Wednesday, 09 February, 2005
I'm a regular poster on Infidels.org, an atheist forum. One of the posters, who goes by the name of Alf, gave the most lucid account I have seen to date of the problems with an omnipotent (all powerful) God.
Me: Hello God!
God: Hello!
Me: You are all powerful, right?
God: I sure am!
Me: They say you can even do things that aren't logical?
God: Yeah, sure thing, want me to create a square circle?
Me: Nah, but I wonder if you could make a stone so heavy that not even you can lift it?
God: Sure thing, there you go!
Me: God?
God: Yeah, what is it, aren't you happy with that stone, not even I can lift it!
Me: If you cannot lift it, how can you then be all powerful?
God: Oops.
There are similar problems with the other properties of God, such as omniscience and omnibenevolence but the proofs aren't so simple.
Simon.