Wade Englund, in his online book, About Heavenly Father (here, a chapter from Volume Two: Does Heavenly Father Have a Body?):
UNDERSTANDING
THE BIBLICAL DECLARATIONS THAT GOD IS NOT A MAN
"For I am God, and not
man; the Holy One in the midst of thee."(1)
This scripture, read in
connection with such other biblical passages as: "God is not a man, that
He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent;"(2) and,
"yet thou art man and not God....thou shalt be a man, and no God (thus drawing
a clear distinction between God and man);"(3) has lead many to conclude
that Heavenly Father is not a man in any sense of the word.
However, this conclusion stands
in deference to those scriptures which openly refer to Heavenly Father as a
Man(4), as well as the wealth of biblical evidence that has been presented in
this work which affirms that He is a Man.
One may be caused to wonder which
of these seemingly contradictory sets of scriptures is correct, or is there a
way to reconcile them.
It should be noted that there is
more than one connotation for the appelation "man" represented
throughout the Bible. It is through understanding these different connotations
that the seeming contradiction is reconciled so that Heavenly Father may
rightly be called a Man, but have it be known that He is not a man in the way
that mortals are man. Several of the connotations of "man" will be
examined below.
Pre-mortal
Man
In Chapter___ of Volume Four
there will confirmed the reality that there are numerous spirit personages
which comprise the "hosts of heaven"(5), and the "family in
heaven"(6). They are the spirit children of Heavenly Father(7), and they
include the pre-mortal spirits of mortal man(8), and the evil spirits of
Satan(9).
The nature of these spirit
personages will be described in detail in the same Chapter, but for the purpose
at hand there should be stated that these spirit personage possess spirit
bodies which are similar in size and form to the bodies of mortal man. Their
bodies, however, are not made of mortal flesh(10), and their souls are at the
first of several stages of progression unto ultimate perfection.(11) We know of
their nature because they have appeared unto us, and they have done so while
acting in the capacity of angels or messengers of God.(12)
There are several instances where
pre-mortal spirit were referred to in the Bible as man. For example: Satan was
called "man of sin"(13); Eve declared of Cain's spirit "I have
gotten a man from the Lord;"(14) Job said of the spirits, "All the
sons of God shouted for joy;"(15) Christ stated, "no man hath
ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven."(16)
Jesus, prior to his mortal
advent(17), often appeared as an angel of God(18), and he was also spoken of as
a man: "three men stood by him(Abraham); and when he saw them, he ran to
meet them...And said, my Lord;"(19) "I see four men loose (Shadrach,
Meshach, Abednego, and Christ) walking in the midst of the fire, and they have
no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."(20)
Mortal
Man
The most common type of
"man" found in the Bible is mortal man--beginning with the
"first man Adam"(21).
Much has been written in science
about the nature of mortal man. But, a dimension that science has neglected is
the truth that mortal man is comprised of both a spirit body and a physical
body.(22) The nature of the spirit body we have already discussed.
The nature of the physical body,
or flesh of mortal man, is corrupt, and is subject to spiritual and physical
death.(23) Because of man's corrupt nature, they are considered to be a little
lower than the angels(24). But, because of their physical bodies, they are
considered one step beyond the angels on the path of progression to ultimate
perfection.
There are two types of mortal
man: first, there is the natural man--the man who is born into corruption, and
who remains a slave to the impulses and appetites of the flesh(25); and second,
there is the spiritual man--the man who is born into corruption, but whose
spirit conquers and rules over his flesh, and who is born again unto a
spiritual life through the atoning blood of Christ(26).
Resurrected
Man
In Chapter____ of Volume Four,
"Re-embodied Spirit: Resurrected Spirit Personages," there will be
established the reality of post-mortal spirit personage: resurrected beings.
The nature of these beings is too
complex to describe at this time--except to say that their souls are the
composite of the spirit body and the glorified flesh of mortal man. They
represent the culmination of the process of progression unto ultimate perfection.
Just as there are different types
of mortal flesh, there are also different types of resurrected flesh. There are
Celestial resurrected beings, there are Terrestrial resurrected beings, there
are Telestial resurrected beings, and there are the "Sons of
Perdition"(27); each distinguishable from the other by their respective
measures of glory, with the Celestial glory being the greatest of all, even the
glory of the Father. Celestial resurrected beings are those who were born again
in the flesh, who have taken upon them the image of Christ, who have received
all that is the Father's, and who have become ultimately perfect like God, and
have thereby become Gods themselves.(28)
Resurrected beings have also been
referred to in the Bible as man. In Acts is written "two men stood by in
white apparel"(29) and "a man stood before me in bright
clothing."(30) Christ spoke, "no man ascendeth up to heaven, but he
that came down from heaven,"(31) "then saith he(resurrected Christ)
unto me(John), See thou do it not(kneel down before Christ): for I am thy
fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets."(32) Paul wrote of the
resurrected Christ, "one mediator...the man Christ Jesus,"(33)
"the last Adam (Adam means man(34), and is here referring to Christ) was
made a quickening soul;"(35) following Christ's post-mortal appearance,
Paul said, "when his (Paul's) eyes were openned, he saw no man (implying
that he had first seen a man who was the resurrected Christ, which man had
since left). John commented, "no man in heaven...was able to open the
book."(36)
What
Type Of Man Is Heavenly Father
Is God a pre-mortal spirit man,
or a mortal man? Job declared, "He(God) is not a man, as I am;"(37)
"hast Thou(God) eyes of flesh? or seest Thou as a man seeth? Are Thy days
as the days of man? Are Thy years as many as man's days?"(38) There is
written: "My (God's) thoughts are not your (mortal man's) thoughts,
neither are my ways your ways;"(39) "wisdom of this world is
foolishness to God."(40) (Clerification added by the author).
