omnipotence (spinoff thread)

[© tweed]

Scott locked the atonement for sins thread, which is his prerogative, but there was a discussion within the discussion that I'd like to return to.


Scott astutely noted in Reply #18 that my statement in Reply #17, "in order to defeat that underworld God had to take human form", was very possibly inconsistent with the concept of an omnipotent God.  how could an omnipotent God be compelled to do anything?  compelled by what?  to Scott Ernest replied, in Reply #20, "It depends on one's conception of omnipotent.  Strictly speaking "omnipotent" means having all the power that it is possible to have, not that one has the power to do anything."



so from here I have a few questions.  if it there are powers that it is not possible for God to have -- where does this closed range of possibilities come from?  what exactly is God constrained by, are there rules He must obey?  and if so where did these rules come from, do they not then point to a being higher than God, surely a contradiction within the confines of Christian theology?

[© tweed]

so we seem to be holding that the idea that God could provide a road to salvation without assuming form and suffering death to be (or must-be) logically impossible in the way of square circles of 2 + 2 = 5?