August 30, 2025 • 12 mins
This is Episode 135 of Christian Research Journal Reads. This is an audio version of the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL article, “Is It Possible for Humans to See God?” by Charles Lee Irons. This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL, volume 39, number 05 (2016). https://www.equip.org/articles/is-it-possible-for-humans-to-see-god/
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.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/christian-research-journal-reads--6022978/support.
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.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/christian-research-journal-reads--6022978/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is episode one hundred and thirty five of the
Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast. Is it Possible for Humans
to See God? By Charles Lee Irons. This article first
appeared in the Practical Hernmeneutics column in the print edition
of the Christian Research Journal, Volume thirty nine, number five
(00:30):
in twenty sixteen. The Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast presents
audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. To read the
full text of this article and its documentation, go to
equip dot org. That's e qu ip dot org.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Is it possible for Cumans to see God? This article
is by Charles Lee Iron and is read by an
automated voice. Is it possible for Cubans to see God?
At first glance? The Bible seems to give conflicting answers
to this question. Skeptics and Muslims draw attention to the
apparent contradiction to call in a question and divine inspiration
and authority of the Bible. On one hand, the Old
(01:16):
Testament informs us that God appeared in the past to
certain individuals. God appeared to Abraham Genesis twelve to seven,
seventeen to one, eighteen to one, Isaac Genesis twenty six
to two, twenty four, Jacob Genesis thirty five to one
nine forty eight to three, and Moses Exodus three, sixteen
four to five. God himself said to Moses, I appeared
(01:40):
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty
Exodus six to three. Haydar said she saw God Genesis
sixteen thirteen. After Jacob wrestled with God, he said, I
have seen God face to face, and yet my life
has been delivered. Genesis thirty two thirty. Moses and Aaron
nedrab and Abbi who and seventy of the elders of
(02:00):
Israel are said to have seen God. On Mount Sinai
Exodus twenty four to nine to eleven, Isaiah saw a
vision of God, although it nearly ruined him isa six
to five. The Invisible God. On the other hand, the
New Testament teaches that God is invisible and cannot be
seen by mortals. The apostle Paul describes the attribute of
invisibility to God when he uses the phrase the invisible
(02:22):
God Colossians one fifteen. He also speaks of the King
of the Ages, immortal, invisible, the only God one Timothy
one seventeen. Hewes further and says God dwells in unapproachable
light whom no one has ever seen or can see.
One Timothy six sixteen. The apostle John solemnly affirms that
no one has ever seen God John one eighteen. Compare
(02:45):
five thirty seven, six forty six one John four to twelve.
The Old Testament says God was seen by humans in
the past. The New Testament says no one has ever
seen God or can see God. We therefore might be
tempted to draw the conclusion that the Old Testament and
the New Testament are simply at odds with each other.
But the Old Testament also contains teaching about God that
(03:05):
would require us to add some serious qualifications to the
bald statement that God was seen by humans in the past.
The very first verse of the Old Testament draws an
absolute distinction between God, the Creator and the creation that
he made. In the beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth Genesis one to one, and starting off with
this majestic statement, the Bible establishes the most fundamental truth
(03:27):
about God. He is not a creature, but the creator.
God's not being a creature has profound implications. If he
is not part of the created order, then he is
a most pure, spiritual being, utterly uncreated and non physical. Ergo,
he must be invisible, that is not able to be
seen with created eyes. Moses made this clear later in
his instructions to the Israelites. He warned them against making
(03:49):
any visible depictions of God, such as the carved images
and idols that the surrounding nations made of their gods.
