Mar 09 2009
Contradiction #2 - Has any man seen God?
Question #2: Has Any Man Seen God?
Contradiction in question:
YES - “And the Lord appeared unto Abraham, and said, unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.“ - Genesis 12:7
NO - “No man hath seen God at any time.“ - John 1:18
Correction:
The bible has documented several of God’s “appearances” to mankind. God has also spoken to several people throughout history. This example in the book of Genesis, is a perfect example of how God communicates with people. I’ll even throw another log on the fire! Even Acts 7:2 says: “And he said, ‘Bretheren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham…” even in this passage, Stephen is referring to God “appearing” to Abraham in Genesis 12:7.
Now, lets take a look at John 1:18 which says “No man hath seen God at any time”. So it would naturally seem that this is a contradiction. Afterall, John is clearly saying that not one single person has ever seen God. This would seem to be a contradiction to Genesis 12:7…but it is not.
Why isn’t it a contradiction? Well, the only documented moment in the Bible when anyone in history had ever come close to seeing actual God, himself, is in Exodus 33:18-23 which says “And he[Moses] said, ‘please show me your glory.’ Then He[GOD] said ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’ But, he[GOD] said, ‘You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the LORD said “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes you by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen!” This is the only passage where God makes an appearance as himself! God cannot show his face to any human being as his glory is far too great for human beings to handle, but God show his “back” to Moses.
Now, granted many of you will probably search the Old Testament looking for other passages where God has made an “appearance” to man, so I’ll save you some trouble. There are actually several times when people in the Old Testament have “seen God”, or when God has “appeared to them”. There is a simple explanation for this as well in Exodus 6:2-3. This passage in Exodus clearly states that God did not make an actual physical appearance to Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. The scripture in Exodus says “And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ’I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them.”
This confirms that God did not actually make an actual physical appearance to them. Throughout the Bible, the authors have documented several instances where an “angel of the Lord” appeared to people to deliver God’s message for him. God also made an “appearance”, as God Almighty, to several people in the bible in various forms. Here are some more examples of how God “appears” to people:
-Angels (Genesis 32:22-32, Luke 1:13 & 30, 2:10)
-Form of a dream (Genesis 28:10-22, 37:5-10, 40:5, 41:7, 8, Isaiah 1:1, Matthew 1:20, 2:12, 13)
-Writing on the wall (Daniel 5:5-9)
-A talking donkey (Numbers 22:21-35)
-Pillar of cloud and fire (Exodus 13:21, 22)
-A whale (Jonah 2)
-Verbally (Genesis 12:1-4, Exodus 7:8, Matthew 3:13-17, Acts 18:9)
-Fire (Exodus 3:2)
The correct answer to this question is “NO”. No one has even seen God himself, and these two scriptures are not contradictory.
Gen 32:30 states “…for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
So your attempt to pretend that there is no contradiction in the Bible about this is a rather sad and failed attempt.