Why omnipotent is a paradox.

So if the universe was constructed in such a way that
paradoxes were possible then the problem wouldn't exist?Have you read much on level IV multi-verses?I have to say at this point, however, that to me the Bible
tends to indicate that God is NOT omnipotent in any case.For instance, he never actually creates anything from scratch
once his 'fiat lux' thing is done. After that he 'separates
light from dark' or 'earth from heaven', and he creates Adam,
not from nothing, but from the soil.Barring one or two possible exceptions (stopping the sun springs
to mind) God works within the laws of his creation. When he
needs to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah he doesn't just blink them
out of existence, he sends angels to rain fire and brimstone on
the place.A question I have is does omnipotent mean that one can do the
impossible, or does it mean that anything within the realms of
possibility is do-able?[This message has been edited by Peter, 06-14-2003]

Yes. No, but I'll look it up. Do you have any references? I would argue that if God is omnibenevelant (sp?) then given the world we live in he can't be omnipotent. Even if he created everything for nothing, I'm not sure that would necessarily make him omnipotent. I think that would depend on which theist you are speaking too.------------------
He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I think we tend to agree on the omnipotent thing (or
lack of it).The leve IV multi-verse is the proposition that at every
instant that a decision can be made, all are made and spin off
(as it were) a new universe. There are other multi-verse ideas
about, but this one comes from quantum theory I think ... I've
only read a little myself after reading a recent New Scientist
article ...

quote:

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Why is it not logically possible? I can create-- well, assemble-- something I cannot lift. Why is it not possible for God to do so?

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how about, is it possible for god to create a rock he cannot lift, and then lift it?

Now that you have explained it I must admit that I have heard of it, I just didn't recognise the term, or should I say that I have encountered the concept before. Anyway, I'm not quite sure what this has to do with paradoxies (sp?).------------------
He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

If such a multi-verse exists then it would be possible for
a rock to exist in a state such that it couldn't be moved
simultaneously with a state in which it could.If there were a being that could exist outside the multi-verse
or at a level that they could interact with all facets they
could both move and not move the object simultaneously depending
in which 'dimension' they attempted the feat in.... I'm not sure that I actually believe that for a moment, mind.

I don't think this solves the problem. This might get a little hairy but here goes.The rock is created in this verse and is to large to be lifted. The way I understand it, all the spin-offs from this verse will contain this rock and in all of them it would not be possible to lift it. The same goes for a similiar rock, with the property that it can't be lifted, created in another verse. At the same time the action of creating the rock could have been performed in another verse, but in those instances the rock did not have the property of being unliftable, however the way I see it these are different rocks and you can't treat them as one rock with conflicting properties. They are after all in different verses. It is only when you have one rock in one first that has mutually exlusive properties that you actually have a paradox.------------------
He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

But it would be possible for different facets of the
multi-verse to have different universal constants ... so
mass/gravity effects would not be the same in all facets.If viewed from the outside the multi-verse is actually just
a single object, but each component has infinite facets.If a creature were in a position to control from the outside
... that's where I am going anyhow

I'm not going to drag this out since there is now way to decide which of us is more correct. Suffice it to say that I don't think you can view things in this manner.------------------
He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Fair enough ... especially since we actually agree that
the judoe-christian God cannot be omnipotent anyhow