Can God create a stone that is so heavy that even He himself cannot lift it up?

edited by Celine Yeap

Can God create a stone that is so heavy that even He himself cannot lift it up?

I still remember someone asked me this question back then 3 years ago, when I was still a young Christian. To be honest I really couldn’t answer this question myself. Either answer, yes or no, would be a contradiction of the fact that God is able to do everything.

This question did bug me for quite a while, until I studied mathematical proving in university. To be exact, I didn’t find the answer for the question, but I did however, find a solution to prove that this question is a flawed question.

Can God create a stone that is so heavy that even He himself cannot lift it up? The answer is “yes, with condition”, or at the same time “no, with condition”. 

To prove that this question is a flawed question, firstly, we need to understand the concept of “mathematical induction”. It is not a difficult concept, and I am providing a few examples, which are quite self explanatory.

One technique we are going to use is CONTRAPOSITIVE. Putting it in its simplest form, “contrapositive” means “if not A, then not B”. It states that given a set A, if an element doesn’t belong to set A, then it is not possible that it will be in set B.  Let’s try with the simplest example.

Statement: If a number can be divided by 2, then it is an even number.
Contrapositive statement: If a number is NOT an even number, then it CANNOT be divided by 2.

It’s quite simple right? Now, we can see that the set of A is “even number”, and set B is “can be divided by 2”. This technique can be applied not only in maths, but things concerning daily life. Let’s try another example.

Supposing this statement is true: “If a man can walk, then he can run”
Then the contrapositive statement will be: “If a man CANNOT run, then he CANNOT walk”.

Now let us apply these to our question: Can God create a stone that is so heavy that even He himself cannot lift it up? Before we continue, we all have to agree that God is omnipotent (able to do all things). In fact, this question tries to disprove it. In this, we first implement the condition that God can create such stone, and the question is, whether He himself can lift it up or not.

Okay, let’s get started.

Statement 1: We all know a stone has mass.

Contrapositive:  If a stone doesn’t have mass, then it is not a stone.

Statement 2: And we know the range: from the lightest mass, say 0kg, to the maximum mass, ∞kg.

Contrapostiive: If a stone’s mass doesn’t lie in between 0kg to ∞kg, then it doesn’t have mass.

Statement 3: We agreed that God is omnipotent.

Contrapositive : If God is not omnipotent, then He is not God.

Statement 4: According to God’s omnipotence, He can lift all the stones, ranging from 0kg to ∞kg.

Contrapositive: If God cannot lift all the stone ranging from 0kg  to ∞kg, then He is not omnipotent.

Now, suppose, there is just one stone which God cannot lift; we name it stone X.

1. According to statement 1, this stone X ought to have some sort of mass (if not, it is not a stone!) 
2. Subsequently, according to statement 2, this stone X’s mass will lie in between 0kg to ∞kg (if not, it doesn't have mass, and if it doesn’t have mass, it is not a stone!). 
3. Then, according to statement 3 and 4, since this stone X’s mass will lie in between 0kg to ∞kg, then God is able to lift it up(if not, it is either God is not God or, the stone is not a stone). 

And we are done with our proving.

So the gist part is this : Stone X’s mass must be less than or equal to ∞, but since God can lift even the ∞kg of stone, what else can’t He lift up?

Of course, contrapositives may not be true all the time (pardon me for not explaining due to space constraints), but it is true for our case. Or, we can try to disprove the contrapositive statements. You can try to say a stone doesn't have mass, but even child knows that all matter has mass and occupy space. You can try to say God is not omnipotent, but my bible states that God is able in doing all things: For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37

So, there lies a contradiction. We have just proved that God can lift up stone X, but at the same time the description of stone X is a stone which God cannot lift up. The real conclusion, is, what is stone X? I do not know. The contradiction states that the statement is flawed. Stone X doesn’t exist.

Remember the condition is such that God CAN create such stone, and we are proving whether He can lift it up or not (Pragaraph 10, line 4). By the same method, we can do it the other way round. We can first agree that God can lift up all stones, and then try to prove whether God can create it or not. I can assure you will get the same results. The statement itself is flawed. Well then, how can we answer a yes no question, if the statement itself is flawed?

A memorable quote a famous pastor, Pastor Stephen Tong, said is that we should “Never try to prove the existence of God. God is a creator; your proof is a creation. How can a creation prove the existence of a creator?”

Well said, and I truly believe that it is by His wisdom that He created all things and does all things, and what we experience here are all His arts pointing to His finished work. J