Heavenly Father is, indeed, a
Man. But He is not a mortal man with corruptible flesh, nor is He a pre-mortal
spirit man without flesh. He is an ultimately perfect, spiritual, resurrected
Man of glorified flesh. Paul wrote, "the first man is of the earth,
earthy: the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As is earthy, such are they
also that are earthy: and as is heavenly, such are they also that are
heavenly."(41) Ezekiel adds, "Upon the likeness of the throne was the
likeness of the appearance of a Man...this was the appearance of the likeness
of the glory of God."(42)
So, one may understand those
scriptures which directly, or indirectly, state that God is not a man, to mean
that God is not a mortal man with corruptible flesh. These scriptures do not
mean that He is not a Man in any sense of the word, because He is a glorified
resurrected Man.
Besides, since Christ was the God
of the Old Testament(43), it is likely that it is he who is being spoken of in
Numbers, and he who is speaking in Hosea; and since He was a pre-mortal spirit
personage at that time, it would make more sense for him to declare that he was
not a man--for he had not as yet come to earth to take upon himself mortal
flesh.
Notes for the Above:
1. Hos 11:9
2. Nu 23:19
3. Eze 28:2,9
4. And Jacob wrestled a
Man....And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face
to face. Ge 32:24,30
Behold, the Man hath appeared
unto me....We shall surely die, because we have seen God. Jdg 13:10,22
a voice came out of the cloud,
saying, This is My beloved Son: hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked
round about, they saw no man any more. Mk 9:7-8 (Mt 17:5-9)
It is also written in your law,
that the testimony of two men is true. I am one
(first man) that beareth witness of myself, and the father (second Man) that
sent me beareth witness of me. Joh 8:17-18
5. Jacob said, this is God's
host. Ge 32:2
multitude of heavenly hosts
praising God. Lk 2:13
6. of whom the whole family in
heaven and earth is named. Eph 3:15
7. See Chapt.___, Vol.III,
"Un-embodied Spirits: Pre-mortal Spirit Personages," Pp.___
8. Ibid
9. Ibid, particularly the
section, "Satan And Other Evil Spirits Numbered Among The Hosts Of
Heaven," Pp.___
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid, particularly the
section "The Council In Heaven," Pp.___; as well as the whole of
Volume III.
12. angel of God called to Hagar.
Ge 21:17
seen and angel...face to face.
Jdg 6:22
angel touched him. 1Ki 19:5
angels came and ministered. Mt
4:11
13. 2Th 2:3
14. Ge 4:1
15. Job 38:7
16. Joh 3:13
17. See Chapt.___, Vol.III,
"Un-embodied Spirits: Pre-mortal Spirit Personages," particularly the
section "Christ Created As A Pre-mortal Spirit Personage," Pp.___
18. See Ge 16:7,13; 18:2-31;
21:17; 22:11,15; 32:30; 48:15-16; Ex 3:2-4; 14:19; 23:20,23: 32:30,34; 33:11;
Nu 20:16; 22:23-31; Jdg 2:1,4; 6:11-24; 13:all; 28:12; 31:11; 32:1-2; Da
10:5-21; Mal 3:1; Zech 3:1-2
19. Ge 18:2-3
20. Da 3:25
21. 1Co 15:45
22. See Chapters ___, ___, and
___ of Vol.III, Pp.______
23. See Chapt.___, Vol.III,
"The Nature Of Fallen Man," Pp.___
24. Thou madest him(mortal
Christ) a little lower than the angels. Heb 2:7 (9)
25. natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit. 1Co 2:14
For ye are carnal. 1Co 3:3
by nature the children of wrath.
