What is "omnipotence"?

[harvey1]

Omnipotence means all-powerful. A trait that God is said to possess. It seems to me the term can have the following meanings:

1. Epistemic meaning: What one believes they want (and as long as the belief is rational based on their physical circumstances), is the very thing they can accomplish
2. Physically possible meaning: What one believes they want (and as long as it is physically possible in the appropriate context), is the very thing they can accomplish. (That is, this is stronger than an epistemic meaning of the term since it is physically possible to do certain actions that are not considered rational, but which happen anyway; e.g., winning the lottery and becoming a multi-millionaire is physically possible but not epistemically responsible in terms of believing.)
3. Metaphysical meaning: What one believes they want (and as long as the belief is metaphysically possible with respect to all possible worlds), is the very thing they can accomplish. (That is, in every world wi where they have a want, they can accomplish that same will in each and every world.)
4. Logically possible meaning: What one believes they want (and as long as the belief is logically possible with respect to logic-math based propositions), is the very thing they can accomplish. (This is stronger than a metaphysical meaning since there may not be a world where it is possible to travel at 1 mph slower than the speed of light, but there is no paradox in doing so based on the propositions of special relativity.)
5. Conceptually possible meaning: What one believes they want (and as long as the belief can be conceived in some unreduced form), is the very thing they can accomplish.

Also, I'd like to define omnipotence in terms of strong, moderate, and weak forms:

Strong omnipotence: The belief that God is all-powerful and it is not possible for God to compromise or have any restrictions based on God's objectives. Everything that happens is for the best as God sees it.
Moderate omnipotence: The belief that God could do anything logically possible, but God chooses to compromise out of respect to God's character. God's all-powerful nature is based on God's ability to do anything logically possible--and not how God chooses to limit those actions.
Weak omnipotence: The belief that God is all-powerful, but God must compromise on a set of objectives in order to accomplish what God wishes to ultimately accomplish. God's will ultimately triumphs at the critical points of God's plan (e.g., the end of time).

[ST88]

Thanks, harv. That's a nice list.

Is omnipotence all about the degree of ability to carry out one's desires? It would seem that "desire" requires a further study in order to define accomplishment. After all, if time is not an issue, how can either "desire" or "accomplishment" be useful as terms we currently understand?

Weak omnipotence: The belief that God is all-powerful, but God must compromise on a set of objectives in order to accomplish what God wishes to ultimately accomplish.

Do you mean to say that God originally set up certain constraints that he now has to live with?

[harvey1]

Is omnipotence all about the degree of ability to carry out one's desires? It would seem that "desire" requires a further study in order to define accomplishment. After all, if time is not an issue, how can either "desire" or "accomplishment" be useful as terms we currently understand?

What kind of recommendation do you have? I would not be against saying that the goals must be accomplishable since presumably God has an infinite amount of time to accomplish the divine will. Perhaps it takes God an infinite amount of time to accomplish the divine will, but if God accomplished this will, then God is omnipotent regardless how much time it took (i.e., assuming that God's will did not set a timetable on when the will should be accomplished).

Do you mean to say that God originally set up certain constraints that he now has to live with?

No. There is a logical and physical existence. The logical existence is, collectively, God. The physical existence wholly depends on God, but it is not fully reducible to God. God has necessitated attributes of the divine existence which are non-negotiable. However, the physical world is negotiable since it is whatever can physically possibly exist given God's existence. There are X number of worlds that are physically possible (given God), and we happen to be one of those worlds in X. The reason it is physically possible is because God can make certain allowable compromises to God's micro-will that do not contradict God's macro-will. These sacrifices are acceptable since the end result (i.e., Gods macro-will) is accomplished. Go/no-go favors go.