Monthly Archives: March 2025

God and the Possibility of Impossibilities

When one argues for the omnipotence of God, inevitably, there are those who either twist or attempt to contradict the argument or mitigate against the force of it. Let us look at a couple of issues that arise.

Some people try to defeat the arguments for the existence of God by offering what has been called The Paradox of Omnipotence. This view argues against God and His omnipotence by posing a simple question: Can God create a rock so big that He cannot lift it? If God can create a rock so big that He couldn’t lift it, then He is not all powerful. But if He cannot create a rock so big that He couldn’t lift it, then how could He be omnipotent? And so either way, God cannot be omnipotent and if not omnipotent, then He cannot be God.

But the answer to this objection is really rather very simple to me. The question tries to present the appearance of a conflict between God’s power and ability when in reality there is no conflict at all between the two propositions. The purpose of asking can God make a rock so big He couldn’t lift is to suggest that there is something God cannot do, either lift or create, thus creating a dilemma. But there is no dilemma. The truth is, He can do both. God can make a rock of infinite size and weight but He also has the infinite power so as to lift it. There is no limit to God’s power or ability and thus no real conflict. The conflict is only semantical. It’s merely a word game disguised as an argument. It’s similar to the question, Have you stopped beating your wife lately? It presents two alternatives as the only options, when they clearly are not.

Now, some would try to answer the Paradox of Omnipotence by simply saying that it is a logical absurdity and that God cannot do the logically impossible. Which brings us to the second issue that needs to be addressed: Can God do that which is logically impossible? Sometimes, in response to these challenges it is affirmed that God cannot make a square circle or make 2+2=5 or some such seemingly absurd, impossible task. Some would say the Paradox of Omnipotence belongs in this category. These questions are, in effect, asking if God can do the logically impossible. And many give this classic response that some things are not subject to possibility because they are not subject to accomplishment.

Other such alleged logical absurdities sometimes put forward, besides creating a rock so big God cannot lift it include, creating a four-sided triangle, making an object that is all white all over and all black all over on the outside, creating a ninety-year-old teenager, or making a room that is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. “To propose such things is to affirm logical contradictions and absurdities,” someone wrote. It is said that God can only do “what is possible of accomplishment—not to what is impossible!”

The view that such questions are logical absurdities and therefore not subject to the power and omnipotence of God dates back to Thomas Aquinas. But I strongly disagree that simply because they might contain a logical absurdity that they are not subject to God’s omnipotence. I would agree these questions might be nothing more than a semantic trick, as we have seen, to suggest the appearance of a conflict in God’s power, as in the case of the Paradox of Omnipotence. But I also firmly believe that God has the sheer, raw power to create an infinitely big rock, a room that is bigger on the inside than on the outside, and an object that is both all white and all black on the outside, etc.. I don’t see why that simply because it may be absurd or illogical that God, in infinite power, could not accomplish it. If you accept that God has infinite power, and this is the clear affirmation of Scripture, then these seemingly absurd tasks are no problem for God.

I am of the view, and I know it is not a majority view, that when the Bible says that nothing is impossible with God, that that is exactly what it means. The point I want to stress here is that God has the sheer, raw, power to do these things. Does that mean He will do them or is obligated to do them? No, absolutely not. But it does not negate the fact that God has the sheer, raw power to do them. Just as the fact that God can make an infinitely large rock does not mean He will or is obligated to do so to prove to you or me or anyone the extent of His power. God can do all things. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is impossible with Him.

Think of this. The Bible says 1) with God, nothing shall be impossible and 2) all things are possible with God, and 3) God can do all things, 4) nothing can be with holden from Him. Contrast the statements from the Bible with the statement from some brethren and apologists that God can do only what is possible. I don’t know how you can believe the Bible and say that some things are not subject to God’s power.

Yet, doesn’t the Bible say that God cannot lie (Tit. 1:2)? Doesn’t the Bible say God cannot deny Himself (II Tim. 2:13)? Yes, absolutely. But one has to harmonize these statements with the very clear and unequivocal statements that God can do all things. Again, does God have the sheer, raw power to deny Himself or lie? He has the power to do so. But as these things go against His nature, He will not do them. In effect, He cannot do them and be God. But this does not mean that He hasn’t the sheer, raw ability and power to do so.

