Ī related issue is whether the concept of "logically possible" is different for a world in which omnipotence exists than a world in which omnipotence does not exist. In either case, the being is not omnipotent. If the being cannot create a stone it cannot lift, then there is something it cannot create, and is therefore not omnipotent. If the being can create a stone that it cannot lift, then it is not omnipotent because there is a weight threshold beyond its own power to lift. The being can either create a stone it cannot lift, or it cannot create a stone it cannot lift. Alternative statements of the paradox include "If given the axioms of Euclidean geometry, can an omnipotent being create a triangle whose angles do not add up to 180 degrees?" and "Can God create a prison so secure that he cannot escape from it?".Ī common modern version of the omnipotence paradox is expressed in the question: "Can create a stone so heavy that it cannot lift it?" This question generates a dilemma. Similarly, if God was able to lift the stone then that would mean he was unable to create something they could not do, leading to the same result. The best-known version of the omnipotence paradox is the paradox of the stone: "Could God create a stone so heavy that even he could not lift it?" This is a paradoxical question because if God could create something he could not do, then he would not be omnipotent. Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (before 532) has a predecessor version of the paradox, asking whether it is possible for God to "deny himself". It was later addressed by Averroës and Thomas Aquinas. The omnipotence paradox has medieval origins, dating at least to the 10th century, when the Saadia Gaon responded to the question of whether God's omnipotence extended to logical absurdities. Other possible resolutions to the paradox hinge on the definition of omnipotence applied and the nature of God regarding this application and whether omnipotence is directed toward God himself or outward toward his external surroundings. Atheological arguments based on the omnipotence paradox are sometimes described as evidence for countering theism. The paradox arises, for example, if one assumes that an omnipotent being has no limits and is capable of realizing any outcome, even a logically contradictory one such as creating a square circle. The omnipotence paradox is a family of paradoxes that arise with some understandings of the term omnipotent.
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