Daniel P. Barron

Taken from a conversation about the power of God; answering the question: "can God create a rock so large that He cannot lift it?"

So jesus, or yeshua, he is God? If yes does he have powers like God? I mean he was able to cure the blind and the person with leperacy.

Yes.

Does that mean he can make a stone so big even he can't lift it?

Yes, and He can also lift it.

He could, while then reverting His inability to lift the stone, so He could lift it. Like a toggle on and off function probably.

He doesn't change. He can lift the unliftable stone.

From "Let Us Reason Ministries Is Not Biblically Reasonable:"

III. Falsehood On God

In the article, "THINGS GOD CANNOT DO," Oppenheimer posts,

2.Can God make a rock so big that even he can't lift it? If he can't lift it then he is not all powerful. Then the rock has become more powerful than God and whatever is more powerful than God is God. God has infinite qualities not finite, God can only do things that are possible he can't make square circles or a two sided triangle. It is asking God to bring about a logically contradictory state to his own nature. (www.letusreason.org/Apolo2.htm)

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In the next paragraph,

Its not possible for God to make a rock so big that even he can't lift it.

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Oppenheimer's statement, "God can only do things that are possible" denies the words of God through the angel Gabriel.

For with God nothing will be impossible. (Luke 1:37; see also Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27)

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Oppenheimer relies upon logic (Proverbs 3:5-6) and argues that God "is not all powerful" if He can't lift a big rock. But, if nothing truly is impossible for God (Luke 1:37), then the Lord could indeed both create a large rock He could not lift, and then He could also lift it as well. For, truly, with God nothing will be impossible (Luke 1:37).

For example, Jesus acknowledged God's awesome unfathomable ways (Romans 11:33) when He prayed,

Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will. (Mark 14:36)

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This is a prayer for the absolute impossible! Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20; Acts 2:23) and slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). He came for the express purpose to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45; John 12:27), and here Christ asks for it all not to be (Luke 22:42). Isaiah 53 had already been prophesied. He must be "wounded for our transgressions" and "bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:5). He must be made "an offering for sin" (Isaiah 53:10) and pour "out His soul unto death" (Isaiah 53:12). God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). But, nonetheless, Christ prays, "Take this cup away from Me." This is the most impossible prayer ever recorded in holy writ! Truly, Jesus believed nothing will be impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

Another example, which parallels the rock illustration, is when Jacob wrestled God (Genesis 32:24-30). Jacob and the Lord wrestled until day break and the Lord lost the battle. Even when God saw that He was losing, He supernaturally touched Jacob's hip out of joint (Genesis 32:25). But even this was to no avail. Finally, the Lord asked Jacob to let Him go, and he would not, until He blessed him (Genesis 32:26). Knowing that God is Almighty, surely the Lord could have prevailed against Jacob, for nothing is impossible with Him (Luke 1:37). Yet, in this wrestling match, the Lord lost, and the Scripture explicitly states that Jacob prevailed against God (Genesis 32:28; Hosea 12:3-4). It does not say the Lord let Jacob win. In fact, the text even details God using His supernatural power in an effort to prevail, and He still loses! The truth of the matter is, nothing will be impossible for God, even to the point of losing in a wrestling match.

So it is with the rock illustration. Christ, as God, could certainly make an overwhelmingly heavy rock that He could not lift as God in the flesh. But, at the same time, He could not only lift the rock, but the entire mountain as well (Mark 11:23). Within the limits of His own righteousness and holiness, nothing will be impossible with Him.

From "Hank Hanegraaff The Destructive (2 Peter 2:1) Babble Answer Man:"

V. Hank's “logically possible” God

Immediately following the gender question above (question 27), Hank deals with question 28.

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Can God create a rock so heavy that he cannot move it? (p. 104)

Hank's answer? No.

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. . . just as it is impossible to make a one-sided triangle, so it is impossible to make a rock too heavy to be moved. What an all-powerful God can create he can obviously move. Put another way, God can do everything that is logically possible. (p. 104-105)

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So, even though the angel said,

For with God nothing will be impossible (Luke 1:37),

Hank confines God to “logically possible” things. “Nothing” (Luke 1:37) is quite encompassing, and “impossible” is by definition “not possible.”

