Christian Research Journal Reads Episode 132: Does God Have A Spirit Body?

This is Episode 132 of Christian Research Journal Reads. This is an audio version of the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL article, “Does God Have A Spirit Body?” by H. Wayne House. This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the Christian Research Journal, volume 40, number 03 (2017). https://www.equip.org/articles/does-god-have-a-spirit-body/


This podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. As the flagship publication of the Christian Research Institute, the Journal seeks to equip followers of Christ to think and to live Christianly—to exercise truth and experience life. Truth, especially essential Christian doctrine, forms the basis for how we live our lives in Christ. As the apostle Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”The Christian Research Journal enjoyed a print incarnation of almost 45 years. Now exclusively an online publication, the Journal consists of thousands of free articles. We hope that through these audio articles you are not only equipped to proclaim and defend your faith but that as a disciple you also draw closer to Christ in your walk with Him.  You can find the written version of each article that is an episode of Christian Research Journal Reads at the website of the Christian Research Institute, equip.org. All Christian Research Journal articles at equip.org are completely free and do not require a subscription and are not under a paywall.All episodes will be available at the following podcast platforms with more being added daily! You can help spread the word about this new podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!You can view off our Website at the at this link and off our Journal main page. 



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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is episode one hundred and thirty two of the
Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast. Does God Have a Spirit Body?
By h Waynehouse. This article first appeared in the Practical
Hermeneutics column of the print edition of the Christian Research Journal,

(00:29):
Volume forty, number three in twenty seventeen. The Christian Research
Journal Reads Podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles.
To read the full text of this article along with
its documentation, please go to equip dot org. That's e

(00:50):
qu ip dot rg.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Does God Have a Spirit Body? This article is by
ah Shwayne House and is read by an automated voice.
Most Christians believe that the Creator God of the universe
exists eternally as an infinite being outside of time and space,
and is an immaterial being in three persons, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. This infinite spirit being not only brought

(01:16):
into existence the physical universe, but also a host of
angels who share his nature of being spirit, unlike humans,
who were created by God as beings who are composed
of physical body and spirit. Generally, the only deviation from
the orthodox doctrine given above has been the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints LDS Mormons, which teaches

(01:37):
that God the Father and God the Son are physical
beings somewhat similar to the gods of Greece and Rome.
Between this Mormon view of God and that of historic
and orthodox Christianity is the perspective of Philidaic, author of
Dike's Annotated Reference Bible. This book has been used by
many Christians unaware that he sets forth a number of
ideas that are foreign to the historic Biblical faith from

(01:57):
the Apostles and the Lord Jesus himself. I will be
addressing only one of these unorthodox teachings, namely the nature
of the divine being spirit substance. Dake argues that God
is not a spirit, but has a body of spirit substance.
Because God is a person, Diake says He has a
personal soul and personal spirit within a spiritual body that
has actual fingers, hands, various other body parts, and inhabits

(02:20):
a mansion in a city on a material planet called Heaven.
He walks, rides in a chariot, sits on a throne,
and can do anything that humans. Dodake bases his view
of God on several lines of biblical argument. First, the
Bible mentions that there are heavenly and earthly bodies, a
natural and spiritual body. There is no exclusion of God
from this reality, so God too must have a body. Second,

(02:43):
he mentions that Moses said that man was made in
the image of God. If man was made in the
image and likeness of God bodily, then God must have
a body and an outward form and shape. Thirddake says
that the writers of Scripture acknowledge that God has a body.
They saw it with their natural eyes. Fourth, he says
the historic doctrine of God as one being in three

(03:03):
persons is unscriptural and foolish, since one person cannot be
three persons. Rather, God is three distinct persons, as separate
and distinct as any three persons we know of in
this life. For Dake, the Bible's descriptions of God are
not figures of speech, but rather descriptions of real, bodily
parts of God. Fifth, all angels and spiritual beings have

(03:24):
bodies with souls and spirits like human beings. Six human
beings are able to understand God. He is not incomprehensible.
Since humans have a body, soul, and spirit, and they
are like God. Then each person in the Godhead must
have a body, soul and spirit. The members of the
God had live as one in unity, but not as
one being. Seventh, the Bible is plain that God has

(03:45):
a spirit body with parts like man. This is proven
by hundreds of plain scriptures that do not need interpretation.
They are too clear and literal to misunderstand. Additionally, he
is localized in his body. His presence can be felt everywhere,
but his body cannot. The arguments of Finnish Stake are
a serious challenge to the common understanding of God that
has been understood by millions of believers in God for millennia,

(04:08):
and particularly since the coming of God's son Jesus. Unfortunately,
interacting with Dike's various arguments and the manner in which
he interprets numerous biblical texts he refers to, would require
many more pages than can be dealt with at this time,
but we are able to offer several lines of argument.
How does one speak of God and man? Understanding the

(04:28):
nature of God is the most difficult task of the Christian.
This is so because everything that we may aspire to
know of the infinite Deity is restricted to what is
revealed to us either in the universe that he has made,
or the scriptures that He wrote through the prophets and apostles. Additionally,
finite begins cannot perceive the inner self of an infinite being,
since he is beyond empirical investigation that of the senses.

