If God the father almighty cannot lie & cannot do evil then is he NOT all powerf

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   Joe Cookposted 11 years ago

   If God the father almighty cannot lie & cannot do evil then is he NOT all powerful?
   
   Considering the God of classical theism is all loving, all merciful and all good - considering that he can do no wrong, cannot be evil, and cannot abuse us, is he then NOT all powerful?

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   whonunuwhoposted 11 years ago

   I am reminded about a hymn that I sang in choirs so long ago, and is still a true testament to what God is. "A Mighty Fortress is Our God", by Luther.tells all who will listen, just who God is and yes, He is all powerful! This is so, despite those who would deceitfully conspire in trying to belittle the followers of Christ and other religions as well, who believe that God is their creator and follow Him in their lives to serve as a goodness and path to follow. No matter what may be said and by whom, God is, and will be, always.

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   M. T. Dremerposted 11 years ago

   What's interesting about the Christian depiction of god is that in the past (puritan times) he was more wrathful than he was loving. People feared gods anger more than they feared hell. Yet now, the mythology has adapted to make god more of a loving and sympathetic figure. The trouble is that his descriptions paint him in absolutes. All powerful, all knowing, all good, etc. It's like that question about an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. It just doesn't work. So, if Christianity hopes to persist, god is going to need more makeovers.

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      whonunuwhoposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes M.T., when you stand before Him, I'm sure you will be quick to point that out.

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   krillcoposted 11 years ago

   "Cannot" and 'does not' are two different things. We are made in their (Gn) image, and we  are given choice, just as God has choice. The difference is that we sin with our freedom to choose, and God does not.

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      lone77starposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Amen!

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   Billrrrrposted 11 years ago

   Hi Joe.  Great question.
   
   Because God is God, God Can Make a Stone So Heavy That He
   Cannot Lift it and yet he can lift it.  He can do no wrong and yet he can do wrong.  This paradox is both true and false.  This is called a dialetheism.  Only God can can be on both sides of a paradox at the same time.  God can do this because God is all powerful.

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   SidKempposted 11 years ago

   If God is all powerful, then he can create a weight so heavy that he cannot lift it. And then he can lift it.
   
   Well, God's children have fallen. A weight so heavy. And yet he can lift it.
   
   Why does he not do so? Your question becomes, if God is all powerful and all loving, why does he allow suffering or evil to persist? Why does he allow us to be hurt, or to harm one another?
   
   An answer that makes sense to me is that we are God's children, but we are God's adult children. He does not want to put up a curfew and order us home. He wants us to act like adults and grow up. He wants us to decide for ourselves whether we want good or evil.
   
   Why does he wait? Because he can, with utter confidence. He knows that he is all powerful and all loving, which means he can heal all. In fact, he has made us in his image, which means that we, too, are all-powerful and all healing. If we choose Peace and God, we can heal ourselves with God's help and become one with God. And, because we, with God, are all-powerful, even our past, even our memory will be healed, and it will be as if we were never lost, or hurt, or harmful, at all.
   
   This is, at least, what I believe. One spiritual tradition that sees things this way is called A Course in Miracles. Please see my hub, What is a Miracle? for more.

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   lone77starposted 11 years ago

   Can you murder little babies? Of course you can. But you decide not to, right? That does nothing to your capabilities.
   
   Every grain of sand on the beaches of this world, every star in this galaxy, and every galaxy in this cluster, and every cluster in this universe were created by Him.
   
   If you think that He cannot turn out the lights in the next moment, then you are fooling yourself.
   
   This is His universe. Out of love, he decides not to abuse us.
   
   Some may point to Noah's Flood and the anger and vengeance of God in the Bible, but they do not understand. They are looking at Homo sapiens bodies and missing the real children of God. Yes, we were made in His image and likeness, but God is not Homo sapiens.

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   edhanposted 11 years ago

   Power is not about doing stuff. It is about control and guidance.
   
   It is all about doing the right thing and guiding us the right way in life. If we want to be living in the spiritual world again without evil thoughts, we must learn the way to enlightenment. It is letting go of our physical body and let acceptance.

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   Darrell Robertsposted 11 years ago

   Hi Joe Cook,
   
   God can be anything at anytime, if God is all powerful.  This would be a true definition of "all powerful".  What God considers to be a good or evil may not match up with what we as "human beings" would normally think of as good or bad, so that could be frustrating.
   
   Here is an example there is a good man but he dies young and painfully. This cold be so that the man could attain liberation faster than most people.  On the other hand, there is wicked person and they live a long time, this may be so that in their next life they have a longer time to suffer.  Who knows.
   
   Point blank if God is all powerful then God could do what ever God wants to do and that is that, good, evil, or neutral.
   
   My overall point is the finite human being will not be able to measure of comprehend the infinite, without special mercy.
   
   Best wishes

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