The Stone Paradox: Can God Be Omnipotent?

In the article "Some Puzzles Concerning Omnipotence," by George Mavrodes, God's unlimited powers are contested. Specifically, God's omnipotence is challenged by a puzzle concocted by philosophers called the "paradox of the stone." The paradox follows that if God is omnipotent, than he can make a stone such that it is too large for him to lift. However, if he can make such a stone and does not have the power to lift it than God …

…his ability to lift. In his eyes we are not giving up God's omnipotence at all or even giving up part of it. We are simply defining his power to lift and create as wholly separate. The last portion of the article states that the "paradox of the stone" does nothing to prove God's omnipotence. Mavrodes simply shows that arguments intended to prove that God is not omnipotent fail because they are in themselves contradictory.