can.of.soup — Today at 11:47 AM
Another couple questions I’ve had brought up in my philosophy class (which I don’t really like) is, can god draw a square circle? Bc a square needs corners and a circle cannot have corner, therefore it would be “impossible”
And
Can God create a rock so big he cannot lift it?
My answer to those would be. Why would he want to? There’s no reason to do those things, why would he waste time to try? To me it seems like a pointless question that people would use to try and shoot down Christianity and the belief of god. Another thing is, isn’t questioning god a sin? At least I’ve heard a lot of people consider it a sin. Which would make the religion unit in my philosophy class, a sin to partake in.
Thus I reply
Oh yes, I remember the philosophy class you mentioned with the teacher that you don’t like. And who also doesn’t seem to teach that well unfortunately…
In terms of “Can God draw a square circle?”, the questions is a practical way of essentially describing “Can God do something logically impossible?”
Let’s set the ground rules and answer a similar question first. “Are there things that are impossible for God to do?”
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
possible.”
δυνατά (dynata)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 1415: (a) of persons: powerful, able, (b) of things: possible. From dunamai; powerful or capable; neuter possible.
δυνατά = divinely powerful, mighty.
2 Corinthians 10:4 Adj-NNP
GRK: σαρκικὰ ἀλλὰ δυνατὰ τῷ θεῷ
NAS: but divinely powerful for the destruction
KJV: carnal, but mighty through God to
INT: fleshly but powerful divine
2 Corinthians 10:4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
Thus, a more accurate translation of this word would reflect Strong’s Concordence…
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are divinely possible.”
“Divinely possible” is important, because God cannot sin.
Luke 1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
May seem to point to the fact that God can do anything at all, however, look at the original Greek word usage.
nothing
ῥῆμα (rhēma)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4487: From rheo; an utterance, ; by implication, a matter or topic; with a negative naught whatever.
rhema is translated as “word”. Thus, this means that no Word of God will be impossible with God. Therefore, every prophecy from the Bible will come true. Because the Word of God is completely divine, therefore all of it is divinely possible.
The Bible says that God cannot tempt with evil, God cannot lie. Truly, it is impossible for God to sin. Everything else that is divinely possible God can do.
James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal [aionian, pertaining to an age] life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
Here’s a line that may seem like a contradiction at first:
2 Corinthians 12:10 – “When I am weak, then I am strong.”
How can someone be both weak and strong at the same time? The answer is the first book of the Bible!
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Which essentially means “In the beginning God created the spiritual realm and the physical realm”.
Thus, we know there are two types of weakness (physical and spiritual) and two types of strengths (physical and spiritual). Therefore, that line essentially means.
2 Cor 12:10 – “When I am weak (physically), then I am strong (spiritually).”
Because someone who is physically weak stops trusting in their own works to save them, and instead has faith alone in Jesus and is saved.
Therefore to answer “Can God draw a square circle”, we would need to determine if it’s divinely possible.
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal [aionian, pertaining to an age] life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
Like you mention in your explanation. A square needs corners, if God were to make a circle and say it has square corners, that would be a lie, and God never lies. Therefore, it is not divinely possible for God to create a square circle. Therefore, it is impossible for God to state that a “circle has a corner when by definition it cannot” since it is a bearing false witness which is sin, and God never sins.
“Can God create a rock so big He cannot lift it?”.
Again, is this divinely possible?
There are two possibilities, either lifting this rock is divinely possible or it is not divinely possible. Let’s solve this under both assumptions.
1) It is divinely possible for God to lift this rock, therefore He will lift it.
God can do all things that are divinely possible, for Him to say that He cannot lift the rock would be a lie, which is impossible, since God never lies.
2) It is not divinely possible for God to lift this rock, therefore He will not lift it.
God will not do something that is divinely impossible.
Simple. Either something is a sin or not a sin, either it obeys God’s law or it does not. Either it’s divinely possible or impossible.
The reason God is God is because He is divinely Almighty, He can do all things which are good. He can not do things which are evil. It’s good that it’s impossible for God to sin!
That’s the logical solution to it. Feel free to use that explanation if someone ever asks you for an answer.
But your answer really gets down to the emotion of it. We need to examine the reason why someone would ask these questions in the first place. Of course, I would answer these people nicely. Many people value knowledge, but truly I tell you, without love we are nothing. God is God because He loves us unconditionally. The way we convince people to become believers in God is be showing them this love. Someone could have extremely deep levels of knowledge of the angels, demons and the spiritual realm, yet if they do not have love, they are nothing.
