Can God make a rock so heavy that he cannot lift it? This is a fun little paradox that has bewildered the minds of many Christians, skeptics, philosophers, and others over the years as it has called into question the idea of an omnipotent God. We’ll touch on the idea of omnipotence before circling back to this specific question below.
Of course, the word omnipotence is not used in the Bible to describe God’s ability. The word is a Latin word that combines the idea of comprehensiveness (omni or all) and power (potens or potent). Think of the somewhat archaic word potentate. A potentate is a supreme leader, one who possesses a high level of power. So, God’s omnipotence means that he has all power. How does the Bible describe God’s power to this degree?
God’s omnipotence is generally recognized through his work of creation (Ps. 33:6), redemption (Ex. 6:6-8), preservation (Heb. 1:3), and control over the affairs of men (Ps. 33:10-11; 115:3; Acts 17:26). The biblical witness testifies that God is the Most High (Ps. 57:2). He is God Almighty (el Shaddai, Gen. 17:1). He is frequently referred to as the One who can do the impossible (Matt. 19:26). Nothing is too hard for him (Gen 18:14; Jer. 32:17). Occasionally, his power, like his speech, hearing, attentiveness to his people, etc., is compared to the gods of the other nations as something that sets him apart from those idols. God is a God who can do stuff. Not only can he do stuff, but he does do stuff. He is “declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (Isa. 46:10). The miracles Jesus performed in his earthly life were frequent displays of his unique power or authority and were witnessed as such by his disciples, his enemies, and the crowds that followed him (Matt. 8-9).
Now back to our question. The question—Can God make a rock so heavy that he cannot lift it?—attempts to discredit the omnipotence of God. If we answer this in the affirmative, then God's power would be limited by not being able to lift this massive rock. This question then attempts to say that God can do something that would limit his Godness. If we answer with the negative, then we would be affirming that God cannot do something, which would seem to imply a limit to his power. So there is a flaw, however provocative, in the question itself. Either way, God would not be omnipotent. Since we should affirm the omnipotence of God because of biblical revelation, we should change the question into a statement: God can make a rock as heavy as he wishes and he can lift as heavy of a rock as he pleases. There are no limits on God when it comes to rock making and rock lifting.
We, as a people, are generally suspicious of those who have power. The saying “power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely” is deeply engrained in our collective thought. Our history books are filled with examples of men-gone-bad after inheriting this degree of power. The story doesn’t normally end well with people who possess this much power, control, and influence over others. Eventually, given enough time, they all fall. Should this make us hesitant to ascribe to God omnipotence? The beautiful reality of God's omnipotence is that this attribute cannot be divorced from all of his other attributes. His power works in union with his justice, truth, love, and knowledge. His power is incorruptible because he is incorruptible. Therefore, what we know to be true of men cannot be true of God. We need to fear the power of God and stand in awe of him, but we do not need to lose sleep wondering if he would somehow wield his power in sinful ways. To God Almighty be the glory!