Omnipotence Paradox Debunked

This video debunks a pretty bad objection to theism, the omnipotence paradox.

Sources:

The Guide for the Perplexed - Moses Maimonides

City of God - St. Augustine

Basic Writings - St. Anslem

The Coherence of Theism - Richard Swinburne

The Non-existence of God - Nicholas Everitt

[bernardroscoe]

"Can God microwave a burrito so hot even He can't eat it." -Homer Simpson

[notmakingcontent]

A square circle? Oh, you mean a WWE Ring

[robloxcris]

Im an atheist and im glad that i found this channel. I have many doubts of the common atheist arguments especially the definition that both sides uses.

[theboi]

Never thought I’d see Thanos in a video regarding Christianity, lol.

[MachineGunX]

The simplest objection to the omnipotence paradox is that omnipotence isn't the ability to anything, but rather the ability to do ALL *things* . Notice I highlighted things. God is by definition the most powerful being there is. As such, there is no thing that God can't do. Hence, the question "Can God create a stone so heavy that it can't be lifted?" makes no sense. There is nothing that God can't lift, so the very concept of a stone heavy enough that God can't lift it doesn't exist, not even hypothetically. It's a non-thing, thus not falling under the category of all *things* that omnipotent beings can do.

[danmeyer]

Even if omnipotence did mean the ability to do everything (even the logically impossible), there still wouldn't be anything wrong with an omnipotent being creating a stone so heavy that even he can't lift it, and then him lifting it. Although that is logically impossible, if omnipotence includes the ability to do the logically impossible, that is not a problem.

[arturosparages]

I love how you put “debunked”, and actually debunked something. Unlike other

[_-___________]

I see people define omnipotence, and I am like... "You can't accurately comprehend how powerful omnipotence is. It is so ridiculous that, if it is real, it is above any understanding and reasoning that any of us can ever come up with. We are not omniscient after all."
I personally prescribe to the belief that an omnipotent being can do anything they want. They can change all of reality and existence to make their whims and wishes come true. They could make a square circle if they wanted to. They could break reality to accomplish their goals. But why would they do that? There is no reason to prove you wrong. You are a tiny insignificant nothing burger to them. So is "reason" and "logic". If a being is omnipotent then they are the ones who made"reason" and "logic".
Then I keep spouting incomprehensible nonsense for the rest of the night, and nobody cares.

[jonson]

As CS Lewis said. Nonsense remains nonsense even if we speak it about God :D

[charlestonian]

If God is omnipotent in the case He can do anything with an unfathomable power, then one of two things is true. God is either able to do anything that has a logical reasoning or coherency, or, due to his overwhelming and comprehendible power he can defy logic anyway. Problem solved

[mkmkkml]

The Bible says in Luke 1:37 :"For there is nothing which God is not able to do." Or Job 42:2 says :"I see that you are able to do every thing, and to give effect to all your designs." And Psalms 115:3 says :"But our God is in heaven: he has done whatever was pleasing to him." So I perfectly understand why an atheist can believe that God can do anything. When I read these verses my understanding is God can do whatever he wants. So I will be happy to see the verses who support your understanding of the omnipotence of God because you don't give any. (sorry if I make mistakes, English is not my mother tongue)

[sherlockholmes]

As an atheists and seeker I would say, you have provided a very good argument. You changed my mind in this issue. Keep it up. Subscribed to your channel.

[awesomefacepalm]

I remember how someone presented this argument to me back when I was 14. I knew it was fallacious, but I couldn't put words to it.
But a few years later I realized what you just said right now: people misunderstand what omnipotence means

[mackdmara]

You cannot win an argument by redefining the given terms. If they specify something, then that is what they are claiming. You cannot alter their claim to make yourself right! So good to hear it here.

Thank you very much! God Bless

[DoctorGlitch]

You’re too worried about the definition of omnipotent rather than the nature of God. Omnipotent may not mean having the ability to do anything but that is the nature of God as most people believe. If God is really God he should be able to do anything that you can think of. Limits shouldn’t exist for such a being because if you want to be coherent than the idea of God itself is incoherent. So for such an incoherent being everything should be possible. But again if for him everything is indeed possible, you are then stuck in a loop of paradoxes that would never be solved. If you add limits to the word God the word itself becomes meaningless.

[Paweł_Krakowski]

It's very helpful to know how omnipotence is expressed in greek e.g. in Nicean Credo. There is word "Pantokrator" which means "Ruler of all" so we can see there is nothing about ability, but the intuition that God is supreme Ruler who is holding everything in his hands.

[Wittgenquine]

Thanks for this video. I will be assigning it to my 100-level Introduction to Ethics course at the University of Maryland for our week on Divine Command Theory. We talk about the idea that God's so-called "inability" to make 'murder for fun' morally permissible isn't a limitation just like his so-called "inability" to make a circle-square or to make a rock so heavy that even he couldn't lift aren't really inabilities or violations of his/her/its omnipotence. You cover nicely in your video why neither of these are true inabilities or problems for omnipotence.

[matteomellozzini]

Even if you go with the second definition of omnipotence, one could say that God can defy logic, because he is omnipotent. Therefore, if he created a limit to himself (like the famous rock), he could still remain omnipotent, even if it is illogical.

He could create a married batchelor, even if it does not make sense, and humans cannot immagine such a creation just because they are bound by logic.

[ctogive]

Jeremiah 32:17 – “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”



I admit i haven't looked at the argument like this before. It is because the bible actually seems to acknowledge that god could do anything, ''Nothing is too hard for him''

[Ma-kdlv]

You know, I was thinking the same thing. It’s just you say it way better XD