Another couple questions I’ve had brought up in my philosophy class (which I don’t really like) is, can god draw a square circle? Bc a square needs corners and a circle cannot have corner, therefore it would be “impossible”
And
Can God create a rock so big he cannot lift it?
My answer to those would be. Why would he want to? There’s no reason to do those things, why would he waste time to try? To me it seems like a pointless question that people would use to try and shoot down Christianity and the belief of god. Another thing is, isn’t questioning god a sin? At least I’ve heard a lot of people consider it a sin. Which would make the religion unit in my philosophy class, a sin to partake in.
Thus I reply
Oh yes, I remember the philosophy class you mentioned with the teacher that you don’t like. And who also doesn’t seem to teach that well unfortunately…
In terms of “Can God draw a square circle?”, the questions is a practical way of essentially describing “Can God do something logically impossible?”
Let’s set the ground rules and answer a similar question first. “Are there things that are impossible for God to do?”
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
possible.”
δυνατά (dynata)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 1415: (a) of persons: powerful, able, (b) of things: possible. From dunamai; powerful or capable; neuter possible.
δυνατά = divinely powerful, mighty.
2 Corinthians 10:4 Adj-NNP
GRK: σαρκικὰ ἀλλὰ δυνατὰ τῷ θεῷ
NAS: but divinely powerful for the destruction
KJV: carnal, but mighty through God to
INT: fleshly but powerful divine
2 Corinthians 10:4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
Thus, a more accurate translation of this word would reflect Strong’s Concordence…
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are divinely possible.”
“Divinely possible” is important, because God cannot sin.
Luke 1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
May seem to point to the fact that God can do anything at all, however, look at the original Greek word usage.
nothing
ῥῆμα (rhēma)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4487: From rheo; an utterance, ; by implication, a matter or topic; with a negative naught whatever.
rhema is translated as “word”. Thus, this means that no Word of God will be impossible with God. Therefore, every prophecy from the Bible will come true. Because the Word of God is completely divine, therefore all of it is divinely possible.
The Bible says that God cannot tempt with evil, God cannot lie. Truly, it is impossible for God to sin. Everything else that is divinely possible God can do.
James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal [aionian, pertaining to an age] life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
Here’s a line that may seem like a contradiction at first:
2 Corinthians 12:10 – “When I am weak, then I am strong.”
How can someone be both weak and strong at the same time? The answer is the first book of the Bible!
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Which essentially means “In the beginning God created the spiritual realm and the physical realm”.
Thus, we know there are two types of weakness (physical and spiritual) and two types of strengths (physical and spiritual). Therefore, that line essentially means.
2 Cor 12:10 – “When I am weak (physically), then I am strong (spiritually).”
Because someone who is physically weak stops trusting in their own works to save them, and instead has faith alone in Jesus and is saved.
Therefore to answer “Can God draw a square circle”, we would need to determine if it’s divinely possible.
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal [aionian, pertaining to an age] life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
Like you mention in your explanation. A square needs corners, if God were to make a circle and say it has square corners, that would be a lie, and God never lies. Therefore, it is not divinely possible for God to create a square circle. Therefore, it is impossible for God to state that a “circle has a corner when by definition it cannot” since it is a bearing false witness which is sin, and God never sins.
“Can God create a rock so big He cannot lift it?”.
Again, is this divinely possible?
There are two possibilities, either lifting this rock is divinely possible or it is not divinely possible. Let’s solve this under both assumptions.
1) It is divinely possible for God to lift this rock, therefore He will lift it.
God can do all things that are divinely possible, for Him to say that He cannot lift the rock would be a lie, which is impossible, since God never lies.
2) It is not divinely possible for God to lift this rock, therefore He will not lift it.
God will not do something that is divinely impossible.
Simple. Either something is a sin or not a sin, either it obeys God’s law or it does not. Either it’s divinely possible or impossible.
The reason God is God is because He is divinely Almighty, He can do all things which are good. He can not do things which are evil. It’s good that it’s impossible for God to sin!
That’s the logical solution to it. Feel free to use that explanation if someone ever asks you for an answer.
But your answer really gets down to the emotion of it. We need to examine the reason why someone would ask these questions in the first place. Of course, I would answer these people nicely. Many people value knowledge, but truly I tell you, without love we are nothing. God is God because He loves us unconditionally. The way we convince people to become believers in God is be showing them this love. Someone could have extremely deep levels of knowledge of the angels, demons and the spiritual realm, yet if they do not have love, they are nothing.
