# IS GOD ALMIGHTY? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 5, 2001, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467 "2001-05-05T20:36:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YOZZER2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/df705f/32.png) [@YOZZER2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YOZZER2001)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/1 "2001-05-05T20:36:25Z")
if your belief is that god is almighty and could do any thing then can he make a rock big enough that he cound`nt pick up? thanks brian and jim ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/2 "2001-05-05T20:44:46Z")
The problem here is with your definition and the limiting effects of having to communicate a limited language. Almighty or omnipotent does not mean the ability to do anything, it is the ability to do all things which are “doable”. Just because something is describable by the English language does mean that it is “doable”. I guess you could say the English language is more powerful than God. 🙂 Meriam-Webster dictionary: Almighty: 1 often capitalized : having absolute power over all \ 2 : relatively unlimited in power 3 : great in magnitude or seriousness Omnipotent: 1 often capitalized : ALMIGHTY 1 2 : having virtually unlimited authority or influence ---
**Author:** ![YOZZER2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/df705f/32.png) [@YOZZER2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YOZZER2001)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/3 "2001-05-05T20:59:30Z")
AS WE ARE TAUGHT THAT GOD IS ALMIGHTY ,BEING HE CAN DO ANYTHING.WE ARE NOT TAUGHT GOD IS ALMIGHTY DEPENDING ON WHICH DICTIONARY YOU READ.WE ALL KNOW WHAT WAS MEANT IN THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH!. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS LIMITED IN ITS ABILITY TO EXPRESS WHAT IS MEANT ,BUT THE QUESTION IS ,IS GOD LIMITED IN HIS ABILITY. ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/4 "2001-05-05T21:06:15Z")
Please don’t use all caps. [quote[GOD IS ALMIGHTY ,BEING HE CAN DO ANYTHING[/quote] Well, again your problem is with language. What does do anything mean in their use in language? Lets take the phrase “It is impossible…” “It is impossible that unicorns exist.” Is this true? Is it really impossible? Isn’t it possible that on some distant planet, in some distinct galaxy there are unicorns? Of course, but it is so remotely unlikely that we may as well call it impossible and just leave it at that and everybody, being reasonable human beings, will understand what we mean. So again, the ability to “do anything” is a language efficient way of say “all things that are doable”. So the answer to your question is that if God exists (which he doesn’t) then He could do all things that are doable. ---
**Author:** ![YOZZER2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/df705f/32.png) [@YOZZER2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YOZZER2001)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/5 "2001-05-05T21:24:20Z")
sorry about upper case,new to this thanks. the question starts out `if your belief is` ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/6 "2001-05-05T21:31:35Z")
It is my belief that Big Juju, if it exists, is infinite, and thus so beyond our comprehension that such questions are entirely meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![YOZZER2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/df705f/32.png) [@YOZZER2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YOZZER2001)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/7 "2001-05-05T21:42:00Z")
Ok then can the Big Juju get lost (as in not knowing were it is)if not why not and if so can`t do all(taken from twilight zone) ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/8 "2001-05-05T21:43:18Z")
Check the definition of “infinite” and you’ll understand why I find that to be a silly question. ---
**Author:** ![YOZZER2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/df705f/32.png) [@YOZZER2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YOZZER2001)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/9 "2001-05-05T21:52:44Z")
ok the question is `is god almighty` now i could make a rock big enough i could not pick up(simply ring up ready mix concreate and ask them to deliver 1 cubic meter of concreate (all ingredients coming from rock except water but which is readily available)so being doable)so if i can do it god can.but like me he wouldnt be able to pick up the rock so the answer is no god is not almighty ps their are two people here bri and jim this ones off jim other off bri will sign from now on. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/10 "2001-05-05T22:23:41Z")
If He were to try to make such a big enough rock, It would tend to crowd out the rest of the universe. ---
**Author:** ![YOZZER2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/df705f/32.png) [@YOZZER2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YOZZER2001)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/11 "2001-05-05T22:36:20Z")
but not in the Big Juju`s universe ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/12 "2001-05-05T22:41:13Z")
Many theists believe God is constrained by logic, that to be “almighty” you do not need to be able to do the literally impossible, like make a square circle or a married bachelor. So for them, God cannot make a rock so large he cannot lift it because it is a logical contradiction, yet he is still “almighty”. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/13 "2001-05-05T22:42:49Z")
First, God will make a rock so heavy that it cannot be moved, period. Then he will move the entire universe, and everything in it, except for the rock. Because the rock now has a new coordinate set, it has moved. ---
**Author:** ![YOZZER2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/df705f/32.png) [@YOZZER2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YOZZER2001)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/14 "2001-05-05T23:20:13Z")
if your rock is the center point to your coordinates i.e.your point of origion then you haven`t moved everything else has ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/15 "2001-05-05T23:39:38Z")
What coordinate system contains the universe? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/16 "2001-05-05T23:46:30Z")
The problem is not that we are constrained by limitations of our language, but by the limitations of the laws of physics. If such a thing as God did exist, it would be unlikely that he would bound by three dimensions, linear time, or even basic laws of reason as we know it. So I suppose that answer could be yes and no, both at the ame time. ---
**Author:** ![YOZZER2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/df705f/32.png) [@YOZZER2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YOZZER2001)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/17 "2001-05-05T23:46:43Z")
the same one that says you can move the universe around said fixed point ie rock and then say it has moved but in reality as you say everything else has moved coordinits and the rock is still in same place so not moved ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/18 "2001-05-05T23:55:19Z")
Look at it this way. The rock is on your coffee table there in England. God moves everything in the universe 384,403 kilometers. Now the rock is on the moon, but nothing else has changed. If you want to say that the moon and your coffee table are in the same place, you got some ‘splainin’ to do. ---
**Author:** ![YOZZER2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/df705f/32.png) [@YOZZER2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YOZZER2001)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/19 "2001-05-06T00:05:24Z")
yes the rock is on the moon but the moon is now were the coffee table was and the rock is still in the same space as it was .brian if god has created this rock which we agree he can not lift which was the sole purpose of creating the rock then why would he bother to move the universe because he`s proved he`s not almighty chill:D ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467/20 "2001-05-06T00:14:48Z")
But the rock is thousands of kilometers away from your coffee table! After the universe moves, you will not be able to prove that it did! In fact, from your reference frame, you _see the rock moving as it races to the moon!_ :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-god-almighty/64467.md?page=2)