Can God Make a Rock So Heavy He Can't Lift It?
By Joel Settecase*
Introduction
I want to talk to you about a question that we are sometimes asked as Christians. It's kind of a funny one. You might think that it's somewhat silly, but we actually need to learn how to handle it because if we do, we're going to be able to answer a ton of other questions. And if we don't, not only will we end up looking silly, but it's going to keep us from being able to answer a whole swath of questions.
Are you ready for this? The question is: Can God make a rock so heavy he can't lift it? Have you heard this question before? I know you have. You've probably asked it.
What's the point of this question? Why are we talking about it? Because it points to some much bigger questions. The real challenge here is that an all-powerful God is a contradiction. Why? Because the Bible teaches that God is all-powerful.
The Omnipotence Paradox
So the skeptic says, "He should be able to do anything. Well, if he can do anything, then he can make anything—like a rock. Something simple. Should be easy for God, right? But if he can make any rock, he should be able to make a rock so heavy that not even an all-powerful God could lift it.”
But if God can't lift the rock, then that's a contradiction. God is not all-powerful. And if God can lift it, then God can't make a rock that is infinitely heavy and unliftable. Either way, God is being called out for being contradictory. Somehow, the very existence of God is a contradiction. Really, this is saying that any omnipotent being is a contradiction.
But since we're Christians, we want to support the true God.
So what are we going to say about this? Can God really make a rock that is so big, so heavy, that even he can't lift it? First, we're going to show the problem with this position. Then we're going to show how the Bible solves this problem. And then we're going to show how Jesus solves the ultimate problem.
Showing the Problem with the Position
The atheist, skeptic, or whoever's joking around is making an appeal to the laws of logic. He's saying that an all-powerful being can't also be a non-all-powerful being. That would be a contradiction.
We're not going to do a full logic lesson here—but suffice it to say that the laws of logic are three: the law of identity, the law of non-contradiction, and the law of excluded middle.
The one in question here is the law of non-contradiction, which says a thing cannot not be itself. An all-powerful being cannot be not-all-powerful. A is not not-A. That makes perfect sense.
Before we start granting the laws of logic to the atheist, let's look at their attributes:
They're immaterial. They're not made of matter and energy. You can't hand me a bucket of identity or excluded middle.
They're unchanging over time. If they weren't, we couldn't use them to talk about God, who by definition has always been there.
They're eternal. Outside of time. They've always been there.
They're absolute. No exceptions.
They're universal. They're true in every place.
They're discovered, not invented. A is A—we didn’t invent that. We articulate it based on what we observe, and we know it intuitively.
They're conceptual. They're statements. Stattements are concepts. Concepts exist in minds.
And the laws of logic are three, and they are one. Each depends on the others. Which one created the other two? None. They were always there. The laws of logic are triune.
If logic exists, it can only be accounted for by a mind with these attributes. That mind must be immaterial, unchanging, universal, eternal, absolute, conceptual, and triune. That is the God of the Bible.
Try to imagine a universe with no logic. The moment I ask, "Does logic exist in that world?" and you say "No," and I say "So it does exist?" and you say "No, I just said it doesn’t," you've already appealed to logic to deny it. Logic necessarily exists in every conceivable world.
Logic Needs God
Here's the problem with the atheist position: No God, no logic. Why? Because God’s is the mind with all those attributes. He’s immaterial, objective, unchanging, universal, absolute, and triune. God is the necessary precondition for logic.
So how are you going to use logic to disprove the God of the Bible? You can't do it.
We’ve shown how atheism falls short. We’ve shown how the Bible grounds logic. Logic requires God—specifically the God of the Bible.
God's Limitations and Omnipotence
Here’s the reason why: There are things that God cannot do—because God is all-powerful.
How can there be things God cannot do? It’s because of the perfection of his character. God cannot be tempted by evil (James 1:13). God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18). God cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13).
For God to create a rock that he can’t lift would be to deny himself. It would be to create a situation where he could not do what he can do. Scripture says he can’t do that.
You might say, “So God is not all-powerful.” No—God can do everything that it is possible to do. Scripture says God can do all his holy will (Psalm 115:3).
Everything God wants to do, he can do. Everything it is possible to do, he can do. God can't sin because it's not possible for a perfect being to sin. God cannot create a rock he can’t lift because it’s not possible for an omnipotent being to be unable to lift something.
God does not break the laws of logic—and that’s not a weakness in God. That is a strength.
You and I—we break our word all the time. We lie. We’re late. We don’t keep our promises. God is not that way. God is perfectly consistent, all the time. So we don’t have to worry about God breaking his promises or contradicting himself. God is perfect.
So can God make a rock that is so big that he can’t lift it? No, he cannot. And that’s not a weakness. That is a strength.
Jesus Solves the Ultimate Problem
How does this tie into how Jesus solves the ultimate problem—the problem facing the skeptic or the sinner, the non-Christian? It’s the same problem facing each and every one of us, even as Christians. The ultimate problem is sin.
Sin is the biggest problem we face. Sin causes a separation between us and God (Isaiah 59:2). Sin—if left undealt with—will send us to hell.
The Bible says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
The same Bible that gives us the foundation for believing in logic, for understanding omnipotence, and for seeing that God does not contradict himself—that same Bible says that Jesus Christ died for sinners like you and me. He was buried and raised to life in accordance with the Scripture and as reported by the eyewitnesses.
Repent and believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Give your life to him. Trust in him.
Then you won’t need to worry about whether God can do everything it’s possible to do—because God will have saved you. And if God can save you, he can do anything. If God can save me, he can do anything. That’s just a fact.
* This article was adapted by ChatGPT from a live teaching video for this format. Watch the full teaching video for all the visuals and full discussion: https://www.youtube.com/live/ncoNEzIi0D8?si=I09YBhiO1p0IKEON&t=2833
Pastors: Bring me to your church for a Defend Your Faith Weekend. We'll train your people in biblical apologetics, presuppositional reasoning, and confident evangelism. https://thethink.institute/forchurches