Musings about omnipotence and perfection.

[Minimalist]

(30th January 2011 03:43)Ryft Wrote:  I wish to just clarify on DvF's excellent point. Omnipotence is about power, not logical possibility. To say that God is omnipotent is only to say that God has the power to do anything that power can do. (Far too many people leave off the clause that I emphasized there.) Logical possibility enters the picture only as a definitional point; i.e., if the logically impossible could be become possible given sufficient power, then it was never logically impossible to begin with but merely difficult. The logically impossible remains impossible necessarily, regardless of how much power might be applied. It is definitional.

Different people seem to take the simple latin of omni potens ( all power) and come to remarkably different conclusions. Courtesy of Wiki, certainly not an omnipotent source.

Quote:Between people of different faiths, or indeed between people of the same faith, the term omnipotent has been used to connote a number of different positions. These positions include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. A deity is able to do anything that it chooses to do[1].
2. A deity is able to do absolutely anything, even the logically impossible, i.e., pure agency.[2]
3. A deity is able to do anything that is in accord with its own nature (thus, for instance, if it is a logical consequence of a deity's nature that what it speaks is truth, then it is not able to lie).
4. Hold that it is part of a deity's nature to be consistent and that it would be inconsistent for said deity to go against its own laws unless there was a reason to do so.[3]
5. A deity is able to do anything that corresponds with its omniscience and therefore with its worldplan.

How would you answer a fundie who, in a scientific discussion about the so-called flood and upon being informed that there is insufficient water on the planet to cover the land masses, informed me that "god can do anything."