Alesaggio
07-01-2006, 06:41 PM
Consider the question: "Can God make a rock so big that He can't lift it?"
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The challenge inherent in this question is whether there's something God cannot do. Scoffers enjoy asking this question, because either way we respond we submit that there is, in fact, something God cannot accomplish. Either we answer that God can make a big rock He cannot lift or that God cannot make a rock big enough that He can't lift it. A seemingly insolvable conundrum.
Essentially, the scoffer is asking, "Is there any way that the God who can make all things can make a rock so big that the God who can lift all things cannot lift it?" Worded this way, the inconsistency and meaningless nature of the question is revealed. It's actually a pseudo-question. It makes no sense. The question itself has no truth value in order to be evaluated as either true or false. It proposes impossible conditions that can never be met.
Trying to answer this question is much like trying to answer "What does the color blue smell like?" or telling someone to think about two boys, each shorter than the other. These types of sentences are called "self-defeating statements," or "self-contradictory."
Here are a few other such intriguing (yet benign) word conundrums (think about them):
"Ask me about my vow of silence."
"Words don't mean things."
"I cannot utter a word of English."
"There are no sentences longer than 3 words."
"I've had amnesia for as long as I can remember"
And perhaps the most widely accepted self-contradictory assessment of our times?
"There is no such thing as absolute truth," or, "Truth can't be known."
There are many teaching today that try to outsmart God and make concessions where God allowed none and to permit where God gave no permission. The "logic-masters" are the modern day false prophets. Beware that you are not drawn away by such false teachers.
We live in a society obsessed with its own abilities, one that idolizes reason and knowledge as the only right or good thing. Asking the question "Can God make a rock so big He can't lift it?" is yet another attempt by mankind to trap or outsmart God. However, God tells us in Isaiah 55:8, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." We cannot comprehend His ways. He desires that we continue to grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him (Philippians 1:9), but He also wants us to treat Him with the reverence and awe He deserves, because His mind and abilities are so far above and removed from ours.
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The challenge inherent in this question is whether there's something God cannot do. Scoffers enjoy asking this question, because either way we respond we submit that there is, in fact, something God cannot accomplish. Either we answer that God can make a big rock He cannot lift or that God cannot make a rock big enough that He can't lift it. A seemingly insolvable conundrum.
Essentially, the scoffer is asking, "Is there any way that the God who can make all things can make a rock so big that the God who can lift all things cannot lift it?" Worded this way, the inconsistency and meaningless nature of the question is revealed. It's actually a pseudo-question. It makes no sense. The question itself has no truth value in order to be evaluated as either true or false. It proposes impossible conditions that can never be met.
Trying to answer this question is much like trying to answer "What does the color blue smell like?" or telling someone to think about two boys, each shorter than the other. These types of sentences are called "self-defeating statements," or "self-contradictory."
Here are a few other such intriguing (yet benign) word conundrums (think about them):
"Ask me about my vow of silence."
"Words don't mean things."
"I cannot utter a word of English."
"There are no sentences longer than 3 words."
"I've had amnesia for as long as I can remember"
And perhaps the most widely accepted self-contradictory assessment of our times?
"There is no such thing as absolute truth," or, "Truth can't be known."
There are many teaching today that try to outsmart God and make concessions where God allowed none and to permit where God gave no permission. The "logic-masters" are the modern day false prophets. Beware that you are not drawn away by such false teachers.
We live in a society obsessed with its own abilities, one that idolizes reason and knowledge as the only right or good thing. Asking the question "Can God make a rock so big He can't lift it?" is yet another attempt by mankind to trap or outsmart God. However, God tells us in Isaiah 55:8, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." We cannot comprehend His ways. He desires that we continue to grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him (Philippians 1:9), but He also wants us to treat Him with the reverence and awe He deserves, because His mind and abilities are so far above and removed from ours.
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