The question
Can God create a stone so heavy that even He can not lift it?
has been a source of debate for philosphers for years.
Here is my answer, along with a fairly simple explanation of how the answer was arrived at.
This question includes the unstated assumption that:
God is All-Powerful.
Therefore, the typical response is:
If God can do anything, can He create something that even He can’t affect? (ie: A stone so heavy that He can’t lift it)
This question has a fundamental assumption that is not stated in the question:
God can do anything that is Possible.
This statement must logically be intrinsicly true because:
Even God can’t do something that is not possible to be done
The “Stone Question” is logically impossible to ask, as it logically translates to:
Can God do something that is not possible?
The answer must be No, as by definition something that “can not be done” can not be done.
This is equivalent to saying something like
Can God make Zero equal One ( 0 = 1 )
Logically and Mathematically, this is impossible, as by definition Zero and One (and all discrete numbers) by definition can not have the same value as another discrete number.
Therefore, the answer to the question that has plagued philosophers for years is:
(Drum Roll, please)
No.
God can not make a stone so heavy that He can not lift it.
Because if God is all-powerful (meaning that he can do anything that is possible to be done) it is impossible for Him to create a stone that He could not lift, because it is not possible to do so.
