Omnipotence is typically defined as God's ability to do anything that is logically possible. So, it is logically impossible for God to make a square circle, or for God to make a married bachelor.
Impeccability is typically defined as God cannot sin.
So there appears to be an inconsistency here, God can do anything but sin. So, if God is impeccable it appears that He cannot be omnipotent. I think the most helpful way to think of this problem is to analyze sin as a negative action. Meaning that it is more difficult to refrain from sinning than it is to sin. In fact, if we define sin as missing the mark, or falling short of our goal, then we need omnipotence not to sin.
I would like to claim that for a being that is omnipotent and impeccable it is logically impossible to sin. To use an analogy, consider an omnipotent basball player. This baseball player can do anything he wants when he is at bat. Sometimes this baseball player chooses to strike out when he is at bat, full well knowing that he can hit a home run at any point in time. If we add a stipulation that this player must play his best at all times, then he can no longer strike out. We certainly wouldn't consider the ability to strike out something that we can do, rather we would consider it a failure. That is how we ought to conceive of God's sinning. God sinning isn't the ability to do something, rather, it is a lack of ability to refrain from sinnning.
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Hmm. I agree that God cannot sin. He cannot commit a sinful act himself. I think he can still use sin in someone's heart that is already there for his purposes. I think God can lead you to a situation where you will sin...for his good purpose. What do you think? Leave a comment on my site because I won't be able to check back to your site since I don't use my laptop half the time (I have you in my favorites folder but i use the computer lab on campus most of the time) - Di
Oh, I just caught up on your posts and read the one on the emergent church. Is that the same thing as emerging culture church? A friend of mine started going to a emerging culture church called E3 which means the church has three elements: faith, love, and something else...not hope, I don't think. Anyway, I visited it once and it's a really modern, coffeehouse-type, laidback, contemporary worship church. I had reservations until I could find out more about the emerging culture church. So, is that the same as emergent church? My dad says it's geared towards people like me with nose studs, tattoos, etc. -Di
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