by Perry Hall<\/p>\n\t
“Being all-powerful is an impossibility. For example, can God create a rock so large he cannot lift it?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This question was asked on the college campus. I responded that this is a self-contradictory question and does not follow the laws of logic. Let me explain (I will explain it better here.)<\/p>\n
If you say, “Yes, God can create a rock so large he cannot lift it”, then God is not powerful enough to lift the rock.<\/p>\n
If you say, “No, God cannot create a rock so large he cannot lift it”, then God is not powerful enough to create the rock.<\/p>\n
There is no way to answer the question because it is a trick question. It cannot be answered with either yes or no. An example of such a trick question is: “Did you stop beating your wife?”<\/p>\n
If you say yes, you admit to beating your wife.<\/p>\n
If you say no, you admit to beating your wife.<\/p>\n
Neither answer allows the position that you never beat your wife.<\/p>\n
Or, how about this question? “Can God create a round square?”<\/p>\n
If you say no, you are saying God is not powerful enough.<\/p>\n
If you say yes, you are saying God is nonsense.<\/p>\n
Neither answer fits the God of the Bible.<\/p>\n
Questions that are meant to trick, self-contradictory, illogical, and dishonest are sophistry and not valid questions.<\/p>\n\t
Genocide<\/h2>\n
Student: “How can you worship a God who had entire nations killed?”<\/p>\n
Answer: “There are things I don’t understand fully. But here is a mantra I often use: 1) “I don’t know.” 2) “I’m not God” 3) “Deal with it”<\/p>\n
Student: “Deal with it? How?”<\/p>\n
Answer: While there are many things I don’t know, I deal with this topic partially by focusing on what I do know. What do you know about those nations? (His response was, “Nothing.”) Those nations practiced infant sacrifice. They would burn babies in worship to their false gods. Is sacrificing babies a good thing? ( Head shakes, “No”). If you saw a family abusing a child, would you want to stop it? (Head shakes, “Yes”). So when God destroyed nations, he was destroying them because they practiced child sacrifices (his head shook saying he understood)”.<\/p>\n
Addendum: What this answer does is find common ground. It is not a complete answer, but then again, “I don’t know. I’m not God. Deal with it”.<\/p>\n\t
Homosexuality<\/h2>\n
Question: “How can you claim to love gays but condemn them?”<\/p>\n
Answer: “I would suggest to you that loving those you disagree with and want to help is essential. If you don’t love them, you won’t help them. If you don’t love them first, they won’t accept your help.”<\/p>\n
Question: “Are you saying gays need help?”<\/p>\n
Answer: “We all need help. When I am acting contrary to God’s law, I hope someone loves me enough to help me repent. Romans 1 not only lists homosexuality as a sin, but also many others. Let me read them to you…. I will say it again: loving those with whom you disagree is imperative.”<\/p>\n
Response: “Thank you.”<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Perry Hall Being All-Powerful Is an Impossibility “Being all-powerful is an impossibility. For example, can God create a rock so large he cannot lift it?” This question was asked on the college campus. I responded that this is a self-contradictory question and does not follow the laws of logic. Let me explain (I will…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-90599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-apologetics"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34600,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-jesus-is-god-how-come-he-doesnt-know-when-the-world-will-end\/","url_meta":{"origin":90599,"position":0},"title":"If Jesus is God, how come he doesn’t know when the world will end?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If Jesus is completely God, then how come the Bible says that not the son, nor the angels in heaven, but only the Father knows of the second coming? I don't remember the verse but you probably recognize which one I'm talking about. Answer: \"But of that day and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26694,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-god-is-sovereign-why-does-he-express-sorrow-when-men-are-bad-if-god-knows-of-everything-why-did-he-repent\/","url_meta":{"origin":90599,"position":1},"title":"If God is sovereign, why does He express sorrow when men are bad? If God knows of everything, why did He repent?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If God is sovereign, why does He express sorrow when men are bad? If God knows of everything, why did He repent in Genesis 6:5-7 and Exodus 32:12? Answer: People have a hard time dealing with the infinite. An age-old puzzle is \"If God is so powerful, can He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/didnt-god-tell-someone-to-lie-in-i-kings-22\/","url_meta":{"origin":90599,"position":2},"title":"Didn’t God tell someone to lie in I Kings 22?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I appreciate your response. For me, I Kings 22:22 is abundantly clear. I found it among a few other examples, most of which were less conclusive. For example, where God sent strong delusion, which isn't specifically a lie. A tangential issue is where God repented for installing a certain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68559,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-old-is-the-earth\/","url_meta":{"origin":90599,"position":3},"title":"How Old Is the Earth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall A recent conversation with an atheist who was honest enough to admit a point I had made was from a perspective she hadn't heard before. May we all be as honest! The information below is more than what I discussed with the young lady: In doing campus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94321,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/divine-hiddenness-an-answer-to-the-skeptics\/","url_meta":{"origin":90599,"position":4},"title":"Divine Hiddenness\u2014an Answer to the Skeptics","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Brad Harrub, Ph.D. It's an issue most parents have wrestled with-even if they've never heard the formal term for it: Divine Hiddenness. At its core, the argument asks a simple but emotionally powerful question: If God truly exists, why doesn't He make Himself unmistakably obvious? Those who raise this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23652,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-peter-the-rock-of-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":90599,"position":5},"title":"Is Peter the rock of the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Matthew\u00a016:18 Jesus said to Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. Does Jesus give any guidelines as to how and when his followers or Christians should worship God? Answer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}