An analogy might help with understanding this. Jesus was God in the flesh (Matt. 1:23). All the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Jesus bodily (Col. 1:19; 2:9). Yet, Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). You cannot have a temptation without the possibility of it occurring. Now, could Jesus, the Son of God, God in the flesh, have lied? Could He have sinned? Was He tempted to lie. Remember, He was tempted in all points like us. Get this point: If Jesus could never have sinned, then He could not be our example in righteousness, because none of us will be endowed with a divine nature such that it keeps us from sinning. The only way for Jesus to serve as our example is to have been tempted and overcame the temptation.

Someone might answer that it wasn’t the divine nature of Jesus that was tempted, but the human. And this point is well taken and is true as far as it goes. The Bible says God cannot be tempted with evil (James 1:12). But the reason that God cannot be tempted with evil (or anything) is because God is all powerful. He can do whatever He wants or have whatever He wants. For a temptation to be real there must be some enticement. For instance, you cannot tempt me with peanut butter. I hate it. I don’t want it. It makes me sick. But I love chocolate. You could tempt me with chocolate, but not with peanut butter! But for God, there is nothing that can entice Him, so no temptation.

However, it is said of Jesus that He “cannot deny Himself” (II Tim 2:13). This is an absolute statement. He cannot deny Himself, just as it is an absolute statement that God cannot lie. And yet, in the temptation in the wilderness Jesus was offered all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them if Jesus would only fall down and worship the devil (Matt. 4:1,8-10). While it is said that Jesus cannot deny Himself, He may well have been tempted by this offer (Heb. 4:15), knowing what lay ahead for Him (Matt. 26:39). But this statement that He cannot deny Himself is clearly a reference to His Nature and that He will not deny Himself, even though He had the sheer, raw power to do so.

Furthermore, the more that is learned about quantum states the more we realize just how much we don’t know. In quantum physics particles can exist in two different states at the same time. If God can create the physics that can do this then God has the sheer raw power to do what we consider logically impossible. But I don’t need quantum physics to prove my case. It is enough that God has said in His word that with Him, all things are possible.

In dealing with God’s omniscience, I said that God cannot know a lie. But I made the point that God knows the truth value of all precisely stated propositions. God cannot know that I own a mansion and a yacht. He cannot know it because it is not true. But He knows the truth value of the propositions regarding that fact. But with omnipotence, if there is anything that God does not have the sheer, raw power to do, regardless of how absurd or illogical, then He is not all powerful.

I believe my position not only does not violate any doctrine of the scripture but positively affirms the truth of scripture. I definitely do not deny God’s absolute omnipotence. I do not deny God’s sovereignty over His creation. I do not place anything above God, such as logic or knowledge. These are a part of the Nature of God, and not something outside or above Him. My view acknowledges God’s Holiness and Righteousness. My view recognizes that God will not violate His Character and Nature. My view magnifies the God who, though He has the sheer, raw power to do whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3), He only acts in accordance with His Divine Nature. I believe my position to be eminently scriptural.

Eric L. Padgett

The Omnipotence of God

The teaching of the Bible is that God is omnipotent. For instance, the Bible says, “The Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (Rev. 19:6). The word “Omnipotent” comes from the Greek word παντοκράτωρ, meaning the “all-ruling, or absolute and universal sovereign.” This word is also translated as “almighty” (II Cor. 6:18; Rev. 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7, 16:14; 19:15; 21:22). God is totally sovereign over His creation. He is all-powerful. In the Old Testament, God is El Shaddai, the Almighty. God has all power and might. But what does this mean exactly?

The truly magnificent power of God can be shown in the many expressions of that power in Scripture. The most obvious example is the creation. God merely spoke the universe (all matter, space, time) into existence. God said, “Let it be,” and it was (Gen. 1 passim; Psalm 18:5). When we consider what modern science tells us about the size of the universe and the nature of our world, it truly boggles the mind that all this could come into existence merely at God’s command. I suggest you go to YouTube and do a search on the size of the universe to fully understand the extent of this power. Furthermore, He upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3). He never tires but has endless energy because the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is He weary (Is. 40:28).

Just as God created the universe and holds it all together still, He will also bring it to a conclusion one day. All the dead that have ever lived will be brought back to life in the resurrection. Every molecule, every atom, every thought, everything that makes up all people will be brought back and reassembled at the resurrection when all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and come forth – they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5:28-29). Such is God’s power. And just as easily as He created all things, so all things will be dissolved (II Pet. 3:8-12).