Eph 2:3
all mankind becoming carnal,
sensual, and devilish. Moses 5:13
26. If a man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. 2Co 5:17
make you a new heart and a new
spirit. Eze 18:31
Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. Joh 3:3
to make himself twain one new
man. Eph 2:15
See also Chapt.___, Vol.III,
"Rebirth," Pp.___
27. See Chapter____, of Vol.II,
"Re-embodied Spirit: Resurrected Spirit Personages," the section
"The Different Glories Of the Resurrection," Pp.___
28. Ibid. See also Chapt.___,
Vol.III, "As Man Is, God Once Was; As God Is, Man May Become," Pp.___
29. Ac 1:10
30. Ac 10:30
31. Joh 3:13
32. Rev 22:9
33. 1Ti 2:5
34. Smith's Bible Dictionary,
William Smith LL.D, Pillar Books, New York, NY, 1976, P.14
35. 1Co 15:45
36. Rev 5:3
37. Job 9:32
38. Job 10:4-5
39. Isa 55:8
40. 1Co 3:19 (1:25)
41. 1Co 15:47-48
42. Eze 1:28
43. See Chapter 3, vol.I,
"Hierarchy Of The Gods," the endnote "Christ As The God Of Old
Testament Peoples,"Pp.___
Kevin Barney, email to an Evangelical inquirer, July 21,
2008 (on Hos 11:9, a similar text to Num 23:19; copy in my possession):
Evangelicals reject out of hand
the Mormon view that God and man are in some sense of the same
"species" or type, and that man has the potential to become like God,
as a man may become like his father. But
look at the common contradistinctions involving this Hebrew word; they do not
involve contrasts with other species (for that, 'adam as the generic term for
man would more likely be used). A man
and a woman are of the same species, if of different gender; a man and an old man
are of the same species, if of different vigor.
There is certainly a contrast
meant to be drawn here between God and man.
But is the contrast one of "I am God, and not [in the form of a]
man"? Or is it more along the lines
of "I am God, and not [a mortal] man"? Or perhaps something like "I am God, and
not [merely a] man?
The best way to tell is to read
the passage carefully *in its context*.
That context tells us that God will not give vent to his fierce anger to
destroy Ephraim yet again. While man
would do so in his position, he is better than that.
That could mean God is wholly
other than man, as the evangelicals would read it. But it could also simply mean that God is far
superior to man, a proposition with which any Mormon would not quarrel.
I don't think this verse gives
the definitive answer to the question that the evangelilcals think it does.
FAIR, “Response
to Claims Made in ‘Chapter 5: Heavenly Father is a Man’” (response to
Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods):
Question: Does the doctrine that
God has a physical body contradict the Bible?
A growing consensus of
scholars recognizes that God, as depicted in the Bible, is embodied
The overwhelming academic
consensus is that God, as depicted in the Bible, is embodied. Several books
that you can read bare this out:
·
Kamionkowski, S. Tamar and Wonil Kim, eds. Bodies,
Embodiment, and Theology of the Hebrew Bible. New York: T&T Clark
International, 2010.
·
Halton, Charles. A Human-Shaped God:
Theology of an Embodied God. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press,
2021.
·
Wilson, Brittany E. The Embodied God:
Seeing the Divine in Luke-Acts and the Early Church. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2021.
·
Wagner, Andreas. God's Body: The
Anthropomorphic God in the Old Testament. Trans. Marion Salzmann. New York:
T&T Clark, 2019.
·
Markschies, Christoph. God's Body:
Jewish, Christian, and Pagan Images of God. Waco, TX: Baylor University
Press, 2019.
·
Sommer, Benjamin D. The Bodies of God
and the World of Ancient Israel. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,
2011.
·
Stavarakopolou, Francesca. God: An
Anatomy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2021.
This last book, God: An
Anatomy, was helpfully reviewed by Latter-day Saint scholar and apologist
Daniel C. Peterson. Peterson commends and gives some cautions regarding the
book that may apply more generally to the books just listed. We recommend
seeing his review cited below.
It is incorrect to imply that
God cannot be in human form, since a fundamental doctrine of Christianity is
that Jesus is God, made flesh
Mormons believe that God has a
physical body and human form. Does scripture which says that "God is not a
man" (e.g. Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29, Hosea 11:9)
contradict this idea?
These scriptures read (emphasis
added):
·
"God is not a man, that he should lie;
neither the son of man [i.e., a human being], that he should repent:
hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make
it good?" - Numbers 23:19
·
"And also the Strength of Israel will not
lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent."
- 1 Samuel 15:29
·
I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger,
I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man;
the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. - Hosea
11:9
The first passage, in Numbers,
not only says that "God is not a man", but it also says that God is
not "the son of man." If a Christian were to claim from this passage
that God is not a man, they would have to consistently claim that God is also
not a "son of man." This of course contradicts many New Testament
statements about Jesus (who is God) to the contrary. Though there are many
examples, one should suffice. Jesus says, "For as Jonas was three days and
three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth." Matthew 12:40 Therefore,
we know that the passage from Numbers is not suggesting that God is
fundamentally not a "son of man", but rather that God is not a
"son of man" in the sense that God doesn't have need for repentance.
The next logical step requires us to conclude that the passage is not
suggesting that God is fundamentally "not a man", but that God is not
a man in the sense that God does not lie.
These verses say nothing about
the nature or form of God—they merely assert that God is not like man in
certain ways
God will not lie or change his
declared course, unlike humans. As the NET translation of 1 Samuel says,
"The Preeminent One of Israel does not go back on his word or change his
mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind.”
It is incorrect to imply that God
cannot be in human form—the fundamental doctrine of Christianity is that Jesus
is God, made flesh. One would have to assume that these verses also apply to
Jesus, when they clearly do not. Jesus may be in human form, but he will not
sin, or change his mind from doing his father's will.
Further Reading:
Lynn
Wilder vs. Latter-day Saint (and Biblical) Theology on Divine Embodiment