Why because God has no physical form. Moses reminded the
Israelites that when God appeared on mount signing to enter
into a national covenant with them, then the Lord spoke
to you out of the midst of the fire. You
heard the sound of words, but saw no form Deuteronomy
(04:10):
four twelve. He goes on to say, since you saw
no form on the day that the Lord spoke to
you at Korv out of the midst of the fire,
beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image
for yourselves in the form of any figure Deuteronomy for
fifteen sixteen. This prohibition against making a carved image of
God and bowing down and worshiping it as is enshrined
(04:32):
in second Commandment Exodus twenty to four six Deuteronomy five
to eight ten, and has given added solemnity with a
fierce curse attached. For I the Lord, your God, am
a jealous God. Since God, being the creator and not
a creature, has no physical form, God doesn't want to
be misrepresented as if he were a creature with a
physical body. This is a central and oft repeated and
(04:53):
oft broken commandment of a law given to Israel, the
uncreated God. When God what appeared to Moses, he revealed
his identity as I am who I am, Exodus three fourteen.
Theologians through the ages have taken this key statement of
the divine identity to mean that God is pure, absolute
and perfect being. No creature can define its own being
(05:16):
this way. Only God can say that he himself determines
who he is. In another passage in the Prophets, he says,
I the Lord do not change now three to six.
This means God is immutable. All created things, by contrast,
are subject to change. These two verses are different ways
of getting the same truth. God is a non physical
being who utterly transcends the created realm. If God's being
(05:38):
is self determined and immutable, then God's being or essence
is not created and physical, and therefore no creature can
see God, at least not in the ordinary meaning of
s Early Judaism, following the teaching of the Torah, held
the same exalted conception of God as a purely spiritual being.
The Jews believe that God created all the visible things
(05:59):
from the invisible thing, being himself invisible two Inok forty
eight to five. Filo thought that God's essence was invisible
and perceivable only by his spiritual or intellectual vision of
the soul Special Laws one point four one to forty
six Cherubim ninety seven names one to ten. The Jews
regularly engaged in strident polemic against the idolatry of the Pagans,
(06:20):
arguing that there is one God, sole ruler, ineffable, who
lives in Heaven, self begotten invisible subline Oracles three eleven twelve.
Josephus believed God to be so spiritual that we can
neither see nor think of anything like him against a
PM two point one nine one. So it's not just
a Christian idea to say that God is essentially spiritual,
(06:41):
non physical, and invisible God revealing himself. What then, are
we to make of the verses quoted at the outset
which say that God appeared to humans or that humans
saw God. If one examines the context of many of
those statements, it is not actually God himself, in his
spiritual invisible essence that appeared or was seen, but a
(07:02):
physical self manifestation of God. Sometimes the text explicitly states
that God appeared in the form of an angel, usually
called the Angel of the Lord. On other occasions, it
is some other physical medium that God used to reveal
his presence, such as the glory cloud that led the
people of Israel in the wilderness Exodus thirteen, twenty one,
twenty two, or the chicuana glory that filled the tabernacle
(07:25):
in the temple Exodus forty thirty four thirty eight one,
King's eight, ten eleven. In rare cases, certain prophets were
granted access to heaven where they saw visions of God
one King's twenty two nineteen Isa six to one, Ezikil
one to one, Daniel seven to nine. The key point
is that it was not actually God himself in his
(07:45):
essence that people saw, but God appearing to humans through
created media. That is why they are called Theophanes, from
the Greek words theos god and phanst eye to appear
to be manifest. Even the Theophanes, however, were too overwhelming
for sin humans to endure in their full force. When
Moses asked God to show in his glory, God replied
that you would be allowed to see God's back, but
(08:07):
you cannot see my face, for man shall not see
me and live. Exodus thirty three twenty Isaiah was terrified
when he saw his vision of God and cried out,
woe is me, for I am lost, for my eyes
have seen the King, Lord of Hosts isa of six
to five. When the Angel of the Lord appeared to
Samson's parents, they said, we shall surely die, for we
have seen God. Judges thirteen twenty two. All humans after
(08:31):
Adam are unclean and sinful. To behold a perfectly holy
God would only bring about our instant death. There is
not only a metaphysical gulf separating us from seeing God,
but also a moral gulf. But that gulf has been
bridged in Jesus Christ. The ultimate self revelation of God
is the incarnation. As the apostle John put it so
(08:52):
majestically in the Proloa to his Gospel, the Word became
flesh and tabernacled among us, and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only begotten from the Father. No
one has ever seen God, the only begotten God, who
is in the Father's bosom. He has made him known.
