What is the Paradox of the Stone?

The paradox of the stone is a paradox which deals with the coherency of omnipotence. Since theists usually claim that God is omnipotent (all-powerful), It is usually presented as a defeater to theism. This paradox is often used to "demonstrate" that such a Being cannot exist. It is usually presented in the following form:

"Can God create a rock so big that He can't lift it?"

Although it may be presented as:

"Could an omnipotent being create a rock so big that even that being couldn't lift it?"

Explaining the Problem

For simplicity let's use the first form of the paradox to elaborate on why it is a problem for theists.

Can God create a rock so big that He can't lift it?

If we answer "Yes", it appears that we have a problem. We are saying that God CAN create a rock so big that He CAN'T lift it. In the same sentence we are saying that God CAN and that He CANNOT do something. In this case we would affirm Gods creative power, but we would deny God's physical strength. We would be saying "Yes, God can create any size rock that He wants!" But by answering yes to the question, we are also saying that "God is not powerful enough to lift the rock that He created by means of His omnipotence." So even if He is powerful enough to create the rock, He isn't powerful enough to lift it. Therefore, the very notion of an all-powerful (omnipotent) Being is nonsense.

If we answer "No", we also appear that have a problem. In this case we are saying the God CANNOT create a rock so big that He CANNOT lift it. So we have just affirmed that God cannot create this sort of rock, hence there is something that God cannot do. Therefore, He is not all-powerful. The antagonist may say, "Even if I grant that God could lift any size rock, I still deny that He can create such a rock."

Problem with this Paradox

Other than just being sophomoric, there are several problems with the use of this paradox as an argument for the incoherence of theism.

The simple response to this question is: "God can create whatever size rock He wants AND He can lift it. What on earth would make you think that these two actions are intrinsically or necessarily mutually exclusive actions?"

In other words, ask the antagonist why the ability to create a big rock and the ability to lift it must be an either / or proposition. If he doesn't give you an answer, then you don't have to give him any further answer. Ironically, it is his question that is incoherent! If God is all-powerful, then He has the ability to create any size rock He wants to AND He has the ability to lift it. It doesn't make sense to arbitrarily pit these two abilities against each other. To do this is to create an unwarranted disjunction.

In using this argument the antagonist must have some notion of what an omnipotent being must be like. He would have to show that an all-powerful Being must be the kind of being who can create a rock so big that that He cannot lift it. However, this would be absurd because he would simply be proving that God is the kind of being that can't be. In fact, he are simply begging the question in favor of one particular view of omnipotence (an incredibly odd one to be sure). He would have to argue in the following way:

Presupposed: To be all-powerful, God must be able to create a rock so big that He cannot lift it.

1. Either God can do this or He cannot do this.
2. If He can, then he is not all-powerful.
3. If He cannot, then he is not all-powerful.
4. Therefore, God cannot be all-powerful.

So the argument is basically saying that whether or not God can meet the criterion of omnipotent, He is not omnipotent. The definition itself rules out the possibility of an omnipotent being. This then is not an argument, but a way of illustrating the skeptics faulty view of omnipotence. He is not using the paradox to argue against theism, rather he already has in mind that an all-powerful being must be able to perform X. He then simply try's to illustrate his strange view of God by means of this paradox.

There are more problems with this paradox. If anyone is interested in further elaboration or discussion on the topic, feel free to email me.