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I assume, in theory, God could be able to create a mountain (if he wants to).

I don't want to assume he wants to do it, it's just a speculation.

If this mountain is tall enough, no people will be ever able to reach the summit. What if we use planes? Well, God can decide to make that mountain even higher that no planes or any kind of spaceship can see the top of it.

Can God go even further and create a mountain so high that even God himself, starting from the base, cannot climb all the way to the top?

Ken Graham
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Gigino
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    God is a Spirit. he does not 'climb' anything. His presence fills all things. 'The heaven of heavens cannot contain him.' 'His fulness fills all in all.' You misunderstand the Deity. You also misunderstand physics. A mountain, beyond a certain size, would collapse into being a black hole and be very. very small indeed. Matter cannot extend further than specific dimensions or it begins to condense under the enormous pressure of its own mass. – Nigel J Dec 19 '23 at 12:49
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    This question is functionally identical to the more typical "can God create a rock so large He cannot lift it". Which appears to already be addressed at https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/8242. – Matthew Dec 19 '23 at 16:14

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In a physical world, made of matter, and set in a universe that clearly operates by set laws of physics, all 'things' in that universe have to exist within those parameters. For example, there are known reasons as to why spiders cannot exceed a certain size. There are known reasons as to why the structure of bones in birds allows them to do things other creatures cannot do. To go beyond that (in those two cases) would mean different creatures / species arising.

With mountains, there are also laws governing the way they arise, factors determining their height etc. Asking if God could create a mountain of the Jack-and-the-Beanstalk (and some) fairy-tale variety is speculation of a totally unprofitable kind.

This question is a variation on, "Could God create a rock so heavy that even he couldn't lift it?" It starts with a false assumption, i.e., that God is not omnipotent. If you answer "Yes", that means that God is not omnipotent since he can make the rock but isn't powerful enough to lift it. But if you answer "No," that also means that God is not omnipotent since he couldn't make a rock so big he cannot lift it! In other words, the question itself is dishonest, a pseudo-question, since it begs the question by assuming God is not omnipotent.

Further, this question commits a category fallacy. It's on a par with, "What does the color blue smell like?" or "How much does the number 7 weigh?" That would be to commit a category mistake because colors don't smell and numbers don't weigh anything. They are logical impossibilities. In the same manner, this question is essentially to ask, "Can God's power defeat his own power?" This is nonsensical and a category error since the question is being incorrectly applied.

The one Being of God, the Almighty, must in all things and at all times remain true to his Being. Thus, if you had a Being whose essence was to create all things for his glory (which Christianity maintains), he would not create anything that would not - or could not - result in glory to himself. There is nothing in God's Being that requires him to create everything that possibly could be created, you see. He CHOOSES what to create and what NOT to create. He is not forced to create everything or anything. He sovereignly decrees what to create.

This is a philosophical question which has been refuted (in all its variations) over a few centuries.

Anne
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  • @User14 Please refrain from name calling. It is unchristian and not to be done in comments. – Ken Graham Dec 19 '23 at 22:59
  • @KenGraham do you agree that this question is off topic ? Even this answer concludes with a statement that this is a philosophical question. I pointed out that such questions ought not be answered. Nigel got snarky. And I called him on it why haven’t you closed the question? – Kris Dec 19 '23 at 23:50
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    @User14 What I think about the question is immaterial. I will let the community decide. But you got called out for name calling. Please stop it. Not all philosophical questions are off topic as we do have a philosophy tag. – Ken Graham Dec 19 '23 at 23:56
  • @KenGraham moderators frequently close questions like this one with no community input. What you think is not immaterial. – Kris Dec 20 '23 at 00:47
  • Can you explain better to me? I'm new here: what is the problem? Did I brake any rules? Sry for asking – Gigino Dec 20 '23 at 14:50
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God is a Spirit. he does not 'climb' anything. His presence fills all things.

'The heaven of heavens cannot contain him.' 1 Kings 8:27.

'His fulness fills all in all.' Ephesians 1:23.

You misunderstand the Deity.

You also misunderstand physics.

A mountain, beyond a certain size, would collapse into being a black hole and be very. very small indeed. Matter cannot extend further than specific dimensions or it begins to compress under the enormous gravitational pressure of its own mass.

See Schwarzschild radius

Nigel J
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  • A mountain that big would "collapse"? – Gigino Dec 19 '23 at 13:10
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    @Gigino Not collapse. The matter, above a certain mass, would be so great that it would compress under gravitational force. It is not a dimensional physical thing, It is a matter of atomic forces and quantum thermodynamics. See neutron stars and so forth. – Nigel J Dec 19 '23 at 21:36
  • Ok, so a mountain that tall cannot exist because it would compress like neutron stars and black holes, am I correct? – Gigino Dec 20 '23 at 14:48
  • No response? :( – Gigino Jan 10 '24 at 08:51
  • But an infinite mountain would take an infinite time to fully collapse, so it wouldn't actually compress all the way but be in the process of falling into the newly formed event horizon, and there would be infinite energy released from the infalling matter. But of course infinite mountains can't exist. – MiltonTheMeme Mar 31 '24 at 01:03