Q&A: Logical Contradictions.
Logical Contradictions.
Question
Hello, Rabbi, may he live long. Please forgive me for sending two questions on such short notice, but I was afraid I would forget this question.
One of the main characteristics of the “First Cause” is that it is different from all the causes familiar to us, otherwise we would have to find a cause prior to it. If so, I do not see any reason why logical contradictions could not apply to it, since its whole existence is that it is different from what is familiar and logical.
Answer
A statement that includes a logical contradiction is empty verbiage. So when you say that the Holy One, blessed be He, can make a round triangle or be a necessary existent and kill Himself, you have said nothing at all. There is no claim here about Him and His abilities, only about the limitations of our language. It is like asking whether the Holy One, blessed be He, can abracadabra, and saying that since He is omnipotent there is no obstacle to that. This is nonsense.
See here:
Discussion on Answer
To the questioner,
Note that the same is true of the reverse statement:
The statement, “The Holy One, blessed be He, cannot create a round triangle,” is also a statement that contains a logical contradiction (because “round triangle” is a string of meaningless words), and therefore it too is meaningless.
So someone who says that the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot create a round triangle is also talking nonsense.
The book is called “What God Cannot Do.”