John one, fourteen eighteen translation mine. John is not saying
that no one has ever seen a theophany, but that
(09:14):
no one has ever seen God as he is in
his essence. But the Incarnate's son, who is begotten of
God's essence, has made him known. Jesus said, whoever has
seen me has seen the Father John fourteen to nine.
Thus there is a sense in which humans can see God,
and a sense in which we cannot. We cannot see
God's invisible spiritual essence. But some people were able to
(09:34):
see him when He revealed himself by appearing to them
in various physical forms adapted to created eyes. In the
times before the coming of Jesus the Messiah, God revealed
himself in the form of the Angel of the Lord,
or in various created media like the glory Cloud. But
now in these last days, God has revealed himself definitively
in the incarnation of his son. A surface reading of
(09:56):
the Bible presents what appears to be a contradiction between
the Old Testament and the New On further reflection, however,
even the Old Testament testifies to God's spiritual, invisible nature,
and when it speaks of God being seen, it is
only insofar as He appeared or manifested himself to humans
through physical phenomenon, not to be identified with God's essential being.
(10:16):
The New Testament emphasizes that no one has ever seen God.
This is not to deny the theophanes and visions of
the Old Testament. It is to put them in their
proper place as partial and inferior revelations in comparison with
what is now the ultimate self revelation of God in
the person of his incarnate son, the Image of the
Invisible God, Colossians one fifteen. Charles Lee irons.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
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 podcast, you will
(11:03):
find the Christian Research Journal Reads podcast. The Postmodern Realities podcast,
which features interviews with Christian Research Journal authors, our flagship podcast,
The Bible answer Man Broadcast, and the Hank Unplugged podcast,
where CRI President Hank Canagraph takes you out of the
(11:25):
studio 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
(11:46):
Research Journal articles. That's e quip dot org.
This is episode one hundred and thirty five of the
Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast. Is it Possible for Humans
to See God? By Charles Lee Irons. This article first
appeared in the Practical Hernmeneutics column in the print edition
of the Christian Research Journal, Volume thirty nine, number five
(00:30):
in twenty sixteen. The Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast presents
audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. To read the
full text of this article and its documentation, go to
equip dot org. That's e qu ip dot org.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Is it possible for Cumans to see God? This article
is by Charles Lee Iron and is read by an
automated voice. Is it possible for Cubans to see God?
At first glance? The Bible seems to give conflicting answers
to this question. Skeptics and Muslims draw attention to the
apparent contradiction to call in a question and divine inspiration
and authority of the Bible. On one hand, the Old
(01:16):
Testament informs us that God appeared in the past to
certain individuals. God appeared to Abraham Genesis twelve to seven,
seventeen to one, eighteen to one, Isaac Genesis twenty six
to two, twenty four, Jacob Genesis thirty five to one
nine forty eight to three, and Moses Exodus three, sixteen
four to five. God himself said to Moses, I appeared
(01:40):
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty
Exodus six to three. Haydar said she saw God Genesis
sixteen thirteen. After Jacob wrestled with God, he said, I
have seen God face to face, and yet my life
has been delivered. Genesis thirty two thirty. Moses and Aaron
nedrab and Abbi who and seventy of the elders of
(02:00):
Israel are said to have seen God. On Mount Sinai
Exodus twenty four to nine to eleven, Isaiah saw a
vision of God, although it nearly ruined him isa six
to five. The Invisible God. On the other hand, the
New Testament teaches that God is invisible and cannot be
seen by mortals. The apostle Paul describes the attribute of
invisibility to God when he uses the phrase the invisible
(02:22):
God Colossians one fifteen. He also speaks of the King
of the Ages, immortal, invisible, the only God one Timothy
one seventeen. Hewes further and says God dwells in unapproachable
light whom no one has ever seen or can see.