Jesus said,

. . . with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27).

Evidently, Jesus was thinking illogically here, or He forgot to add, “logically possible” to the parameter of “all things.” Hank confines Christ's "all things" and limits them to man's “logically possible” mind (Jeremiah 17:5). But, Scripture is not so restrained (Isaiah 55:8-9).

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Part of Hank's answer includes the following argument.

While it is true that God can do anything that is consistent with his nature, it is absurd to suggest that he can do everything. God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18); he cannot be tempted (James 1:13); and he cannot cease to exist (Psalm 102:25-27). (p. 104)

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It is true that God cannot lie, but when You are the Truth (John 14:6), and everything You say becomes reality (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:16), this reality (Titus 1:2) is not a limiting factor. Moreover, it is indeed true. “God cannot be tempted by evil” (James 1:13). Yet, He was tempted nonetheless (Matthew 4:1; Hebrews 4:15). And, as for not existing, who says He can't pull that off? Hank does, but God doesn't (Proverbs 30:5-6).

Actually, that's virtually what Jesus asked for in the garden. It was utterly impossible what Christ asked for. He requested,

Take this cup away from me (Mark 14:36).

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The “cup” of which Jesus spoke was the cup of suffering and death He was about to face (Mark 10:38; 14:23-24; John 18:11). Jesus asked that this would not happen! That was utterly impossible. God had already given His Word on the matter (e.g. Isaiah 53; etc.). Christ was “slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). He is the One and Only Savior (Isaiah 43:11) "who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). He basically asked that He not be who He is.

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Yet, Jesus said God could do it. In the very context of this request the Lord said,

Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. (Mark 14:36)

That equals, “Father, You can do it.” Christ pushes over the edge of eternity “all things.” Jesus was not under any delusion of “logically possible” limitations upon God and what He could do.

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Finally, Hank begins answering question 28 with these words:

This question is a classic straw man that has most Christians looking like the proverbial deer in the headlights. At best, it challenges God's omnipotence. At worst, it undermines his existence.

First, there is a problem with the premise of the question. (p. 104)

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No, there's a problem with Hank's answer. It is a perfectly legitimate question, and it is Hanegraaff who challenges God's omnipotence and undermines His existence. The answer is “Yes, and then He could lift it.” The Almighty God has already proven Himself on this kind of thing. He lost a wrestling match with a man whom He made (Genesis 32:22-30; Hosea 12:3-4). Truly, "all things are possible for You” (Mark 14:36).

From "Archived Blog 2:"

In this confession under "II. God, C. Divine Attributes" they write,

"1. God is all-knowing, everywhere present, unchangeable, and not able to be limited."

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The last phrase, "not able to be limited" is again a lie, as Jesus said in His impossible prayer in the garden, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You" (Mark 14:36). The eternal infinite all-powerful God can be limited. His ability to be limited is well illustrated in His wrestling match with Jacob. Even after dislocating Jacob's hip, the Lord still requested for release saying, "Let Me go, for the day breaks" and Jacob refuses saying, "I will not let you go unless You bless me" (Genesis 32:26). The Lord then blesses him, and Jacob releases him. Jacob "struggled with God" and prevailed (Genesis 32:28; Hosea 12:3-4).

From "Archived Blog 3:"

"If God is Jerusalem, as you believe, how then can He cast off himself???"

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Jerusalem is also a reference to the people in it (e.g. Jeremiah 4:14). But, nonetheless, how did He forsake Himself (Matthew 27:46)? How did He crush Himself (Isaiah 53:10)? How did He become sin (2 Corinthians 5:21)? How did He go stripped and naked (Micah 1:8)? How did He lose the wrestling match (Genesis 32:22-30)? How did Jacob prevail against Him (Hosea 12:3-4)? How did they long for Jerusalem if the city was cast off (Psalm 137:5-6)? How did Daniel pray towards a city that was cast off (Daniel 6:10)? Is there something impossible with God (Luke 1:37; Mark 14:36)?