Category: Theology 101
Communicable Attributes
E. Power.
“Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”
This attribute is often termed omnipotence (omni, 'all', potens 'powerful'). God has the ability to accomplish whatsoever He desires to do. Just as He is the source of being, so also He is the source of doing. The creation of the entire universe was performed by the effortless command of God. He spoke and creation inexorably obeyed. Nothing can stay His hand, nor thwart the plan of the Almighty.
A favorite poser of skeptics is the question, Can God make a rock so big that he can’t lift it? At first glance the very query seems to overthrow the omnipotence of God. If the answer is yes, then we admit that God cannot do something—lift the rock. If the answer is no, then we also admit that God cannot do something—make a rock so big…. However, the question misunderstands the doctrine of omnipotence. Omnipotence does not teach that God can do the impossible. Even God cannot do what is literally not possible to be done. It is true that Christians often speak of “the God of the impossible,” but what we mean is that God can do what is impossible for men to do. By definition, that which is impossible has no possibility of coming to pass, even by God. For example, God cannot create another God. Does this contradict omnipotence? No, because the doctrine means that God can do whatever is possible to do. Likewise, God cannot lie, for falsehood is repugnant to the Divine nature. Neither can God die, for He is eternal. In the same way, God cannot make a rock so big that He can’t lift it, for then God would be creating a creature which is superior to Himself. This is a manifest impossibility.