24 July 2003
Question
I stopped believing in G-d many years ago. I was taught in university that the concept of an all-powerful being is impossible, because if G-d is all-powerful, can He create a rock that is too heavy for Himself to lift? Whatever the answer is, there is something He can't do!
Answer
I never found this question to be too challenging. There are a few answers, but the simplest is: yes, G-d can create a rock that is too heavy for Himself to lift... and He can lift it too.
Logically, this is a contradiction. If something is too heavy to lift, then that means you can't lift it. And if you can lift it, then it isn't too heavy. Right?
But that is only true according to logic. And G-d created logic. He is not limited to the logic that He created! So He can create a rock that is too heavy for Himself, and pick it up too. He can live with the contradiction, because He is above it.
In other words, being all-powerful means that you can defy all rules, even the rules of logic.
We humans can also defy logic. When we live a moral and good life even though the world seems like such an unfair place where evil people seem to succeed, then we are defying logic and become G-dlike.
