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Can God create a being more powerful than Himself?

by | Oct 14, 2013 | God, Questions

No, God cannot create a being more powerful than Himself. First of all, God cannot do all things. He cannot sin (Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18) or deny himself (2 Tim. 2:13). He cannot do the logically impossible, such as make a round square. This does not violate God’s omnipotence because His omnipotence is exercised in a manner consistent with His nature. Therefore, He cannot do that which is contradictory to His own nature, which means He cannot do the logically impossible.

Created versus self-existent

Second, God is by nature non-contingent (Isaiah 44:24). This means He does not need anything else for His own existence. Instead, everything is dependent upon God for its existence.  If He created a being more powerful than Himself, then that being would still be contingent, its residence depending on God’s power. But, how could a contingent being be more powerful than the non-contingent being who created Him? It makes no sense.

More powerful than unlimited power?

Third, God answers to no one. But if there were a being more powerful than God, then our God would have to answer to him. So how could God, who answers to no one, create a being greater than Himself, which would mean He would have to answer to him? Again, it makes no sense.

Greater than the greatest?

Fourth, according to Scripture, there is no greater being than God. The God of Scriptures is maximally great and is the manifestation of the greatest of all possibilities. In other words, He cannot be improved upon. Therefore, there cannot be a being greater or more powerful than God because that would mean God is not the greatest of all beings.

Logical impossibility

Without going in-depth into a discussion on the necessary preconditions that make logic possible (logical absolutes are a reflection of the process of God’s mind), we can say that God cannot do the logically impossible. God’s mind is perfect, logical, and is not self-contradictory. Therefore, God cannot do the logically impossible. Each of the responses above, when carried out to their logical conclusion, result in self-refutation. Therefore, it is logically impossible for God to create a being more powerful than Himself.

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