One Timothy six sixteen. The apostle John solemnly affirms that
no one has ever seen God John one eighteen. Compare
(02:45):
five thirty seven, six forty six one John four to twelve.
The Old Testament says God was seen by humans in
the past. The New Testament says no one has ever
seen God or can see God. We therefore might be
tempted to draw the conclusion that the Old Testament and
the New Testament are simply at odds with each other.
But the Old Testament also contains teaching about God that
(03:05):
would require us to add some serious qualifications to the
bald statement that God was seen by humans in the past.
The very first verse of the Old Testament draws an
absolute distinction between God, the Creator and the creation that
he made. In the beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth Genesis one to one, and starting off with
this majestic statement, the Bible establishes the most fundamental truth
(03:27):
about God. He is not a creature, but the creator.
God's not being a creature has profound implications. If he
is not part of the created order, then he is
a most pure, spiritual being, utterly uncreated and non physical. Ergo,
he must be invisible, that is not able to be
seen with created eyes. Moses made this clear later in
his instructions to the Israelites. He warned them against making
(03:49):
any visible depictions of God, such as the carved images
and idols that the surrounding nations made of their gods.
Why because God has no physical form. Moses reminded the
Israelites that when God appeared on mount signing to enter
into a national covenant with them, then the Lord spoke
to you out of the midst of the fire. You
heard the sound of words, but saw no form Deuteronomy
(04:10):
four twelve. He goes on to say, since you saw
no form on the day that the Lord spoke to
you at Korv out of the midst of the fire,
beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image
for yourselves in the form of any figure Deuteronomy for
fifteen sixteen. This prohibition against making a carved image of
God and bowing down and worshiping it as is enshrined
(04:32):
in second Commandment Exodus twenty to four six Deuteronomy five
to eight ten, and has given added solemnity with a
fierce curse attached. For I the Lord, your God, am
a jealous God. Since God, being the creator and not
a creature, has no physical form, God doesn't want to
be misrepresented as if he were a creature with a
physical body. This is a central and oft repeated and
(04:53):
oft broken commandment of a law given to Israel, the
uncreated God. When God what appeared to Moses, he revealed
his identity as I am who I am, Exodus three fourteen.
Theologians through the ages have taken this key statement of
the divine identity to mean that God is pure, absolute
and perfect being. No creature can define its own being
(05:16):
this way. Only God can say that he himself determines
who he is. In another passage in the Prophets, he says,
I the Lord do not change now three to six.
This means God is immutable. All created things, by contrast,
are subject to change. These two verses are different ways
of getting the same truth. God is a non physical
being who utterly transcends the created realm. If God's being
(05:38):
is self determined and immutable, then God's being or essence
is not created and physical, and therefore no creature can
see God, at least not in the ordinary meaning of
s Early Judaism, following the teaching of the Torah, held
the same exalted conception of God as a purely spiritual being.
The Jews believe that God created all the visible things
(05:59):
from the invisible thing, being himself invisible two Inok forty
eight to five. Filo thought that God's essence was invisible
and perceivable only by his spiritual or intellectual vision of
the soul Special Laws one point four one to forty
six Cherubim ninety seven names one to ten. The Jews
regularly engaged in strident polemic against the idolatry of the Pagans,
(06:20):
arguing that there is one God, sole ruler, ineffable, who
lives in Heaven, self begotten invisible subline Oracles three eleven twelve.
