Most knowledgeable people acknowledge that theoretically, on paper at least, the concept of an omnipotent deity has merit. Some true believers state that is absolutely the case. Some however say that this concept presents a logical contradiction at best and is actually pure bovine fertilizer as a logical concept. An actual omnipotent deity cannot exist. What follows arises out of a debate I had with an Accidental Meta-physician. Of course I give here my point of view which I've edited for, hopefully, sake of clarity.

Author's Note: I use the terms God, deity, and Maximally Greatest Being (MGB) interchangeably. The MGB is a favourite phrase used by the Accidental Meta-physician, and thus in our electronic chin-wags I've adopted now and again his usage.

Introduction: Is the Almighty All-God All-Powerful?

A common trait given to God is that He is all-powerful (omnipotent). Along with the trait of omniscience, that too is nonsense. He maybe more powerful than a speeding locomotive; faster than a speeding bullet; able to leap tall buildings at a single bound, and He's certainly up in the sky. However, there's this paradox: can God create a rock so heavy not even He could lift it? If not, He's not all powerful; if so He's not all powerful. It's a no-win situation. More relevant might be an observation, since God is physical, and presumably subject to the laws of the Universe, could God ever escape from inside a cosmic Black Hole?

If God cannot prevent evil, then God is not all powerful. If God can prevent evil, but chooses not to, then God is hardly benevolent (i.e. - not omni-warm and omni-fuzzy). If God allows evil to exist in humans, and God created humans, then God must share some responsibility for that evil. It's akin to parents having to shoulder responsibility if their child or children runs a-muck.

God is not all-powerful since not even God can get around the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in quantum physics, which states that it is impossible to know simultaneously any particle's precise position and trajectory.

Presumably, God, like gravity, and anything comprised of mass and/or energy can't operate at faster than light speed. If God wants to smite you down, and God is ten light-years away, then you're safe for a decade before His bolt of lightning hits you.

If God exists in a physical location within the Universe, then God can't know about an event until the light (or other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum; or gravity) from that event reaches God. Since light has a finite speed, God is in the 'dark' as it were until the light and information it contains reaches God. For example, if God is residing on Planet Earth, and for some reason our Sun goes supernova, God (as well as the rest of humanity) won't know about it for other eight-plus minutes - the time it takes light to reach Earth from the Sun. God is powerless to act until that eight-plus minutes have elapsed.

Not even God can change the past. I mean, there are any number of instances where to correct some mistake; it would have been easier to backtrack in time and undo something, like going back in time and posting a "No Trespassing: Keep Out: Serpents Will Be Shot On Sight: This Means You" sign at the entrance to the Garden of Eden.

If God is all-powerful, why does He need to create miracles to correct His mistakes? If an all-powerful God didn't want you to develop cancer, it would have been easier for God to have seen to it that you didn't develop cancer instead of causing a miracle whereby your cancer went into remission which your doctors couldn't explain.

Not even God can accomplish something that is self-contradictory, like creating a spherical cube or a cubical sphere! Not even God can draw more than one straight line between two points on a flat piece of paper.

If God is all-powerful, why did God need to rest on the seventh day? Scratch omnipotent.

Regarding Something from Nothing

Since I don't think there is any such entity as a Maximally Greatest Being (i.e.- God), it matters not whether this non-course of miracles is necessary or contingent. However, this deity most certainly isn't omnipotent since not even a Maximally Greatest Being can create something from nothing. That God did indeed create something out of nothing is a major premise of my debating opponent, the Accidental Meta-physician.

However, as to this alleged creation of something from nothing, in all of our discussions he has never explained how something physical can arise or be created from something non-physical. Just saying a Maximally Greatest Being allegedly did it, just saying it is so does NOT make it so. It's a pure violation of the various conservation laws rammed down one's throat in high school science classes. So, crunch time is now overdue. Either the Accidental Meta-physician has to explain how it is done or perhaps get his Maximally Greatest Being, his invisible buddy in the sky to come-on-down and give all of us Doubting Thomas's the good oil. A good old fashion hands-on demonstration will have me in his camp as a true believer so quick-smart he wouldn't have time to get out of my way! In the meantime...

The Creation of Logical Contradictions?

A really omnipotent Maximally Greatest Being should be able to create or design a system of logic whereby He (I'll assume the masculine gender and go with the flow) could draw square circles! A really omnipotent deity could do that, but then again IMHO any Maximally Greatest Being isn't really omnipotent. It's also just my way of saying that no matter how great any Maximally Greatest Being is, someone can conceive of an even Maximally Greater Being. Alas, even that Maximally Greater Being would fail to create a system whereby logical contradictions would be made just logical.