The paradox of the stone: "Could God create a stone so heavy that even he could not lift it?" was solved by Grothendieck by introducing an infinite tower of gods. The God of the n'th universe can only create stones that he can lift. But the God from the n+1 universe can create an unliftable stone for the God from the n'th universe, and so on.
@BartoszMilewski God, is by definition Omnipotent. So this question is meaningless, like asking "how many legs does the sun walk upon?". It follows the rules of grammar but in reality it is meaningless.
Also, the tower of God doesn't solve it, as there can be only one God.
@shakil_tcs @BartoszMilewski Saying "by definition" is the lazy way out. It follows the rules of grammar but meaningless.
The tower of God is also God, I see no problem here.
@shakil_tcs @BartoszMilewski Of course there can be anything, God willing. That's the definition of omnipotence. It's okay if a mortal mind can't comprehend something, but that's on them.
@dpwiz @BartoszMilewski
If there exists a being at level i who can be dominated by something from the level i+1, then the former being is not God - as God is by definition the Uncaused Cause. Thus, if there exists a "tower of gods" up to infinity, then there is no God, as any being in level i gets dominated by something at level i+1. This means there is no God at any level. (May Allaah forgive me for uttering such words.)
@shakil_tcs @BartoszMilewski You're just making it too complex for a truth so simple. The God permeates everything. Not only it is omnipotent, but omnipresent (which is basically the same thing). Of course it is present at every step of the tower AND in the tower itself AND... everything else. And we are in no position to limit God from being (or not being) something. If your logic dictates that "God can't" you need to get yourself a better logic.
@dpwiz @BartoszMilewski I don't believe in an omnipresent God. The essence of God is not present in the creation. God's essence is different from us.
>And we are in no position to limit God from being (or not being) something.
Can God be non-existent and non-living?
@shakil_tcs @BartoszMilewski God can be anything. Otherwise, what's even the point...
@dpwiz @BartoszMilewski God can be anything.
However, if God is perfect then he cannot be non-existent or not powerful.
He is the Most Wise, the All Powerful Being in existence.
As I said, you are making up contradictions and expecting it to be logically valid, just because you are able to state those contradictions using rules of grammar. As an analogy, if you are asked to write a program that checks if the user input is an even number or not, then you are simply writing a program that is syntactically correct but reports any input as an even number; that's wrong.
God is All Powerful. Once you have accepted that, then asking anything which supposedly contradicts the All Powerful nature of God is meaningless.
Just like asking, "how many legs does the sun walk upon?". Once you have accepted a certain thing to be sun, then there is no meaning to ask about its legs.
@shakil_tcs @BartoszMilewski Exactly. God is All Powerful and can't be bound into being anything less by our puny wordplay. As I said, if your rules can't express God's power, then those rules, logic, whatever is useless to bring into. Wrong rules will only produce more wrongs. You are already walking on thin ice here by claiming there is a limit to God's power.
@dpwiz @BartoszMilewski Lazy? No. It is correct and simple.
God is an Uncreated Being and the Uncaused Cause. There can never be "tower of Gods".