# More of God's Greatest Mistakes **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 2, 2000, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742 "2000-09-02T03:56:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/1 "2000-09-02T03:56:02Z")
Can God make a stone so heavy that he cannot lift it? ---
**Author:** ![Mauve\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@Mauve\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauve_Dog)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/2 "2000-09-02T04:23:36Z")
[Been there, done that.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=29258) ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/3 "2000-09-02T04:51:20Z")
Wow. I had never considered such a question before? Is it possible? Is it paradox? Does it imply a limit to omnipotence or an omnipotence that transcends logic? Think of the ramifications? If God could do that, could he make himself forget that he had done it? If the rock was too heavy for Him, could God create another being strong enough to lift it? If the other being did lift it, could God make the rock heavier and squash him? If God did that, which would be kind of mean, really, would he feel guilty? If He did feel guilty, could he change the way he truly felt? If He could change the way He truly felt, could he just give himself eternal psychic orgasms? If God could give himself eternal psychic orgasms, would each one be as good as th efirst or would they get old after a while? If eternal psychic orgasms get old after a while, could God just vibrate the Universe, you know, just until the right deity came along? Damn – I think that would make me motion sick. I hope He can’t make the rock. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/4 "2000-09-02T04:55:42Z")
Preach it, brother Spiritus. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/5 "2000-09-02T04:55:43Z")
Can He make a tomato too big for Him to eat? OK, well, then why’s He gotta eat, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/6 "2000-09-02T11:05:30Z")
Well, ya gotta love it. It’s like a Bible Thumper posting Pascal’s Wager. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/7 "2000-09-02T13:09:58Z")
Yes he can. And no he can’t. And that’s the Gods’ honest truth. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/8 "2000-09-02T13:34:51Z")
Can Cisco make a post so ridiculous that everybody on the Board turns against him? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/9 "2000-09-02T13:42:19Z")
It’s okay, Cisco. We love ya, man. 😉 Okay, how 'bout this. God makes the rock, and then moves everything _else_ in the universe _down_, thus lifting the unliftable rock. (If the rock was on a table before, and He moved the universe down, oh, say, three feet, the rock is now three feet above the table.) ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/10 "2000-09-02T20:12:22Z")
Somehow, I doubt that God is overly concerned with our inability to comprehend His omnipotence. ---
**Author:** ![quasar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@quasar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quasar)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/11 "2000-09-02T21:05:14Z")
Does He have to physically lift it? He could just vaporize it and the rock would go up without the need to apply a muscular force and sweat on His clothes. Does it rain when he sweats? By the way, how much does God bench press? What gym does He go to? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/12 "2000-09-03T01:29:45Z")
I always thought of this question as just our inability to comprehend omnipotence, of course i didnt make it up, but it is fun asking the question to people who have never heard it before. It’s usually something like: “Of course he can! he can do anything!” then “wait a second, if he makes a rock so big he cant lift it then he couldnt do anything! ARRRRRRRGGGGGGG!!!” Another way to look at it is instead of him making the rock so BIG he could make the rock stay the same size and just continually make it more dense. I suppose the rock would just keep getting heavier and heavier at some mind-numbing rate with the prospect that he might not be able to lift it one day, but surely whoever asked the question would be dead long before this happened and it wouldnt matter. Its pretty funny. One devout Christian almost punched me when I asked him this one time though so be careful who you ask. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/13 "2000-09-03T01:33:18Z")
Blatant piece of quasi-witnessing, but it was witty, and poignant, enough that I think it’ll be acceptable: A quick-witted Christian once, asked that, said, “Well, not really.” Surprised by this peculiar answer, the questioner asked for an explanation. The response: “One rock he created took him three days to move – the one at the door of his tomb.” ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/14 "2000-09-03T01:40:32Z")
😃 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/15 "2000-09-03T02:02:46Z")
I disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/16 "2000-09-03T02:21:37Z")
My, what a pithy attitude! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![quasar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@quasar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quasar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/17 "2000-09-03T05:08:00Z")
Lets throw to the mix yet another hypothesis, just to keep this fine thread going. Suppose that God clones Himself. As everybody knows, two Gods are better than one. Might the two deities, working in unison, manage to lift the mighty massive rock? You betcha. Another important matter to consider: would Christianity become a polytheistic religion? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/18 "2000-09-03T06:30:22Z")
So it goes something like this: God makes the rock so heavy he cant lift it, proceeds to clone a buddy for himself and together, they heave the unheavable, thus he made the rock, and with the help of his cohort (fundamentally part of himself) he lifts it, solving the age old riddle!! Good one quasar!! :D:D:D ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/19 "2000-09-03T06:39:27Z")
Or, perhaps every time He feels like making “a rock so large He cannot lift it” a stellar mass somewhere in the universe contracts within it’s own Schwartzchild radius, and collapses. It could happen. Tris ---
**Author:** ![MysterEcks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MysterEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysterEcks)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742/20 "2000-09-03T06:47:04Z")
**quasar** said: > [@](#): > > Another important matter to consider: would Christianity become a polytheistic religion? Rhetorical question–how many Fathers, Sons, and Holy Spirits are required before a religion is considered polytheistic? There is an actual answer to the OP, though it requires one to buy into the underlying belief in an omnipotent deity. The answer is yes, God can create a stone so heavy that He can’t lift it…but as soon as He decides that He _can_lift it, it is no longer too heavy. (Don’t complain to me–it isn’t my fault.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-of-gods-greatest-mistakes/31742.md?page=2)