Paradox of the Stone
The Argument
1. It is necessary that God is omnipotent
2. It is necessary that an omnipotent being can do anything [by definition]
3. It is necessary that God can do anything [from 1 and 2]
4. It is necessary that God can create a stone so heavy that God cannot lift it [from 2 and 3]
5. It is necessary that (if God can create a stone so heavy that God cannot lift it, then it is possible that there is something God cannot do) [conceptual truth]
6. It is possible that there is something God cannot do [from 4 and 5]
7. It is not necessary that God can do anything [from 6]
8. It is necessary that God can do anything and it is necessary that God can do anything [from 3 and 7]
C. It is necessarily false that it is necessary that God is omnipotent [from derived contradiction]
Encountered In
On the Nature and Existence of God (Chapter 1) by Richard M. Gale
Variants
The Omnipotence-Perfection Argument
Substitute “commit suicide” for “anything” instead of “create a stone so heavy that God cannot lift it” in 3.
The Omnipotence-Benevolence Argument
Substitute “commit an immoral action” for “anything” instead of “create a stone so heavy that God cannot lift it” in 3.
Proposed Solutions
Restrict God's omnipotence
O1. God can do or bring about anything that is logically possible.
O2. God can do anything that it is logically consistent for God to do.
O3. For any proposition p, if it is logically possible that God bring it about that p, then God can bring it about that p.
O4. For any proposition p, if it is logically possible that God bring it about that p as well as any proposition that is coreporting with p, then God can bring it about that p.