Without God, Nothing is Impossible

Firstly, consider that all things which are actual are also possible. This should be obvious enough. Is there anything that is impossible but also actual? No. Impossible things, by definition, cannot be actual. So we can say that possibility is logically prior to actuality.

With me so far? OK.

Now, secondly, note that if something is impossible, then there is something else that explains why that thing is impossible. In other words, there is no brute impossibility. Impossibility always has an explanation.

Think about it: it's impossible to be alive and dead at the same time. But why is it impossible? Ultimately, because of the laws of logic. Think about anything you believe to be impossible - there is always something else that makes it impossible.

Here's another thing: whatever is able to make something impossible must be necessary. So, it is logically impossible to be both dead and alive because the law of non-contraction (which implies that contradictions cannot be true) is logically necessary. We can say that the laws of logic determine the scope/bounds of logical possibility. And to determine possibility is to make certain things impossible.

But recall that we have already noted that possibility precedes actuality. What this implies is that nothing actual can determine the bounds of possibility. This implies that nothing is impossible in any real sense; in other words, all things are possible.

This is only the case, though, if a self-sufficient God doesn't exist. If God exists, then He would transcend our modal categories. He would be purely actual and possibility would be wholly determined by Him. Without God, though, all things are possible.

And this unrestricted possibility has devastating epistemological consequences. One of those consequences is that it destroys any coherent metaphysical foundation for logic. I discuss this in-depth in my book, If Logic then God. You can grab a copy here.

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