It’s commonly said that God is invisible, and quite frankly,
since I haven’t seen him, that’s hard to argue with. But what do we mean—and
more importantly, what does the Bible mean—when saying God is “invisible?”[i]
Should we conclude that he is incapable of being seen because he is a
non-physical, immaterial essence? Well, I don’t think the biblical authors
would be too happy with that conclusion.
Scripture—especially the Old Testament—is full of references
in support of God having a physical body that can be seen. The Bible is teeming
with them! In just the books of Moses, we learn that God has a face, a mouth, a
hand, a finger, feet, and a back.[ii]
Surely the biblical authors believed he had a physical body. From the Genesis
account alone, we learn that God speaks, sees, breathes, walks, and smells.[iii]
But how does that work if he were an invisible essence existing outside of
three-dimensional space? Clearly, it doesn’t. The ancients perceived their God
as having a body like themselves.
Some people take these kinds of passages figuratively, not
literally. But on what grounds can they do that? Sometimes the argument is that
it’s not the author’s intention to describe God’s body. Instead, God is figuratively
personified to help us understand him, but without intending to convey literal
truth. And in some instances, that’s true. Take for example this extract from a
song of Moses: “At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, the
flowing waters stood up like a heap” (Exodus 15:8). Clearly the intent was not
to offer a description of God’s nose, but to demonstrate his power in parting
the Red Sea.
But often, it actually is
the author’s intention to describe God. In most of the references to God’s
physical body and actions above, the authors’ are trying to tell us what God is
like. Who are we to discount their descriptions as figurative? Take for example
the description of Moses’ encounter with the Lord on the holy mountain. Exodus
explains that “the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as
a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). The intention here is in fact to
get across what God is like—that in form, he is like us! According to this
account, Moses spoke to God in person, face to face, just as we speak to each
other. The language here is plain and unmistakable.
But if we believe that God has a physical body, aren’t we
just making God in the image of humans? Not at all—in fact, it’s precisely the
opposite. You see, God obviously had a physical body long before we ever did,
so it is in fact us humans who are made in the image of God, and not the other
way around. We are by no means making God more human, but if anything, perhaps
indicating that humans are more like God than some may think.
And understanding God to have a physical body like us just
makes sense. Here’s how—first, if we are literally children of God as the
Mormon Christian Framework[iv]
asserts, then we are like him, and he is like us. Second, we know from the
Bible that our ultimate destiny is to be resurrected and to regain our physical
body that we’ll lose at death.[v] So,
if God is like us, and we will have a physical body for the rest of eternity,
then God must of necessity have a physical body too.
So what does it mean then when we say that God is
“invisible?” Instead of being an eternal and unchanging attribute of God, quite
simply, “invisible” just means we don’t see him. But if we believe the Bible,
then it’s clear that there are plenty of people who have.[vi]
Wait a second, Jesus said, “God is spirit” (John 4:24),
so how can God have a physical body? Well of course God is spirit, but this
does not exclude the fact that he also has a physical body. He is spirit housed
within a physical body. And that’s the same for all of us. In fact Jesus uses
the proper language to describe God’s essence. Since spirit is the essence of
who we are, whereas physical bodies are simply dwelling places for spirit, it
is most appropriate to borrow Jesus’ expression to say that we are spirit, but we have physical bodies.
As Stephen’s body was being battered by stones, he called
out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” (Acts 7:59). We don’t say Stephen didn’t
have a physical body because he is spirit—instead, we recognize both. In the
very essence of who we are, we are spirit. But clearly we have physical bodies
too. And so does God!
Often, John 4:24—“God is spirit”—is given as the reason for
interpreting the scores of passages about God’s physical body as figurative. In
reality, such a notion is not actually contrary to God having a physical body.
And even if it were, we cannot discount the abundance of references on the
basis of just this one verse. So what’s the real reason the almost countless[vii]
number of passages are dismissed as metaphorical? In a word, it’s framework.
You see, we often let our framework—our collective
underlying assumptions—dictate our theology. This is the framework first approach. When we encounter a tough scripture, our
framework gently nudges us toward only one way of interpreting it, while
unconsciously blinding us to others. In this case, framework tells us to take
the dozens of passages about God’s body as figurative, and to take John 4:24 to
mean that God has no physical body. Instead of this approach, we should let
theology dictate our framework—the theology
first approach. The revelations of God should help us interpret our
assumptions, and not the other way around.
So taking the theology first approach to interpret these
scriptures, what would we think of all the different references describing
God’s body? If our minds were a clean slate with no preconceived notions, what
would we think of Stephen’s declaration while his opponents are in the very act
of stoning him? “Behold, I see the heavens opened up,” he proclaims,
“and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56)?
Was Stephen just trying to wax poetic with figurative
language in his last moments of life? Or was it a delusion he had, maybe from
loss of blood? It’s possible, but highly unlikely. Clearly he was not a witness
to an invisible essence without parts or structure, but the physical presence
of God. Stephen saw God! With this New Testament account, along with a mountain
of other biblical references, it becomes abundantly clear that the authors of
the Bible thought that God indeed does have a body.
And besides, Jesus himself said of his Father, “Angels in
heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10).
If Jesus believed God has a face, then we are probably safe to believe so too.
[i]
See Romans 1:20, Colossians 1:15, and 1 Timothy 1:17 for some examples indicating
God’s invisibility.
[ii]
Some of God’s body parts are referenced multiple times in the Bible, but here
is one example for each: God has a face (see Exodus 33:11), a mouth (see
Numbers 12:8), a hand (see Exodus 33:22-23), a finger (see Exodus 31:18), feet
(see Exodus 24:10), and a back (see Exodus 33:23).
[iii]
Genesis teaches us that similar to humans, God also speaks (see Genesis 1:3),
sees (see Genesis 1:4), breathes (see Genesis 2:7), walks (see Genesis 3:8), and
smells (see Genesis 8:21). We also learn that makes clothes (see Genesis 3:21)
and presumably wears them too!
[iv] See
The Thing About Christians and Mormons
blog post for more about the Mormon Christian Framework.
[v]
There are many biblical passages that point to a physical resurrection. For
examples, see Job 19:26, Luke 24:39, or Romans 8:23.
[vi]
Just how many people are there who have seen God? I don’t know the exact number,
but there are plenty of them. From Exodus 24:9 alone, we know that Moses,
Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel saw God. The Bible is replete
with other examples.
[vii] Countless…really?
Well not quite, but almost. While there are dozens of explicit references to
God having a physical body, references that must be taken metaphorically to deny
God’s physical existence are nearly countless because there are so many actions
attributed to God that can only be done with a physical body. For example,
every instance where the Bible says something like “the Lord spoke” or “God
said” must be taken metaphorically unless we recognize that God has a physical mouth,
lips, and tongue with which to speak.
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