Our All-Powerful God

“If there is an omnipotent God, can He create a being more powerful than Himself ?”
If yes, explain the implications. If no, explain the implications.

This was the question given as an assignment for my Ethics class in college. Designed to trick those who believe in an omnipotent God, this question is a so-called “paradox”. If you answered yes, that would make God no longer powerful, because there would be a more powerful being than Him. If no, then God is not omnipotent anymore, because He cannot create that being.

From the outside, this seems to be a win-lose situation. The atheist has won, because both ways, God is no more omnipotent. Or is He?

This so-called “paradox” is a misnomer from the start. It’s not a paradox, but rather it is question that fails to understand the real meaning of omnipotence.

Omnipotence indeed means all-powerful, but that does not mean that God can do anything. This question may seem logical at first, but the problem excludes vital information about the nature of God, which makes the conclusion invalid.

What the so-called “paradox” above lacks is information about the nature of God. The omnipotence of God is something that is not independent of God’s nature, but rather it is part of it. Therefore, He has a certain nature and His attributes, in this case, His omnipotence operates within His nature. The attributes of a certain being cannot escape the nature of that being. For example, as a human being, I can run. This is my nature. However, I cannot outrun a fast-moving car because my nature does not permit it. My ability to run is linked to my nature and I cannot violate my nature by running faster than the car because I cannot violate my nature.

The same goes for God. His omnipotence is part of His nature, and therefore, He can only do things consistent with his nature. Omnipotence is not the ability to do anything, but the ability to do anything consistent with His nature. This does not mean He can violate His own nature. For instance, God cannot lie. God cannot show partiality. God cannot allow those who have not been saved to enter eternal bliss. If God were to do something against His own nature, He would be self-contradictory. To be self-contradictory, would mean that God would not be true. Similarly, if He were to do something like create a being more powerful than Himself, it would be violating His own nature and therefore self-contradictory. But because God is true, and not self-contradictory, He cannot do something which would violate His own nature.

Another point that this question fails to see is the concept of all-powerful. If something were to be ultimate, in any sense, there cannot be anything that is more ultimate than it. For instance, if something were to be the best in its field, nothing else could be “more best” or “bester” than it. As an example, if a bread company were to claim that their bread is the healthiest in the world, but a few months later produces a different kind of bread which is even healthier than the previous one, that is a paradox. If a certain object is the ultimate in its field, nothing can supersede it. Likewise, God is omnipotent, all-powerful and therefore nothing else can be more powerful than Him alone.

God is Almighty and nothing can stop Him. Not even atheists who try with all their might to do so.

Next time a skeptic asks you a question similar to the one above, dissect the question first. You’ll find a weak spot.