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February 6, 2012 |
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Is Anything Impossible for God?
There was some debate during yesterdays adult Sunday School class about the meaning of God’s omnipotence. While discussing the 1st Article of Religion’s affirmation of God’s “infinite power”, I asked, “Can God create a rock too heavy for him to lift?” Some suggested that omnipotence, having “all power”, would mean necessarily that God could potentially create something that is beyond his strength to control. I responded that this is impossible. Omnipotence does not carry with it the idea that God can do what is logically impossible. Certainly he can accomplish miracles…things that are impossible for us. He can raise the dead, create matter out of nothing, walk on water, calm storms. But these are not logically “impossible” things for the divine Creator.
The bible, does however, declare that certain things are impossible for God. It is impossible, for example, for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18). Why? Because God does not simply tell the truth. God is the truth (John 14:6). So while we are told that for God, “all things are possible” (Matt 19:46) that statement must, if we are to harmonize scripture, be conditioned by the recognition that it is impossible for God to contradict his own nature and character.
For a fuller discussion of this question, here’s a decent article...
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