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My question is ...

Can God create something too big/heavy that he can't carry??

If yes, then he's not perfect!
If no, then there is something that God can't do!

I'll save my other thought about this question for later on, as for the meantime I'm just curious to know what you guys have in mind, and specially Shafique and EH.

(I suppose all of you know what are my religious backgrounds, but I like to discuss the philosophy of religion).

It's a golden oldie.

God is perfect and omnipotent.

He can do anything within the universe, but He is not of this universe - as the universe is a creation of God.

If you have a science background, then God sits outside of the universe, something that science defines as 'undefined'. This is by definition, as the Creator must exist outside the universe He created.

Now, if God is not bound by the laws of Physics, then there is no concept of Him being bound by the forces of physics - gravity, time, location - and the related force of weight.

If you want to approach it philosophically, the argument would go - God would not do anything illogical or stupid, as that would violate his attribute of 'perfection'. Perfection trumps omnipotence - He could do stupid things but He won't.

If you are a Gen Y - I'd use the example of a Games designer who creates a 'Sims' programme. Can the Games designed design (create) a rock in the game that he, the designer, could not lift?

Therein lies your answer, I hope.

Cheers,
Shafique

I actually know the philosophically answer which U mentioned, but thanks for sharing the scientific one

I just wanted to see what others think of this matter, as I was discussing it with one of my friends who always state that he does believe in a creator, but he has lots of doubts about his perfection.

And I'd raise another question here ..

Q) Why do we refer to God with a "He", and not a "She" or an "it". Does God have a gender?

You're welcome.

God (in Islam at least) does not have a gender.

In Arabic, the name of God 'Allah' does not take a plural, a feminine version etc - it is just the given name for God. (It is not derived from 'a god' as some maintain). This is an grammatical fact, not something really that Islam has imposed (Allah as the name of God pre-dates Muhammad, pbuh)

In Arabic, and other other languages - the way we refer to non-Humans can either be 'it' or 'he' or 'she'. There is usually a hierarchy and the one we show respect to we would not term 'it' but 'he' or 'she' - and linguistically we'd use 'He' to show the greatest respect.

So, God does not have a gender - but depending on the language, He is usually used out of respect - rather than 'it'. Some cultures refer to God in the feminine, so it may well be a cultural thing (just my opinion here, so don't read too much into this)

Cheers,
Shafique

So you're telling me that the term "He" is more respectful than "She" lol !
(I'm not trying to give you a hard time, in fact I'm enjoying this discussion Shaf )

I know, I know.

I'm just glad Freza etc are not around. But yes, the language structure and culture does make 'He' more respectful than 'She' in most languages and culture. But that doesn't change the original question about God's gender - just why He is referred to as He rather than She or It. (but you knew that)

Cheers,
Shafique

Yes I do

Unfortunately this is not about other languages and cultures.

The Koran uses the masculine pronoun to refer to allah.

Allah also cannot be a female due to the Arabic language, which, like Spanish and French, is gender based:

‘Allah’ (الله) cannot be feminine according to rules of Arabic:

Infact the make up of the word الله (Allah) is such that it cannot be feminine for;

1- A word is feminine in Arabic if it is so by nature like أم i.e. umm but obviously Allah is not feminine by nature.

2- A word is feminine if it ends with the third of the Arabic alphabets i.e. taa like مروحة (fan). This is not the case with the word الله (Allah).

3- A word is feminine if it ends with آ i.e. Alif Mamduda and indeed this also is not the case with the word الله (Allah).

4- Something can be feminine if it happens to be in pairs like عينين (eyes) or يدين (hands). Certainly this is not the case with the word الله (Allah).

These points clarify that the make up of the word Allah does not allow to refer to it with feminine pronouns.

http://www.islamicsearchcenter.com/arch ... for-allah/

Thanks eh for the clarfication - it backs up what I said about the grammatical properties of the word Allah:

shafique wrote:In Arabic, the name of God 'Allah' does not take a plural, a feminine version etc - it is just the given name for God. (It is not derived from 'a god' as some maintain). This is an grammatical fact, not something really that Islam has imposed (Allah as the name of God pre-dates Muhammad, pbuh)

Cheers,
Shafique

an unstoppable train, hitting indestructible wall on the road to what happens if ?

i know a lot of paradox questions like this ,,, (: , it seems brain tricks ...

I like them logic puzzles too.

But who'd build an indestructible wall across a railway track?

Cheers,
Shafique

Somethings are just beyong our immagination as humans ..

For instance, the reality of spirits (Nafs or Ruh), we hardly know much about it, and it's totally invisible, yet we can't deny it's existance as we know its there somwhere inside us flowing in our viens.

If only humans can oversee beyond the 3rd dimension, perhaps there are plenty of wonders hidden there for us to explor.

shafique wrote:I like them logic puzzles too.

But who'd build an indestructible wall across a railway track?

Cheers,
Shafique

if people build island on the sea , of course can do wall on the railway... (; ...

-- Fri Jun 25, 2010 11:43 am --

symmetric wrote:Somethings are just beyong our immagination as humans ..

For instance, the reality of spirits (Nafs or Ruh), we hardly know much about it, and it's totally invisible, yet we can't deny it's existance as we know its there somwhere inside us flowing in our viens.

If only humans can oversee beyond the 3rd dimension, perhaps there are plenty of wonders hidden there for us to explor.

heart has senses which brain can not know , no one explain 3rd dimension with his brain , just belive with heart...

Mecruh wrote:
heart has senses which brain can not know , no one explain 3rd dimension with his brain , just belive with heart...

I wish I can switch functions between kalbim and beynim to see the wonders

depends your senses which how strong ...

symmetric wrote:Somethings are just beyong our immagination as humans ..

For instance, the reality of spirits (Nafs or Ruh), we hardly know much about it, and it's totally invisible, yet we can't deny it's existance as we know its there somwhere inside us flowing in our viens.

If only humans can oversee beyond the 3rd dimension, perhaps there are plenty of wonders hidden there for us to explor.

Excellent Symmetric, you're heading for the secret beyond the matter..
http://www.secretbeyondmatter.com/matrix09.html

To make it clear "He" is in a higher rank than "She"!!

thelast wrote:To make it clear "He" is in a higher rank than "She"!!

in my opinion its not right...