In the Old Testament, God’s power is manifested in so many ways. God destroyed the earth with a universal flood (Gen. 6-9). He confounded the speech of man and scattered man abroad over the face of the earth (Gen. 11). He enabled Abram and Sarai to have a son even though they were past the age of childbearing (Gen. 21; Rom. 4:17-22). He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain with fire and brimstone from heaven (Gen. 19). Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord (Gen. 32). God sent dreams to Pharaoh, and Joseph was allowed to interpret them (Gen. 40). God delivered the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage with ten mighty plagues (Ex. 7-11). He parted the Red Sea so that the children of Israel walked through on dry ground and destroyed the Egyptian army by collapsing the walls of water that stood on either side of them (Ex. 14). Likewise, He parted the Jordan so that the children of Israel could pass over to the promised land (Josh. 3-4). He caused the sun and moon to stand still (Josh. 10). Many were raised from the dead (e.g., I Kings 17). Oil was miraculously multiplied (II Kings 4). Elijah departed in a chariot of fire (II Kings 2). And on and on the list could go.

In the New Testament, God’s power is demonstrated in the miraculous, virgin birth of the Son of God (Is. 7:14; Matt. 1). God sent a star to show the way to where Jesus was born (Matt. 2). John’s birth was beyond the childbearing years of Elizabeth and Zacharias (Luke 1). The miracles which Jesus performed showed that He had power over nature (striking the fig tree dead, turning water into wine, walking on water, and calming the storm), over healing the sick (restoring a withered arm, restoring vision and hearing and speech, healing palsy, and various other diseases), over casting out demons, and over life and death (raising the dead). Of course, the greatest of these miracles is His own resurrection, proving His claim to be the Messiah, the Son of the Living God (Rom. 1:4).

Of course, the Bible goes further than just showing examples of His power. The Bible makes specific claims about the power of God. God is girded with power (Psalm 65:6). God’s power is not just limited to what we can imagine, for He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). His power is eternal (Rom. 1:20), and in Jehovah is everlasting strength (Is. 26:4). God can do whatever pleases Him (as it is consistent with His own nature – Psalm 115:3). What He says will be done; it will be accomplished as He pleases (Is. 55:11). All other power is dependent on His power, for there is no power but of God and the powers that be are ordained of God (Romans 13:1). He does whatever He wills, and no one can stop Him (Dan. 4:35).

But the Scriptures are even more explicit. God asked this rhetorical question of Abraham: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14). The answer is clear and obvious: Nothing is too hard for the Lord. There is no limit to His power. He asked Jeremiah the same question (Jer. 32:27), and Jeremiah expressly states that there is nothing too hard for the Lord (Jer. 32:17). The synoptic Gospel accounts all affirm God’s omnipotence. Jesus expressly stated that with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:6; Mark 10:27), while Luke expresses it from the negative: “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). God is omnipotent, all-powerful (Rev. 19:6).

We must point out that God is not merely more powerful than all others; He is all-powerful. It’s not the case that He can do merely many great things that others cannot do, but that there is no end to His power. His power is limitless. Just as His knowledge is limitless, His power is without limit. The difference between omniscience and omnipotence is only that omniscience must always be exercised to be knowledge (you can’t know something but not know it), while omnipotence does not have to be exercised to be power. For instance, a man may be able to power lift three hundred pounds, but he doesn’t always have to be lifting three hundred pounds to have that power. But a man cannot know “X” and then not know it and still be said to have that knowledge.

The God of the Bible is truly all-powerful. He is omnipotent. Next installment, we will discuss some questions that are raised by some with regard to the omnipotence of God.

Eric L. Padgett

Does God’s Foreknowledge Preclude Man’s Free Will?

There is a question that some people raise when they consider God’s omniscience. The question is this: If God knows everything I am going to do, then am I really free to act independently? If God knows a thing is going to happen, He can’t be wrong about it. If He is wrong, then He is not omniscient, and not God. But if He isn’t wrong about it, then I could never do anything differently than what God already knows. But if I can’t do any differently, then am I really free? This is the question that is often thrown up either as an argument against God’s existence, or against man’s freedom. Let’s consider this question: Does God’s foreknowledge preclude man’s free will?

