One of the goals of Apologetics is to deal with the objections that people have regarding the existence of God. For the last several weeks, we have been listing some of these objections and the arguments that address them. Here is how Norm Geisler addresses the issue of an all-powerful God being able to do anything:
All-Powerful Existence. Theists claim God is all powerful. But many nontheists insist this is impossible.
The logic of their argument is:
1. If God were all powerful, then he could do anything.
2. And if he could do anything, then God could make a rock so big that he can’t move it.
3. But if God could not move this rock, then he could not do everything.
4. Hence, an all-powerful God that can do anything cannot exist.
Put in this form, the theist rejects the first premise as an improper definition of omnipotence. God cannot literally do anything. He can only do what is possible to do consistent with his being as God. He cannot do what is logically or actually impossible. God cannot do some things. He cannot cease being God. He cannot contradict his own nature (cf. Heb. 6:18). He cannot do what is logically impossible, for example make a square circle. Likewise, God cannot make a rock so heavy that he cannot lift for the simple reason that anything he can make is finite. Anything that is finite he can move by his infinite power. If he can make it, he can move it.
Geisler, N. L. (1999). In Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics (p. 292). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.