God and Rocks, Barbers and Haircuts.

www.caffeinatedtheology.com ^ | 12/10/10 | David Shedlock

[grassboots.org]

Can God build a rock big enough that even He can’t lift it? This is a foolish question tempters and amateur atheists ask. Their intent is not to ask whether “omnipotent” is the best theological term to describe God’s power, but to tempt believers to question God’s existence.

This is not an existence-of-God problem. It is really just a “trick question” of the same sort when one asks a righteous man if he has stopped beating his wife. That question contains an unproved premise and therefore cannot be answered “logically”.

Another example from philosophy illustrates the real problem. Suppose a barber in a small town makes the claim that he will cut the hair of everyone in town who cannot cut it themselves and nobody else. Deciding whose hair he cuts and whose he does not is not a problem, except for as it pertains to himself. If he can cut his own hair (ability), then he cannot cut his own hair (his claim) for he said he only cuts the hair of those who cannot cut their own. On the other hand, if he cannot cut his own hair (ability), then he must cut his own hair (his claim) for he promised to cut the hair of everyone who cannot cut his own hair.

The key phrase in the second example is “except for as it pertains to himself”. The problem is not the ability of the barber, nor the pledge of the barber. The problem is language and assumptions. The creator of this classic logical conundrum nearly pulls a fast one. But it wonderfully illustrates the folly of those who trust their own wisdom. By the use of Tom-Foolery alone, it appears the barber’s...