Has any man seen god at anytime?

Question

The full text of John 1:18 reads, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."

Some Christians claim that Jesus was god, and he sure seemed visible most of the time in the gospel mythologies.
Also, A number of Bible passages indicate that prophets saw God (Genesis 17:1; 18:1; 26:2; Genesis 32:30; 48:3; Genesis 33:11; Exodus 24:9-11; Joshua 5:13-15; Isaiah 6:1; Matthew 11:27; John 220:28; Acts 7:55-56; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 3 John 11; Revelation 1:17-18).

So which part of the bible is gospel truth?

yes, but it is claimed that people saw Jesus. Was he or was he not god and did people see him or not?

so is the bible contradictory after all?

Isn't the fact that god showed moses only his asside still mean that moses saw god? Was moses a man or not?

Answer 1

Whichever part you need to support your world view at any given moment. It's a religion of contradictions designed to allow conquest, colonialism and profit at the expense of others. A little flexibility and wiggle room is advantageous!

Answer 2

1. Your selected passage is one of those in a select few in the Bible that defy explaination. I like to believe that something is being expressed in these few passages that our time and era was/is not intended to understand. (Some will add that another possibility is that there has been a transcription error. I won't go there!)

2. You first sentence begins with an error--not "Some Christians" but instead, it should be "All Christians" claim--or, more properly (again a correction of your text)--believe that...

3. The final correction of your text that I would make is in your last sentence--not "indicate" but affirm, instead.

Obviously, I am changing all of your (modern, situational ethics) qualificated statements to absolute statements. And that is proper in the Christian faith. We DO believe that we have universals and that they are usable in the modern world.

4. Finally, in answer to your intitial question, I say "Yes." Jesus was/is God and all who saw Him, saw God. In fact, He says this in one or more places ("Whosoever has seen me hath seen the Father."), Moses saw God's backside, His hand and perhaps one other part of His being. And some of the Prophets report a vision of God, or the outright visual experience.

Answer 3

Jesus IS God!

John 1:18
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only [Jesus!], who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

In the trinity, there is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But it's not 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. It's 1 x 1 x 1 = 1!

Answer 4

God has appeared to man in a couple of differnt forms (i.e burning bush, a cloud over My Sinai, etc.) Moses DID see God but God covered his eyes with his hand, and Moses only saw the back of God because he would have died had he seen more.

Jesus was the only man, if you can call him that, who has ever seen God the father.

Hope this helps
Michael

Answer 5

His appearance was always in the form of something, they saw a pillar of fire, a burning bush, a great cloud but no old man in a white beard, robe or suit. God is a spirit and will always remain a spirit, john4:24 the Holy Spirit is a spirit and will always remain a spirit , john 16:13 Christ was a spirit then became man to die for ours sins, pilip.2:6 so Christ is the only one we can see and will see in heaven for He is the fullness of the Godhead bodily col.2:9.

Answer 6

The full verse means that no man can see God except that Jesus shows Him to them.

God can be seen but only through the power of Jesus Christ. Without Jesus we cannot approach God.

This verse is in the New Testament. Before the birth of Jesus Christ apparently it was possible to see God directly. Or else Jesus and the God of the Old Testament are one and the same, in which case you are seeing God through Jesus Christ.

Answer 7

How do you define gospel truth? However you slice or dice it, the Bible was written by men and contains a vast array of cultural and historical sources, some of which may be open to question regarding their actual truthfulness. It remains a powerful and inspired document of great spiritual wisdom, but if you intend to take it all literally, you better set your rationality aside. I think lots of 'men' (and women) have seen God at sometime. Were any of them still alive when it happened? I doubt it.

Answer 8

No man has seen God at any time except Jesus. Jesus preexisted with God in the Beginning and was known in many Old Testament Passages as "the angel of the Lord" as apposed to, "an angel of the Lord."

He was before and when he came born of the virgin and as he is now - The EXACT Representation of God. Jesus represents God in every respect (without being God) and stands as the Word of God.

God spoke directly through Jesus, as Jesus so declares in the Gospel of John. Jesus said the FATHER taught him what to say, how to say it and what to do. Jesus said the Miracles he done were done by the Father.

All the Gospels are the truth - and only when you understand what you're talking about does it make any sense.

Jesus in his pre-carnate state - as, "the" Angel of the Lord was markedly different than any other angelic being in that he alone spoke as God, using God's words as if God himself (read those Old Testament passages. When they Saw God it was always a man-like figure (God is not a man by the way, he is Spirit).., but was seen by proxy in this man or angelic being.

This particular Angel of the Lord, was the Son of God in the beginning - as is accounted for, the Angels ARE Sons of God - but this precarnate form of Jesus as God's first born.

When Jesus came to this Earth in the form of Man made directly by God (his Father) and born as a man from the human woman - he was named Jesus.., and his human lineage from his mother traces back to King David as the root of Jesse.

This can be a bit confusing akin to discussing time travel and paradoxes - but not quite.

Jesus Did see the Father - while no human has. Only those who seen Jesus could see the Father by Proxy as Jesus was like God in looks, and verbal expression, because Jesus was / is - THE LIVING WORD OF GOD!

El-Shaddai - the voice in the burning bush, the whirlwind that led the Hebrews through the wilderness, and much more. Jesus was no pansy - and killed his share of men - yet obedient in all things he came as Prince of Peace. Left as Lord of Lords and will return as King of Kings.

At any rate - Jesus when born of a woman was very human. Not God the Father by any means - BUT - close enough in that he represented God as he did in the beginning and this is why demons recognized him at sight and feared him. They knew him from before the time they were swept from heaven.

Answer 9

Yes.

Jesus, in John 6:46, states: "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father."

Jesus is 100% man and 100% God.

Answer 10

When Bible declare that someone had seen God or that God had appeared to him, that means he make contact to God message in some way. Our eyes can see only things that have 3 dimensions, that is... things of this world where we live. God cannot be seen by our so simple eyes.

Answer 11

If it reads, "the only begotten Son, does it not mean He is the Son of God? But whatever God does, the Son does. therefore they are one. Moses had to hide in the cliff of the rocks as God would only show him his hind part. to see God is to die. As sin and God cannot walk together. Only by christ making intercession for us can we approach His throne.