The Bible clearly teaches man has free will. Many scriptures could be adduced which demonstrate that man has the freedom to either obey or disregard God’s will. For instance, Joshua charged the children of Israel, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Josh. 24:15). Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16). Upon hearing Jesus’ teaching, “the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him” (Luke 7:30). On and on the list could go. Each example shows that the scriptures teach that man has a real choice of various and sundry options.

As we have already discussed previously, the Bible also clearly teaches that God’s knowledge is infinite (Psalm 147:5). God knows the secrets of men and the thoughts of their hearts (Psalms 44:21; 94:11). The thrust of Psalms 139 is that there is nothing that God does not know. Job finally was made to understand that no thought can be withheld from God (Job 42:2). There is no searching of God’s understanding (Is. 40:28). God knows what things we have need of even before we ask (Matt. 6:8). He searches all hearts and understands all imaginations of the thoughts (I Chron. 28:9). The Lord asks, “Can any hide himself that I cannot see?” (Jer. 23:24). He knows all of His works from the beginning of the world (Acts 15:18). And God even declares “the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isa. 46:10).

The thrust of the Bible teaching regarding God’s knowledge is that there is not one thing that is unknown to God. All things are open and naked before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do (Heb. 4:13).

“It is true that the Scripture makes use of anthropomorphic forms of expression as regards the way in which God obtains knowledge (Genesis 3:8), and sometimes even represents Him as if He did not know certain things (Genesis 11:5; Genesis 18:21); nevertheless the constant representation of the Scripture is that God knows everything. This perfect knowledge of God, moreover, is not merely a knowledge which is practically unlimited for all religious purposes, but is omniscience in the strictest sense of the term” (ISBE).

Now, those who hold that there is a conflict between God’s omniscience and human free will often argue in the following fashion. The following quote is from a discussion I had been in years ago:

“If God knows that when I leave the house for Wednesday evening Bible study, that at exactly 5:58 PM CDT (running late, as usual!), at the intersection of NW 42nd and MacArthur, a car will run the red light, strike our car as I turn onto MacArthur, and I will be killed, then it will occur. I have no choice in the matter. No matter what I do, it will happen. It may appear that I chose, but that event is determined to occur regardless of what I decide. I will only choose the courses of action that will allow that event to happen. It doesn’t matter that I never drive to church through that intersection, or that I usually go an hour later, or that I actually decided to get around on time for a change. My freedom is dissolved into God’s foreknowledge. Human freedom is only the illusion of freedom.”

Please notice these statements: “I have no choice in the matter. No matter what I do, it will happen…that event is determined to occur regardless of what I decide…It doesn’t matter that I never drive to church through that intersection, or that I usually go an hour later, or that I actually decided to get around on time for a change. My freedom is dissolved into God’s foreknowledge.”

The problem with such a position is that it assumes that which it is trying to prove–namely, that if God foreknows a thing, then there is no free will. This can be seen when one understands that the event happens not “no matter what I do,” but precisely because it is what I decided to do! In other words, it happens not because God foreknows it, but God foreknows it because it is what happened. In the sense that man cannot do two different things at the same time in the same way, man has to choose one course of action. He is free to choose out of the many, if not infinite, number of possibilities, but he can only choose one. When his choice is made, God knows that choice. In the sense that man can not do more than one thing, and God knows what that thing is we have chosen freely to do, then man must do that which he has chosen.

When the man above says he couldn’t have left thirty minutes later, he is correct if by that he means, when he left at time t, he could not also have left at time t1. But if he means that he had no other options, or that he could not have exercised any other option, he is mistaken. If the man had chosen to leave at time t1 or time t2, t3, etc., then that is what God would have known. God’s knowledge of the event is posteriori, but not with respect to point of time. God is outside of time and sees all that happens even more clearly than we see the present or the past.

It begs the question to say that event “x” will happen “no matter we do” because the question is does God’s foreknowledge negate my free will (“what I do”). It begs the questions to say, as in the above quote, “I will only choose the courses of action that will allow that event to happen.” Rather, that event will happen, because he has chosen those courses of action. It begs the question to say that God knows something even though I have never acted in such a way, because you must have acted in that way for God to know it. As we discussed in our last post, it is not a limitation of God’s knowledge to say that He does not know things that are not so. What happens as a result of my actions are the result of my own free will choices. God knows about it precisely because it is what I choose to do.

