Definition:
A “paradox” is a statement, proposition, or situation that appears to be self-contradictory or logically impossible, yet may reveal an illusion upon closer examination.
Etymology:
The term “paradox” comes from the Greek word “paradoxos,” meaning “contrary to expectation.” It combines “para,” meaning “beyond” or “outside of,” and “doxa,” meaning “opinion” or “belief.”
Description:
Examples of Paradoxes:
- In a town, the barber shaves all those, and those only, who do not shave themselves. Does the barber shave himself?
- If all parts of a ship are replaced, is it still the same ship?
- If God is all-powerful, can God create a stone so heavy that he himself can not lift it?
- If Pinocchio’s nose only grows when he lies, what happens if he says “My nose will grow now”?
- If you travel back in time and kill your grandfather, you would never have been born to travel back in time.
- “This statement is false,” or “I always lie.” (If these statement are accurate, then they must be false, which creates a contradiction.)
Religion:
Paradoxes often occur in religious traditions and texts. For example:
- In Christianity, Trinity is a concept of God being three persons, but also one.
- In Christianity, Jesus is both fully God and fully man.
- In the Bible, in Matthew, chapter 16, verse 25 (KJV), Jesus states, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
- In the Bible, in Matthew, chapter 20, verse 16, it says: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
- In the Bible, in 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 10 (KJV), it says: “For when I am weak, then am I strong.” In the Bible, in 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 19 (KJV), it says: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
- In the Quran 50:16, it says: “God is closer to us than our jugular vein, yet He is above all comprehension.”
- In the Bible, if you don’t obey God, God will send you to hell where you’ll be tormented forever, because he loves you.
- In Tao Te Ching 37 it says: “The Tao does nothing, yet leaves nothing undone.”
- In Dhammapada 223, it says: “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”