Can G-d create a rock that He cannot lift?

By Aron Moss

Question:
I stopped believing in G-d many years ago. I was taught in university that the concept of an all-powerful being is impossible, because if G-d is all-powerful, can He create a rock that is too
heavy for Himself to lift? Whatever the answer is, there is something He can't do!

Answer:
I never found this question to be too challenging. There are, in fact a number of philosophical answers to it. But the simplest answer is: the paradox of the "heavy rock" is a logical paradox. But G-d created logic. He is not limited to the logic that He created. Being all-powerful means that you are not defined by any rules, not even the rules of logic.

We humans can also defy logic. When we live a moral and good life even though the world seems like such an unfair place where evil people seem to succeed, then we are defying logic and become G-dlike.

Source: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/160974/jewish/Can-G-d-create-a-rock-that-He-cannot-lift.htm

Is There a Logical Proof that there's only One G-d?

Question:
I accept that some sort of "Higher Being" created the universe. But why couldn't there be many such beings? Is there any logical reason to say that there is only one god?

Answer:
The definition of G-d is: "a Being without definition." G-d cannot be defined, because if I define Him then I limit Him. And something limited is not G-d. By defining something, I give it borders. If for example I define an apple as a sweet, round fruit that is green or red, then when I find a long purple fruit, I know that it can't be an apple. An apple is limited to being round and red or green. That is its definition. G-d can't be defined, because by defining Him you are saying that there's something He can't be; but this could not be true, because G-d is unlimited.
That's why there can be only one G-d. Because if you don't have a definition, then there is nothing outside of you. There can be no "other".

An example: two neighboring countries can only be called two countries when there is a border in between them. But if a country has no borders, if there is no defined place where it ends and another country begins, how can you say that there are two countries?

G-d has no borders, so how can there be more than one god? Where would one god end and one begin if there is no dividing line between them?

The act of creation is the act of making borders and drawing definitions: this is an apple and not a banana, this is land and this sea. Creation has definitions. The Creator doesn't have a definition. That's what makes Him G-d. And that's why there can only be one.

- Rabbi Aron Moss teaches Kabbalah, Talmud and practical Judaism in Sydney, Australia.

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