Josephus believed God to be so spiritual that we can
neither see nor think of anything like him against a
PM two point one nine one. So it's not just
a Christian idea to say that God is essentially spiritual,
(06:41):
non physical, and invisible God revealing himself. What then, are
we to make of the verses quoted at the outset
which say that God appeared to humans or that humans
saw God. If one examines the context of many of
those statements, it is not actually God himself, in his
spiritual invisible essence that appeared or was seen, but a
(07:02):
physical self manifestation of God. Sometimes the text explicitly states
that God appeared in the form of an angel, usually
called the Angel of the Lord. On other occasions, it
is some other physical medium that God used to reveal
his presence, such as the glory cloud that led the
people of Israel in the wilderness Exodus thirteen, twenty one,
twenty two, or the chicuana glory that filled the tabernacle
(07:25):
in the temple Exodus forty thirty four thirty eight one,
King's eight, ten eleven. In rare cases, certain prophets were
granted access to heaven where they saw visions of God
one King's twenty two nineteen Isa six to one, Ezikil
one to one, Daniel seven to nine. The key point
is that it was not actually God himself in his
(07:45):
essence that people saw, but God appearing to humans through
created media. That is why they are called Theophanes, from
the Greek words theos god and phanst eye to appear
to be manifest. Even the Theophanes, however, were too overwhelming
for sin humans to endure in their full force. When
Moses asked God to show in his glory, God replied
that you would be allowed to see God's back, but
(08:07):
you cannot see my face, for man shall not see
me and live. Exodus thirty three twenty Isaiah was terrified
when he saw his vision of God and cried out,
woe is me, for I am lost, for my eyes
have seen the King, Lord of Hosts isa of six
to five. When the Angel of the Lord appeared to
Samson's parents, they said, we shall surely die, for we
have seen God. Judges thirteen twenty two. All humans after
(08:31):
Adam are unclean and sinful. To behold a perfectly holy
God would only bring about our instant death. There is
not only a metaphysical gulf separating us from seeing God,
but also a moral gulf. But that gulf has been
bridged in Jesus Christ. The ultimate self revelation of God
is the incarnation. As the apostle John put it so
(08:52):
majestically in the Proloa to his Gospel, the Word became
flesh and tabernacled among us, and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only begotten from the Father. No
one has ever seen God, the only begotten God, who
is in the Father's bosom. He has made him known.
John one, fourteen eighteen translation mine. John is not saying
that no one has ever seen a theophany, but that
(09:14):
no one has ever seen God as he is in
his essence. But the Incarnate's son, who is begotten of
God's essence, has made him known. Jesus said, whoever has
seen me has seen the Father John fourteen to nine.
Thus there is a sense in which humans can see God,
and a sense in which we cannot. We cannot see
God's invisible spiritual essence. But some people were able to
(09:34):
see him when He revealed himself by appearing to them
in various physical forms adapted to created eyes. In the
times before the coming of Jesus the Messiah, God revealed
himself in the form of the Angel of the Lord,
or in various created media like the glory Cloud. But
now in these last days, God has revealed himself definitively
in the incarnation of his son. A surface reading of
(09:56):
the Bible presents what appears to be a contradiction between
the Old Testament and the New On further reflection, however,
even the Old Testament testifies to God's spiritual, invisible nature,
and when it speaks of God being seen, it is
only insofar as He appeared or manifested himself to humans
through physical phenomenon, not to be identified with God's essential being.
(10:16):
The New Testament emphasizes that no one has ever seen God.
This is not to deny the theophanes and visions of
the Old Testament. It is to put them in their
proper place as partial and inferior revelations in comparison with
what is now the ultimate self revelation of God in
the person of his incarnate son, the Image of the
Invisible God, Colossians one fifteen. Charles Lee irons.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
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 podcast, you will
(11:03):
find the Christian Research Journal Reads podcast. The Postmodern Realities podcast,
which features interviews with Christian Research Journal authors, our flagship podcast,
The Bible answer Man Broadcast, and the Hank Unplugged podcast,
where CRI President Hank Canagraph takes you out of the
(11:25):
studio 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
(11:46):
Research Journal articles. That's e quip dot org.
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