Omnipotence is a word derived from two Latin words, omni, meaning “all” or “every” and potens, meaning “might”, or “able, powerful, strong”. Literally the word means “all power”. For any Western thinker, the word immediately conjures up images or concepts common to monotheistic religions. The attribute of omnipotence is most often ascribed to the monotheistic God (among other common attributes, such as omniscience and omnipresence), and in many Western countries to the Judeo-Christian God.

[It would be important to note that from here on out, when we talk about “God” we will be referring to the Judeo-Christian God. This article deals specifically with how concept of omnipotence applies to the Judeo-Christian God and the seeming in-consistencies that arise from that.]

Many theologians have tried to categorize to the attributes of God to help us better understand the nature of those attributes. Though no characterization will be perfect (or completely compartmentalized, since each of God’s attributes must be taken in context and balance with the other attributes), perhaps one of the most helpful is the idea that God has both “communicable” attributes and “incommunicable” attributes. Incommunicable attributes are the attributes of God that we are humans share the least. Examples of this would be God’s eternity. God has existed from time eternal – we do not. God also is present in all places, whereas we are confined to one point in space. These are the attributes that we can relate to the least because little of those attributes are reflect in humans. The communicable attributes are the attributes that we as humans can most relate to. We share the most of these attributes with God. Some examples might be God’s love. We also can give love (though not perfectly as God can). God has infinite wisdom. We also have wisdom (though finite). God has perfect grace. We also have grace (though thoroughly imperfect). God’s power is one of these communicable attributes. God has infinite power to carry out His will. Humans share a part of this attribute in that we also have limited power to carry out our will.

Since we as humans can relate to, and have a better grasp of power, it is easier for us to draw logical conclusions from. Power itself is an very easy thing to grasp. Indeed it can be said that it is part of our very nature to seek power. The mind reels however when it starts to consider the concept of infinite power or omnipotence. The idea of literal power of all things seems unfathomable to our finite minds. So much so in fact that we have tried to create logical arguments that show that the very idea of omnipotence is contradictory. We will look over these arguments for the rest of this article.

Two major arguments present themselves when talking about God’s omnipotence. The first is this: “Let us say that God is omnipotent. Then God can do anything and has all power. One thing that God does is exist. Can God, since He is all powerful, cause Himself to NOT exist? If He were to cause Himself to not exist, He would not be God anymore, because God always exists. If He were not able to cause himself to cease to exist, then He is not all-powerful, because He would be unable to accomplish something. Either way, God is not omnipotent.”

The second argument is this: “Let us say that God is omnipotent. Then God can do anything and has all power. One thing God can do is create. Can God, since He is all powerful, create a rock so big that He cannot lift it? If He could, he would not be all powerful, since He could not lift the rock. However, if He could not, he would not be all powerful either, since He supposedly could do all things, but was unable to create such a rock. Either way, God would not be omnipotent.”

 Initially this might seem like quite the quandary. How do the Judaic and Christian theologians answer such a question? How do they answer this apparent contradiction? In one fell swoop, the question seems to land the killing blow the logical consistency of the notion of an all-powerful God. Though I myself am no theologian, I can offer you the response that is fleshed out in the Christian Bible and espoused by other much smarter people than myself.

To begin, we must go to the source text and see what exactly the Bible says about God’s power. Here are some of the best examples of verses that give us a well-rounded view of what the Bible itself has to say about God’s omnipotence:

·         "I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27)

·         "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” (Jeremiah 32:17)

·         “For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:27)

·         Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

·         “For nothing is impossible with God." (Luke 1:37)

·         “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.” (Psalm 115:3)

These are but a smattering of the many verses that state outright, or show implicitly the power of God. One is quick to notice however, that in none of these verses (or any verses of the Bible) is God described by our English word “omnipotent”. The astute reader might have noticed that in describing the God’s omnipotence as a communicable attribute I took care to detail God’s omnipotence as “infinite power to carry out His will”. Elsewhere I merely used our general understanding of the term. The reason is because nowhere in the Bible is God described as being “omnipotent”. However, in these verses, and many, many, others, God power is characterized as being “able to do all His holy will.”

            In fact, upon further inspection, our typical Western thoughts on omnipotence are directly opposed by Scripture. It is not accurate to say that God can do anything. Is there anything that God cannot do? If we think for second, we can indeed come up with a list of things that God cannot do. God cannot lie. Titus 1:2 talks about truth and godliness, which is “a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time”. Hebrews 6:18 states that “it is impossible for God to lie”. God cannot be tempted by evil. In James 1:13 states that “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone”. Since nothing can limit God or as we saw in the quoted verses, stop God from accomplishing what He so pleases, these "restrictions" must be self-imposed by God on Himself. 

            We start to see that the Biblical definition of God’s “omnipotence” is that God is able to complete His will or anything that is consistent with His character. God is not able to act against His character. That is, though He has infinite power, His actions and how He can use that power are qualified by all of His other attributes. It is a common misunderstanding to associate our Western ideas of omnipotence with Biblical concept of omnipotence.

            Thus, in simply looking at details of God’s power in the Biblical text, we find that there is no logical contradiction at all. According to the Bible, God is not able to act against His character; thus He cannot lie, steal, cheat, cease to exist, or in any other way act inconsistent with His character - which should come as a relief to us all.