Dumb Paradox thing!

[iamnice50]

My dad keeps asking me these questions!

 The question is: If God can do anything, could he create a lock that even he could not open?

I want an answer to give him so he'll stop asking me!

[flashpig]

Yes he could.

[jocasta]

Which of course is another paradox!

[iamnice50]

You see God can do anything, therefore he'd be able to open the lock he just created!

[Morrisonker]

tell him you're atheist?

Oww....my brain!  I had an answer.  Along the lines of no matter what he does he proves that he isn't all powerful.  But i've got confused now :(

[jno]

Who says God can do anything? Being all-powerful just means you can do anything that can be done; it doesn't mean you can do the impossible. Either making an uunpickable lock is possible or it's impossible; if the former, he can do it; if the latter he can't. He also can't make 2+2=5 or repeal the law of gravity.

[iamnice50]

Ok fine! I was using God as an example! Suppose you're a being who CAN do anything, then would he be able to create a lock that even he could not open!

[jake-the-peg]

The classic response to another paradox "what was God doing before he created the Universe" was " creating a very special Hell for those who ask awkward questions!" you might be able to use that sometime :c)

[jno]

same answer! 2+2=4 by definition [ie because 4 is the name we give to the sum of 2 and 2], and nobody can change that; a lock is pickable or unpickable by definition and nobody can change that either.

[Cockney_si]

This sounds a bit like the "How do you get an elephant out of a milk bottle" conundrum.

It's just a theory, the elephant got in so its just the reverse etc....

If he could create a lock, surely he could destroy it.

Or failing that he could pay the �90 call out and get a local locksmith to help open it.

[Quizmonster]

Ask your dad: 'What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?' It's all just playing with words.

[jake-the-peg]

To give you a better answer, this is an ancient paradox and has had many better brains than mine on it.

The problem is with the notion of the word Omnipotent - It is being taken to mean capable of anything but that is not necessarily it's meaning. In an absolute Monarchy The Monarch is omnipotent - they have all legal and political power bu they can't make the sky red.

Similarly God can be argued to have all power "subject to his nature"

I think there is a piece in the Bible for example where God says he cannot lie 

[netibiza]

If God is as old as me then he could very likely forget how to open his lock - so yes.

[natalie_1982]

Why would He need a lock?  He can see everything so I don't think anybody would be stupid enough to rob him.

[Cockney_si]

Think the answer to the quizmonster puzzle was 'it goes around it'....just think of water rushing down hill....

[teamcool]

shouldnt it be what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

[rooftrouser]

I love AB. One minute you're discussing your favourite chocolate bar and the next you're up to your neck in an age old theological question about God's supremacy. I'm looking forward to the ontological argument itself because I want an excuse to quote Woody Allen:
"Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber on weekends"
Oops, I already have...

[Quizmonster]

Cockney_si, the paradox requires that there is no way around it! Dams illustrate the fact that water coming downhill is not irresistible. On the other hand, an infinitely high dam might be destroyed by an infinitely vast volume of water. But, of course, then the dam would have been shown not to be immovable!

Re the question of the sound of one hand clapping, Bart Simpson answered that clearly in one episode. You can do it yourself quite easily by opening one hand and simply flapping the fingers backwards and forwards onto the palm. It makes a clapping sound, though not as loudly as two hands do. Problem solved!

[Quizmonster]

Either an answer has been removed here or else I've imported its idea from another thread entirely! Whatever...someone somewhere today on AB raised the supposed paradox of the sound of one hand clapping in the Zen koan. I thought I'd better explain the second paragraph in my answer immediately above, in case you think I'm going ga-ga!

[Pinotage]

Say you'll happily answer the question as soon as he can give proof of gods existence