Literary notes about omnipotence (AI summary)
The term omnipotence is deployed across literary works to evoke a sense of ultimate, often divine, power as well as the human struggle with limits and authority. In some texts, it straightforwardly designates the unfathomable strength of spiritual or natural laws, as when Christ is invoked to symbolize the supreme force of spiritual law [1] or when the divine perform miracles [2, 3]. In other writings, omnipotence serves as a metaphor for societal or intellectual dominance, reflecting on how human constructs—from the omnipotence of money to that of reason—can both elevate and corrupt ([4], [5]). There are also instances where the term is used to critique the hubris of mortal endeavors, as in the downfall of those who, like the archangel in a descent into eternal torment, overreach their mortal bounds [6]. Such diverse applications illustrate how omnipotence in literature functions as a versatile symbol for the ultimate power—whether of the divine, nature, or human ambition.
- The omnipotence of spiritual law was referred to by Christ on the occasion of his triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - That the ultimate reason for believing miracles is the omnipotence of the Creator.
— from The City of God, Volume II by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - Of His omnipotence, which effects so many great miracles, we have already said enough.
— from The City of God, Volume II by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - On the whole, one is weary of hearing about the omnipotence of money.
— from On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle - She believed in the omnipotence of the human mind.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - All my speculations and hopes are as nothing; and, like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in an eternal hell.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