Perhaps an easy way to understand this is to think of our knowledge of the past. I know what I did yesterday. I know I preached two sermons and taught a Bible class. Does my knowledge of these facts mean I was not free in my actions? Of course not. I know now what I freely chose to do then. My knowledge does not remove my free will. In the same way, God sees all time, past present and future, not only in my life, but in all lives and all things everywhere in the same way I see and know the past. The choices are free, but God knows my choices and yours.

In addition to the point just made, those who argue that when God knows something is going to happen it removes man’s ability to freely choose, have another problem. These same people do not deny that God knows an act when it happens. As seen above, the Bible clearly teaches this about God’s knowledge if it teaches anything at all. But this means that, since when God knows man’s actions man ceases to be free, then when the act is being done, man no longer has free will. This means that man is only free as long as he doesn’t do anything! Pshaw! This is absurd.

So, no, God’s foreknowledge of my actions, does not preclude my human, free will, which He gave me in the first place.

Eric L. Padgett

Omniscience of God

The Scriptures are very clear that God’s knowledge is not limited. This fact is expressed in a number of ways. The different facets of God’s particular knowledge are described in some detail throughout scripture. For instance, God knows the number of hairs on our head (Matt. 10:30; Luke 12: 7). He knows when a sparrow falls to the earth or is sold. He remembers them all (Luke 12:6; Matt. 10:29). He knows all the fowls of the mountain and the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10,11). God knows the number of the stars and calls them all by name (Psalm 147:4). God knows all our deeds and thoughts because we will be judged by those things in the Day of Judgment (Rev. 20:12-15). He knows our best kept secrets (Rom. 2:16).

David describes God’s intimate knowledge of every human being:

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them (Psalm 139:1-16).

The Scriptures especially make note of the fact that while man can only judge by the outward appearance, God knows the very heart of man. “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (I Samuel 16:7). Again, “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins” (Jer. 17:10). And again, “Thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men” (I Kings 8:39). There is no thought that we can hide from God. “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13).

Job said at the conclusion of his interview with the Lord that “no thought can be withholden from Thee” (Job. 42:2). No thought is beyond God’s knowledge. There is not a single thing that God does not already know. God looks to the end of the earth and sees under the whole heaven (Job 28:24). While men are limited in their knowledge to the here and now in a very limited scope with which their lives come into contact, and, maybe, a few things about the past, God sees all time (our past, present and future) more clearly than we see what is presently before us. John affirmed by inspiration, “God knows all things” ( I John 3:20). He knows all things because He is everywhere, in some sense (Jer. 23:24).

This means, first of all, that God knows the truth value of every precisely stated proposition. God knows the truth value of the statement that “Eric L. Padgett (me) was born with six fingers.” It’s impossible for God to know this is true because it is false. God only knows the truth. But this should not be considered a limitation on God’s knowledge for He knows the truth value of the statement is false. It would be a limitation of God to say that He knows something as true when, indeed, it was false. So, God knows the truth value of every precisely stated proposition and God knows all propositions and there are endless propositions.

It is also the case that God does not have to learn the truth value of any given proposition. God knows immediately and ultimately every thing. God’s mind is infinite in its grasp. It does not need to learn or come up to speed on anything. There is no “Aha! moment” for God. Nothing surprises Him, nothing catches Him off guard. As Isaiah teaches (40:13,14) “Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?” These are rhetorical questions and the answer is obvious: No one has taught God. He needs no teacher. He already knows.

Finally, God’s omniscience also means that His knowledge knows no bounds. There is not a limited body of knowledge that God knows or has grasped. His knowledge is limitless, endless. He is infinite in every attribute, including His knowledge. Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering (Job 26:6). God’s knowledge extends to the height of heaven and to the depths of hell (Psalm 139:8). There is no searching of His understanding (Is. 40:28). “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). God’s understanding is simply infinite (Psalm 147:5)!

It is simply impossible for finite minds such as ours to grasp infinite Mind and Knowledge. David was correct when he said, “It is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” (Psalm 139:6). While we may not be able to comprehend it, we can at least appreciate it and be humbled by it.

Eric L. Padgett