(04:51):
Only in the manners in which God manifests himself in
finite terms can we know him. When we speak about
humans made in the image of God, we understand that
as theomorphic and theopathic language. By this is meant that
humans are created to be like and not the same
as their creator, in our form and in our spiritual expression.
Since God created humans physically in his image as well

(05:12):
as spiritually, I do not mean to suggest that God
is physical or has a body, but that our physical body,
when joined with our spirit, has been enabled in part
to experience and express a tributes that God has. Without
a body, Consequently, without materialize the infinite God sees, and
without a brain, he thinks. God has created humans as
finite physical beings to act similarly to God. How then,

(05:35):
do we speak of God? We must do so in
human terms as to both form and attitude. Biblical passages
that describe God in material language, hands, eyes, et cetera,
should be interpreted metaphorically. Although God is not physical, he
acts in a physical world and communicates with material beings.
In order to condescend to our limited understanding, it is
both logical and natural to describe himself in tangible ways.

(05:58):
For example, in Psal one hundred dred and thirty nine,
the Psalmist says that God guides his life with his hand.
In Hebrews ten thirty one, we discover that people experience
God's judgment when they fall into his hands. One cannot
properly understand these texts to be saying that humans actually
are in God's hand, whether for good or ill. This
idiom is not even used literally when referring to humans

(06:19):
being in the hands of another. The same is true
when God is spoken of as a rock Deuteronomy thirty
two to four, a Fortress two, Samuel twenty four to seven,
or Potter isa sixty four to eight. God is spirit,
is invisible and non material. God cannot be simultaneously material
and immaterial in his essence. This would be ontologically and

(06:41):
exegetically impossible. We observe in Luke twenty four thirty nine
and Isaiah thirty one to three that the nature of
spirit is contrasted with the nature of material things. Most notably,
the apostle Paul makes this point in One Timothy one seventeen.
He says that God is invisible. Not if something is invisible,
it cannot be seen. It cannot be perceived with any

(07:01):
form of device or by any human capability. The apostle
also uses additional reinforced language to indicate that the location
of God's being is unapproachable, and that no man has
seen or can see this divine being. As well, the
apostle John says, no man has ever seen God, but
the only begotten Son, who dwells in the bosom of
the Father, has declared him John one, eighteen, New American

(07:23):
Standard Bible, nineteen ninety five. Than what do people of
the Old and New Testaments see when they see God?
They see manifestations or God's presence, but not God himself.
This is true of the burning Bush of Moses Exodus three,
the Shicana glory in the Tabernacle and the temple, is
appearance with two angels with Abraham, and Genesis eighteen, the
visions of Ezekiel, and in the Fiery Furnace with the

(07:46):
three Hebrew children Daniel three. These are ways in which
God makes himself known. None of these is the appearance
of God in his invisible nature, which in itself is
a contradiction of terms. One can no more see something
that is truly invisible than one can construct a two
angle triangle. Even though the Divine Being cannot be seen,
he can nonetheless be perceived mentally through his creation. Paul

(08:08):
says that his invisible attributes, his eternal power, and divine
nature have been clearly seen, being understood mental and not physical,
through what physical and visible has been made Roman's one
twenty New American Standard Bible nineteen ninety five.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
Thank you for listening to another episode from the Christian
Research Journal Reads podcast, which provides audio articles of Christian
Research Journal articles. If you go to equip dot org
you will find a brand new article for the Christian
Research Journal published weekly. In addition, please subscribe to our
other podcasts. Wherever you find your favorite podcasts, you will

(08:47):
find the Christian Research Journal Reads podcast, the Postmodern Realities podcast,
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The Bible Answerman Broadcast, and the Hank Unplugged podcast, where
CRI President Hank canagraph takes you out of the studio

(09:10):
and into his study to engage in in depth, free flowing,
essential Christian conversations on critical issues with some of the
most interesting and informative people on the planet. At equipp
dot org, you will also find a lot of resources
to equip you, including many thousands of Christian Research journal articles.

(09:33):
That's e qu ip dot RG.