| Subject: The very question is not bound by logic |
Author:
Biff
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Date Posted: 07/ 1/02 5:23pm
In reply to:
Damoclese
's message, "A God bound by logic?" on 05/27/02 11:11am
>An old question that has often been posed here is
>"Could God make a mountain so big that he himself
>could not lift it?"
>
>On the surface this seems like a trite little question
>designed to tease the brain. What it asks is much
>deeper.
>
>Basically, this question asks is God bound by the
>rules of logic, or is he not? If you answer that God
>is bound by the rules of logic, that meaning he cannot
>make a mountain so big he himself cannot lift it
>suddenly God becomes less than all powerful. There is
>at least one thing he cannot do, which means he isn't
>all powerful.
>
>If you answer that God isn't bound by the rules of
>logic then God can do whatever he wants. He can make a
>mountain so big he cannot lift it. Of course, if he
>can do this, he could also possibly lift it, because
>logic in this circuit wouldn't be applicable. (if it
>were how is it possible that the sumpreme being of the
>universe is thwarted by a mountain?)
"Of all the fallacies of everyday reasoning, one of the most common is this: asking a question in such a way as to presuppose the truth of some conclusion buried in that question. The question is likely to be rhetorical, no answer genuinely sought. But putting the question, and taking it seriously often achieve the questioner's purpose, fallaciously." -- Copi and Cohen in "Introduction to Logic".
The question you put forth, Damoclese, presupposes that God is either not omnipotent or not bound by logic. Yet the very idea that God is bound by logic suggests that he is not omnipotent, in the purest sense of the word. He is only capable of doing that which is logically supportable.
So, in a sense you are correct, God is not purely omnipotent, assuming that he is bound by logic. However, I think it's safe to assume that the majority of those who assert God's omnipotence assume that He is bound by logic, without saying so. Thus, for their purposes, they are essentially stating that God is capable of doing anything that is logically allowable. Obviously, he cannot make a round square, for a round square is by definition a circle, not a square. And, obviously, he cannot make any object so large that he cannot move it, for being omnipotent, he can by definition move anything.
He can, however, make an absolutely perfect circle (and he resolved the exact value of pi long ago) or square, or make a rock so large it cannot be moved by anything else, things which may seem inconceivable to us.
But then, perhaps logic is a purely human concept, and our omnipotent God is not bound by it at all. Perhaps he can make a rock so large that he cannot move it. Wrap your brain around that one.
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