THE ATHEIST'S COMPLAINT:
Can God do anything? Some verses says yes (Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:17; Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27), but other texts indicate that He cannot do anything (Judges 1:19; Mark 6:5; Hebrews 6:18). Is there a contradiction?

RESPONSE:
Nothing is too hard for the Lord (Gen 18:14), and all things are possible with the Lord (Mt 19:26). Let us address the verses listed above as contrary to these facts.

Judges 1:19 says, "So the LORD was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron." The text does not say that the Lord could not, it says the people could not. They were commanded to drive all the people out of the land (Josh 17:16-18). If the questioner had read on in the text of Judges 1, it would be noted that this "could not" is explained as a "did not". That is, though having the ability (according to the word of Joshua), the Israelites fell short of their duty to cleanse the land.

Matthew 13:58 is a parallel text to Mark 6:5. It reads, "Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." When Mark says that "he could do no mighty work there", it was not because of a lack of ability on His part, but a lack of faith on the part of the people. Any works done there would be wasted, as they would not believe.

Hebrews 6:18. Well, there it is! Something that God cannot do. He cannot lie. While we're at it, let me add James 1:13, "God cannot be tempted by evil." Two things that God cannot do. Now, before the questioner gets too busy celebrating, let me ask, when the Lord indicated that nothing was too hard for Him to do, and when Jesus said that all things are possible with God, do you really think that He was telling us that He was capable of evil? Neither text was intended to declare that God ever could or would do that which is evil.

There is no contradiction.

This article is a response to Skeptic's Annotated Bible

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