The Kingdom Come

This article has been categorized as philosophical since as Christians we need not entertain or even attempt to resolve this issue. Contrary to at least one person I've heard say, the purpose of theology ISN'T to resolve paradoxes or contradictions.
And speaking of the two words; paradox and contradiction let us be clear and define our terms. A paradox is not the same as a contradiction. A paradox is only an "apparent" contradiction, whereas a contradiction is a proposition of opposing propositions. A paradox may appear to be proposing opposing propositions, but not in reality.

So, when we discuss omnipotence, or God's ability to do all things, with nothing beyond His ability we encounter the dilemma of paradox versus contradiction. The proverbial question:

There have been several approaches toward this dilemma. One is to consider God to be outside or before logic. This means that we can only ascertain God and His abilities within the confines of our perceptual logic, and this is not a sufficient perception, thus requiring revelation. This is the position adopted by most Christians and seems to accord with much of the biblical propositions that present God and His actions as paradoxical. For example, the entire book of Job where the summary is Job suffering at the hand or at least allowance of God and when Job complains of the apparent injustice of it all; God replies in a way that more or less tells Job that God is the Creator and can do what He wants with His creation, even if it appears unfair to us. Job even acknowledges this in Job 42:1-6:

Then Job answered the LORD and said: “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

Notice that even here we see Job saying God "can do everything".

Perhaps another example of paradox in the Bible is how God doesn't merely just know things ahead of time, but actually decrees things; even so-called bad/evil things and yet somehow God is not to blame. This is seen in accounts like the one where Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery and at the end of the story Joseph says to his brothers:

"But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." -- Gen 50:20

Or yet another example might be Romans 9:10-24 wherein we are told of the account of two persons (Jacob and Esau), having not yet been born, nor done any good or evil but God decreeing love for one and "hate" for the other before their birth. Further, Romans 9:19-20, like the Job account asks:

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will? But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”

Again, an example of the paradox of how God, whether through foreknowledge or through decree of all things, yet He is not guilty or to be blamed. If God makes a person already condemned, as the teaching of the Adamic inherited sinful nature of every man implies, then "why does God still find fault?"

We come back now to the original question; Is there such thing as irresolvable paradox within Christian theological concepts? Irresolvable at least with human notions of "logic". Most Christians would answer that "God's ways are above our ways" (Is 55:8-9). This answer is not satisfactory to the philosopher, the "logician". Instead, such as person will claim that the purpose of theology is to resolve paradox. This is however untrue as we have seen from our examination of Scripture.

So, whether we are talking about the possibility of God being able or not to make a rock so heavy that He can't lift it, or whether God can or can't know all things, including infinity and eternity; who are we to say to God; "why have you made me this way? Unable to understand how these things can be yet calling on me to believe in and follow you". The philosopher and logician is thus always one step away from atheism since as we can see, they CAN'T resolve the paradoxes of the Bible.