No. Omnipotence is the ability to do everything possible, regardless of who or what is acting. The limitation is on the reality side, not on the actor.
I get that part, since more is possible than I can do, but God is the one who decides and creates what is possible, so he should be able to do anything whatsoever.
God can’t create a squared circle. He did not decided that, it just is. If you think that this kind of limitation makes him not omnipotent, then again, I’ll happily recognize that he is not omnipotent. But I’ll still hold that he can do everything possible.
Nobody and nothing. If you read the beginning of Genesis carefully, God doesn’t create out of nothing; he transforms matter that is already there. Of course, it’s a myth, not a practical description of the beginning of the universe. But it suggests that some things simply are. I think the laws of logic simply are, or, put differently, God is logic itself. He can’t go against himself. He is his own limit.
Huh. As an atheist, I’ve always heard the argument that the universe is far too complex to have just happened on its own, and that God was the maker. Which makes no sense to me, because God is complex enough to make the universe, and God just happened.
Actually, upon reflection, this explanation makes more sense to me, that God is a part of the universe and created humans. I may not share what belief, but it’s interesting. Thanks for sharing!
I can do everything that’s possible for me. Am I omnipotent?
No. Omnipotence is the ability to do everything possible, regardless of who or what is acting. The limitation is on the reality side, not on the actor.
I get that part, since more is possible than I can do, but God is the one who decides and creates what is possible, so he should be able to do anything whatsoever.
God can’t create a squared circle. He did not decided that, it just is. If you think that this kind of limitation makes him not omnipotent, then again, I’ll happily recognize that he is not omnipotent. But I’ll still hold that he can do everything possible.
Then who or what determined what is possible?
Nobody and nothing. If you read the beginning of Genesis carefully, God doesn’t create out of nothing; he transforms matter that is already there. Of course, it’s a myth, not a practical description of the beginning of the universe. But it suggests that some things simply are. I think the laws of logic simply are, or, put differently, God is logic itself. He can’t go against himself. He is his own limit.
Huh. As an atheist, I’ve always heard the argument that the universe is far too complex to have just happened on its own, and that God was the maker. Which makes no sense to me, because God is complex enough to make the universe, and God just happened.
Actually, upon reflection, this explanation makes more sense to me, that God is a part of the universe and created humans. I may not share what belief, but it’s interesting. Thanks for sharing!