Can God create a rock so big he can't lift it?

This classic gotcha question from pop atheists is a faulty dilemma that combines false definitions with bad logic. The argument goes as follows:

• Can God create a rock so big that he himself can’t lift it?
• If he can, he’s not omnipotent.
• If he can not, he’s not omnipotent.

While it seems like an inescapable paradox, it is based on a flawed definition of omnipotence. Omnipotence does not mean “the ability to do anything,” but rather “the ability to do anything that raw power can do.” And raw power cannot accomplish something that is logically impossible.

Thomas Aquinas have already addressed this issue by stating that:

“Whatever implies contradiction does not come within the scope of divine omnipotence, because it can not have the aspect of possibility.”

Therefore, to say that God cannot do something that is logically impossible does not limit God in any way. For example, God cannot create a “married bachelor” or a “one ended stick,” not because of a lack of power but because those words are self-contradictory concepts.

Similarly, the question “Can God make a rock that cannot be lifted?” is also meaningless because it is self-contradictory. It is essentially asking whether God can be omnipotent and not omnipotent at the same time. This is not a task that can be accomplished with power but rather a contradictory combination of words, a logical absurdity. And if it’s not a task that can be done with power, it is not really a problem if an omnipotent God can’t do it.

There are many things God can’t do because he is perfect.

• He can’t lie because he is morally perfect.
• He can’t cease to exist because he is the perfection of being.
• He can’t miscalculate because he is the author of math.
• He can’t do the logically absurd because he is perfectly logical.

Some might argue that the definition of omnipotence should include the ability to do the logically impossible.

If that’s the case then the original problem automatically ceases to be a problem. We can then just agree that, yes, God can create a rock that he can’t lift, and he can lift it.

But if you think thats logically contradictory, then remember that by this definition, God can do the logically impossible. So what’s your point?

In short, the paradoxical question of whether God can make a rock he cannot lift is meaningless and contradictory.