Debunking Omnipotence

First, let's agree that the Bible tells us that God is omnipotent.

Job 42:2 I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.

Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.

Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Next, let us agree that the Bible also tells us that there are some things that God cannot do.

Hebrews 6:18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.

James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.

The typical argument made in an attempt to remove any apparent inconsistency here is to say that God can do anything as long as it does not go against his nature. In other words, God, by nature, is always truthful, and therefore it is impossible for him to lie. And so on.

However, cannot the very same rationalization be used to excuse our own inability to do things? It is impossible for me to fly without technological assistance. But that is because flying is not in my nature. I cannot survive without oxygen, for doing so is not in my nature.

So God is not really omnipotent. He is merely more potent than I.

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