Question: If God is omnipotent (all powerful), can he create a rock that he cannot lift? If so, he is not omnipotent, and if he cannot, then he is not all powerful.

Mike

Answer: Dear Mike,

You are posing what is logically called "a false dilemma". It is false because it argues from a flawed foundation. The Bible does not claim that God can "do anything". The Bible says that God cannot lie, for example. God cannot die, for he is immortal. Omnipotence means that God is sovereign, that he is all powerful, that he is in charge of creation.

The answer to your question is "no" – although the question is illogical. The answer is "no" because if God ever did create or "build" a rock that he could not move or "lift", then he would have negated his omnipotence, he would have created something over which he had no power, and thus he would no longer be God. God cannot stop being God, therefore the answer is "no."

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht