Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utcsrgv.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!dave
From: dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Even If I DID Believe ... (the difficulties of omnipotence)
Message-ID: <3065@utcsrgv.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 8-Jan-84 10:49:27 EST
Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.3065
Posted: Sun Jan  8 10:49:27 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 8-Jan-84 11:33:29 EST
References: <231@wu1.UUCP>
Organization: The Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto
Lines: 19

I'm staying out of the "Even if I did believe" discussion (for now,
anyway), but I must respond to Randolph Fritz's suggestion that
an omnipotent Deity couldn't stop people from producing enough children
to use up the additional food.

Randolph, if you think about the definition of omnipotence, you'll
realize that doesn't make any sense. Obviously, omnipotence implies
the ability to (1) create *enough* food for everyone in the world, no
matter how much that "everyone" grows (just as there is enough air
for everyone, for example), and (2) limit human reproduction, if that
is an appropriate way to stop us from using up what food is available.
I'm sure there are lots of other creative ways in which omnipotence
can be used to stop world hunger. You're working with a very narrow
view of omnipotence.

Dave Sherman
Toronto
-- 
 {allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsrgv!dave