Can God make a rock so big He or She can't move it?

[Kimberly]

Your signature quote makes two assumptions...

^*shrug*

[Attis]

Assumptions based on the Laws of Identity and Non-Contradiction. No one has shown them to be wrong as of yet. Not even in quantum mechanics. :3

-- Bred R Evil!

[Kimberly]

In my opinion it is never prudent to present an assumption as fact.

Human understanding has this nasty habit of evolving and shifting around and such after all.

But, believe what you wish, of course.

[VeryGnawty]

The paradox is irrelevant.  In fact, there is really no such thing as paradox.  At least, not to God.

It's like that question of what happens when an irresistable force meets an impenetrable object.  The truth of the matter is that none of these things actually exist.  And so it is with the rock.  The fact that the rock is or is not capable of being lifted, by God or anyone else, is meaningless.  The rock is just an illusion dreamed in the eye of God to begin with.  It can easily be replaced by anything else.

There is no real answer to the paradox, because subscribing to the idea of paradox already puts you in a paradigm of dualism.  However, God subscribes to no such limitations, neither does He live by them.  By even asserting such a question, you are already putting limits on that which is unlimited.

[Seshatneferw]

Yep, the question is irrelevant. It's pretty clear by now that God has chosen not to deal with the gritty details of ruling this universe, at least to an extent that we could see it. What we can expect is solace and forgiveness, not divine intervention.

The question is also meaningless, and surprisingly enough, this can be proved. I've never studied number theory that far (or tried to think this through by myself -- I am, after all, blond), but it follows directly from the properties of infinity. As in,

  Aleph-null bottles of beer on the wall,
  Aleph-null bottles of beer.
  Take one down, pass it around,
  Aleph-null bottles of beer on the wall.

It's not diamonds. Mathematicians are a girl's best friend, especially if she dabbles with science. Or, in this case, theology.

  Nfr

[nancyj]

Dumb All Over
...
Hey, we can't really be dumb
If we're just following God's orders
Hey, lets get serious...
God knows what he's doin
He wrote this book here
An the book says:
He made us all to be just like him,
So...
If we're dumb...
Then God is dumb...
(an maybe even a little ugly on the side)

(Zappa 1981)


All seriousness aside...

If a thing cannot be greater than its cause, then no.

It's pretty clear by now that God has chosen not to deal with the gritty details of ruling this universe, at least to an extent that we could see it.

Every word of  common people has its object; every deed has its actor, but because these talkers and actors are ignorant, TAO is ignorant with them and does not interfere.

TAO-TEH-KING, seventy (excerpted)