Almighty But Not Omnipotent? (Part 1)

Photo from the Facebook page of Maurice Chavez

“We believe in the Almighty God, the Father, the Creator of the universe…” (Members Church of God International, Beliefs. Emphasis added)

Here we see that, in the official website of their church, the Ang Dating Daan (ADD) declares that they believe that God is Almighty. However, in “The Official Blog of [their very own] Presiding Minister,” Eli Soriano explicitly denies that God is omnipotent.

“To think and to conclude that God can do everything constitutes an insult and blasphemy unto the unfathomable majesty of the Most High. As it is unwise to put limits to Him, it is equally unwise to put elasticity to the limits set by God for Himself. We know that He cannot lie because He revealed it through His written words in the Bible. He cannot change himself; He cannot deny himself and so on. To say and make others believe that God can do anything or everything will be an insult and blasphemy against God.” (Eli Soriano, Not Everything is Possible to God.)

So, for the ADD, God is Almighty but not omnipotent: “Many religious groups believe that God can do everything and anything because He is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. But, do you know that there is something, which God cannot do? … It is impossible for God to lie; He cannot lie. Let us not believe those who say that nothing is impossible with God. That is a deceit meant to mislead you.” (Ang Dating Daan Bible Exposition Online, “There is something that God cannot do.” Emphasis added.)

However, the question is, who is really misleading whom?

First, when we check the definition of “omnipotent,” the primary meaning is “almighty.” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary) “Omnipotence” means “All-Powerful” (from the Latin words omni or “all” and potens or “powerful”). Then, the adjective “Almighty,” often capitalized when it refers to God, means, “having absolute power over all”.  So, when we say God is Almighty, we are saying that He is omnipotent or all-powerful. When we say that He is omnipotent, we are saying that He is Almighty.

Thus, one wonders what dictionary the ADD was using. It seems the ADD mouths the same word but uses a different dictionary. Somebody wrote, “We may change what those words mean to us today, but it doesn’t change what those words meant when they were written, and that’s all that matters.” When we use the same word but not the same dictionary, it leads to confusion.

This Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip shows that
when we use the same word but not the same dictionary, it leads to confusion.

Second, the Bible itself declared, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37, ESV. See also Matthew 19:26 and Jeremiah 32:27.) Also, according to Revelation 19:6, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!” (New King James Version. Emphasis added.) In the New American Standard Bible, it goes like this: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.” (Emphasis added)

In the Greek New Testament, the word “Almighty” is παντοκράτωρ (pantŏkratōr). It means “the all-ruling, i.e. God (as absolute and universal sovereign): — Almighty, Omnipotent.”  (James Strong, A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible Volume 1, 54. Emphasis added.) Thus, in its original language, the Bible makes no distinction between “Almighty” and “Omnipotent.”

So, did the Bible tell us “a deceit meant to mislead” us? Should we follow Soriano that we should “not believe those who say that nothing is impossible with God”? This actually shows the tendency of the ADD to isolate a Bible passage from its context and pit it against other passages. This result in a misinterpretation of what the Bible really teaches. Grudem wrote, “[It] is not entirely accurate to say that God can do anything. ... Although God’s power is infinite, his use of that power is qualified by his other attributes (just as all God’s attributes qualify all his actions). This is therefore another instance where misunderstanding would result if one attribute were isolated from the rest of God’s character and emphasized in a disproportionate way.” (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 217. Emphasis added) The ADD made much of the passages where it says God could not do something at the expense of passages where it says that nothing is impossible with God. (See also “Was Eli Soriano Correct In His Criticism of Hermeneutics?”)

Third, as we have pointed out in “Making Sense of Ang Dating Daan,” it appears that the ADD misunderstood the Biblical teaching that God is Almighty or omnipotent. When we say that God is all-powerful, we do not mean that “God can do everything and anything”. As Wayne Grudem wrote, “God cannot will or do anything that would deny his own character. ... It is not absolutely everything that God is able to do, but everything that is consistent with his character.” (Ibid, 216) Simply put, “God’s omnipotence means that God is able to do all his holy will.” (Ibid) What God decides to do, He can do it and He does it. What God wills, He could and He would do it. When He decides to do something, it is determined by and does not deny His character. 

Fourth, what ADD attacked is a mere caricature of what we really believe about the omnipotence of God. This is what we call the “straw man” argument, which is “a weak or imaginary opposition (as argument or adversary) set up only to be easily confuted.” (Charles C. Ryrie, So Great Salvation, 29) It appears the ADD misunderstood the doctrine. (Such is the same thing that happened to those who question the Trinity. They thought that it talks about three Gods. So, they are actually attacking that misunderstanding and not the doctrine itself. In a sense, they are barking at the wrong tree.) Ryrie added, “Realize that a straw man is not a total fabrication; it usually contains some truth, but truth that is exaggerated or distorted or incomplete. The truth element in a straw man makes it more difficult to argue against, while the distortion or incompleteness makes it easier to huff and puff and blow the man down.” (Ibid) The sad thing is that, when they misunderstood it, the ADD ended up rejecting the Biblical teaching on omnipotence altogether. 

So, when the Bible says God is Almighty, it means He is omnipotent. To say otherwise is an insult and a blasphemy to Him.

[To read part 2, click: “Almighty But Not Omnipotent? Part 2”)

© 2012 Bible Exposé Apologetics Ministry. To know more about us, click here.

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REFERENCES

Almighty. 2012. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/almighty. 

“Beliefs.” Members of the Church of God, International. http://mcgi.org/en/teachings_and_works/beliefs/. Accessed September 23, 2012.

Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. MI: Zondervan, 1994.

Omnipotent. 2012. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/omnipotent.

Ryrie, Charles C. So Great Salvation: What It Means to Believe In Jesus Christ. IL: Victor Books, 1989.

Soriano, Eliseo F. “Not Everything is Possible to God.” esoriano: The Official Blog of the Presiding Minister, Members of the Church of God, International. www.mcgi.orghttp://esoriano.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/not-everything-is-possible-to-god/. Accessed September 23, 2012.

Strong, James. A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible, Volume 1.  Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009.

“There is something that God cannot do.” Ang Dating Daan Bible Exposition Online, 2004. http://angdatingdaan.org/biblicaltopics/bib_issues_13_pf.htm. Accessed January 17, 2006.