then there is still something He cannot perform and thus is not omnipotent.
The paradox of the stone is the common argument given by atheists (and some theists, such as Peter Geach)<ref>https://www3.nd.edu/~afreddos/papers/mp.htm</ref> to attempt to show that the concept of Divine omnipotence is incoherent and thus non-existent. If God can create a stone too heavy for him to lift, goes the argument, then God cannot do something, namely, lift the object; if God cannot make such a stone, then there is still something He cannot perform and thus is not omnipotent.
There are several ways to answer this paradox, but the most common is to say that omnipotence does not entail the ability to actualize logically incoherent propositions such as 1+1=3. This is not a limitation or incoherene in God's omnipotence, because 1+1=3 and a rock too heavy for an omnipotent being to lift are not ''things''. In other words, it is the propositions themselves that are incoherent, not God's omnipotence. Since these propositions don't actually describe anything (because their descriptions involve logical contradictions), there is nothing for God to actualize.
There are several ways to answer this paradox, but the most common is to say that omnipotence does not entail the ability to actualize logically incoherent propositions such as 1+1=3. This is not a limitation or incoherene in God's omnipotence, because 1+1=3 and a rock too heavy for an omnipotent being to lift are not ''things''. In other words, it is the propositions themselves that are incoherent, not God's omnipotence. Since these propositions don't actually describe anything (because their descriptions involve logical contradictions), there is nothing for God to actualize.