Omnipotence of God

There have been many theological approaches to the omnipotence of God. One approach is to say that “if God is omnipotent then God can do anything.”[1] However, there are obvious problems and contradictions with this approach. One example is the question of whether or not God can “create a stone which is too heavy for God to lift”[2] C.S. Lewis’s approach is that “God cannot do anything that is inconsistent with the divine nature.”[3] Averroes argued that “the reliability of God ultimately rested upon external pressures. God was compelled to act in certain ways”[4] Finally, Duns Scotus and William of Ockham argued that “the reliability of God is ultimately grounded in the divine nature itself. God does not act reliably because someone or something makes God act in this way, but because of a deliberate and free divine decision to act like this. God’s reliability or faithfulness is not externally constrained but is determined by God’s own character.”[5]

In looking at our own theology, I looked at the aspects of God’s omnipotence concerning divine laws and God’s nature. In an entry in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, David Paulsen introduces this topic by explaining that, “there are actualities that are coeternal with the persons of the Godhead, including elements, intelligence, and law. Omnipotence, therefore, cannot coherently be understood as absolutely unlimited power.”[6] A couple instances from the scriptures that allude to God being limited by divine law are “all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved” (D&C 84:40) and “I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance” (D&C 1:31).

God’s nature seems to dictate how God acts. In the Book of Mormon, we learn that “God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity” (Moroni 8:18) and “He is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (1 Nephi 10:18). God’s nature doesn’t change, but how does this relate to His actions? Alma teaches, “see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works” (Alma 7:24). He doesn’t say that you can’t do bad works, he just says that you will always abound in good works. In D&C 3:2, we learn, “God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.” Finally in 1 Nephi 1:14, we read, “because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish.” It seems that there are laws that limit what God can do, and that His unchanging nature dictates His actions. It’s not that God doesn’t have the power to do things that contradict His nature, rather that He will not because of who He is.

Endnotes:

[1]. Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction, 6th ed (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 2017), 187.

[2]. McGrath, Christian Theology, 187.

[3]. McGrath, Christian Theology, 187.

[4]. McGrath, Christian Theology, 187.

[5]. McGrath, Christian Theology, 188.

[6]. Daniel H. Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism: the History, Scripture, Doctrine, and Procedure of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 1030.