The God of the Western monotheistic religions is said to be ‘omni-potent’, that is, all powerful. But what does it take for a being to be omnipotent? Some (but by no means all) say that an omnipotent being is one who is capable of doing anything at all. However, this description quickly encounters a problem: if an omnipotent being can do absolutely anything, then it must be able to do this: create a task that even it could not complete, like lift an unliftable weight. But if an omnipotent being can create a weight that it can’t lift, then there is something that it cannot do: i.e., lift the weight.
Some take this reasoning to show that nothing could be omnipotent. For whether an omnipotent thing can create a task that it cannot complete or not, there is something it cannot do: either create the task itself, or do the action the task specifies. However, this seems a little quick. For if we accept that omnipotence is the power to do anything at all, then an omnipotence includes the power to do even contradictory things. Hence, an omnipotent being is, after all, capable of creating a task that it cannot complete and also of completing it! | |||