Omnipotence

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Omnipotence is the state of being "all-powerful," a term that is usually applied to God.

Problems with omnipotence[edit]

The concept of omnipotence is philosophically troublesome and potentially self-contradictory. These problems are explored in the omnipotence paradox.

If God is not only omnipotent but also omniscient and omnibenevolent, then this is the foundation for the problem of evil.

It is also difficult for apologists to demonstrate an infinite God from finite phenomena.

Biblical contradictions[edit]

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Fundamentalist Christians believe in the infallibility of the Bible, yet there are arguable contradictions to the issue of God's omnipotence.

Mark 6:5 Bible-icon.png:

And he could there do no mighty work.

Hebrews 6:18 Bible-icon.png:

It was impossible for God to lie.

Judges 1:19 Bible-icon.png:

And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

God apparently rested on the seventh day of creation Genesis 2:2 Bible-icon.png. This seems absurd since he has supposedly has no need of rest. [1]

God intends evil to happen because the ends supposedly justify the means. However, this should not be necessary for on omnipotent God who presumably had better methods at his disposal.

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

Genesis 50:20 Bible-icon.png

Explanations as predictive systems[edit]

Karl Popper argued that explanations should be predictive to be considered as scientific. Since God can allegedly do anything, he is a poor explanation for anything since it does not rule out any possibilities and provides no verifiable predictions that can be practically verified.

References[edit]