Part 17 Does God the Father have a body?

by on June 5, 2022

The next few posts I will cover topics I use to show Mormons their belief system is false.  We will begin with a Biblical issue concerning God the Father.

Does God the Father have a Body?

The following is a paraphrase of an actual dialogue I had with two Mormon Missionaries.

Me: Do you believe God the Father has a physical body?

Missionary: Yes.  If we look at Doctrines & Covenants 130:22 it says, “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.”   Now turn in your Bible to Acts 7:54-56. “When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.  But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’” If Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father, then He must have a right hand.  Therefore, God the Father has a physical body.

Me: I can see your point and that is one possibility.  However, is it possible the words “Right hand of God” is simply an expression that means position of power and authority; like he is my right hand man?

Missionary: I guess so.

Me: How would we know which is the best interpretation?

Missionary: Look at what the Bible says.

Me: Great!  Let’s see what the Scriptures have to say.

Notice how I acknowledge his answer as a possibility and then provide an alternative.  It is important to affirm their answers and then ask a question to put the ball back in their court.  I will now provide scriptures I use when discussing this topic.

God is a spirit and therefore cannot be physical

Mormons teach God the Father was once a man and lived an exemplary life and progressed to becoming a god.  They teach God the Father still retains his body.  However, the Bible teaches differently.

John 4:24“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

What is a spirit?  In Luke 24:39 we see Jesus speaking to His disciples after the resurrection.  They thought he returned as a spirit and wasn’t flesh and bone.  Jesus refutes this false belief by telling them to see and touch Him; He then defines a spirit. “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

The post resurrection Jesus had a physical body and could be touched.  In contrast He tells them a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones.  Mormons teach God the Father has flesh and bones.  The Bible teaches God is a spirit (John 4:24) and a spirit is without flesh and bones.  A spirit is non-physical.  God cannot be a spirit and have a physical body.

In my next few posts I will give additional Biblical support to the non-physical nature of God.

Go to part 18 here

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{ 4 comments… add one }

  • Gina S. Martelino May 15, 2014, 10:38 pm

    Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)

    There is a diffrence in speaking a truth and being true. The scripture says “WHEN he speaketh a lie”, implying that Satan doesn’t always lie. He may speak many truths in order to bring to pass one big lie.
    Satan lied when he told Eve that she wouldn’t die. (Gen. 3:4)
    The truth he spoke in Eden was when he said “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:5)
    This was verified as a truthful statement when after Adam took the fruit God said “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:” (Ge. 3:22)

  • Steve Bruecker May 16, 2014, 6:27 am

    Gina,
    Thanks for writing. You are right about Satan. He can use truths to lead into a lie. Here in the Genesis 3 he is telling half-truths. Satan told Adam and Eve they would not die on the day they ate, and he was right, they didn’t die physically. However, they died spiritually and were separated in their relationship with God. Romans 6:23 explains, “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.” Death here is contrasted with eternal life. We earn death and separation from God due to sin. Physical death is part of the package but is not an immediate consequence of sin. All who believe in Jesus Christ will have eternal life; we will be with God for all eternity. In contrast Romans 6:23 says all who sin with receive death, eternal separation from God when they die. The point is, sin gives us eternal death and the gift from God gives us eternal life. Adam and Eve sinned earning them eternal death.

    As far as being “like God” they were given knowledge that only God possessed. They became “like God” in only this one way. However, they only gained a limited knowledge of good and evil, not equal to God. The Biblical God is omniscient, all-knowing. They gained limited knowledge of good and evil. What Satan didn’t tell them was by eating they would be separated from God forever for their disobedience; they would also gain feelings of isolation, guilt, embarrassment, and fear. As was Satan’s plan, the cost far outweighed the benefit of gaining some knowledge. Where in this passage do we learn that we can progress to become a God? Are you saying we have to sin to be like God?

    There is only 1 God. God proclaims over and over again there is only 1 God; no god formed before Him or after. Here are two examples of many:

    Isaiah 43:10,11 — Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior.

    Isaiah 44:6,8 — Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. Fear ye not, neither be afraid; have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.

    The Biblical God disagrees with Joseph Smith. You cannot become a god! Who are you going to believe?

    Steve

  • gina s martileno June 4, 2014, 8:58 pm

    NOW the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.
    And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
    And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
    But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
    And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
    For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5)

    If you read it carefully, Satan did not say they would become gods but that they would be as gods, in that they would know good from evil. This was the truth.
    The part that was a lie was telling them that they would not die.
    A few verses later we read:

    “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:” (verse 22)

    God acknowledges the fact that Adam has become as one of them. So if Satan was lying about that, then God must have been lying too.

    The whole point of that scripture is that Satan was trying to convince them that their eyes would be open to knowledge; not that they would become gods.
    Critics commit the fallacy of guilt by association by wrongly using this scripture to demonstrate how evil the concept is that one can become as God by associating the idea with Satan.

  • Steve Bruecker June 5, 2014, 10:33 am

    Gina,
    Did you read my last reply? Your last series of comments was dealt with in my first reply to you. After you ignore my post you then correct me by making a straw man argument. Plus you ignored all my questions. If we are going to have a dialogue I need to you address my questions. Go back and reread my reply to your first series of comments.

    Here are some examples of you ignoring what I said:

    You wrote: “If you read it carefully, Satan did not say they would become gods but that they would be as gods, in that they would know good from evil. This was the truth.” Where in my reply did I say you will become god?

    Here is what I previously said: “As far as being “like God” they were given knowledge that only God possessed. They became “like God” in only this one way. However, they only gained a limited knowledge of good and evil, not equal to God. The Biblical God is omniscient, all-knowing. They gained limited knowledge of good and evil. What Satan didn’t tell them was by eating they would be separated from God forever for their disobedience; they would also gain feelings of isolation, guilt, embarrassment, and fear. As was Satan’s plan, the cost far outweighed the benefit of gaining some knowledge. Where in this passage do we learn that we can progress to become a God? Are you saying we have to sin to be like God?” There is only 1 God. God proclaims over and over again there is only 1 God; no god formed before Him or after. I can provide a list of scriptures that teaches this.

    Then you write to correct me: “The part that was a lie was telling them that they would not die.”

    However, in my previous reply I wrote: “Satan told Adam and Eve they would not die on the day they ate, and he was right, they didn’t die physically. However, they died spiritually and were separated in their relationship with God. Romans 6:23 explains, “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.” Death here is contrasted with eternal life. We earn death and separation from God due to sin. Physical death is part of the package but is not an immediate consequence of sin. All who believe in Jesus Christ will have eternal life; we will be with God for all eternity. In contrast Romans 6:23 says all who sin with receive death, eternal separation from God when they die. The point is, sin gives us eternal death and the gift from God gives us eternal life. Adam and Eve sinned earning them eternal death.” Keep in mind God told Adam he would die on the “day” he ate from the tree in Gen. 2:15-17. Verse 17 reads… Genesis 2:17 “…but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Adam and Eve died spiritually on the day they ate, just like God said they would.

    Gina you commit the fallacy of a straw man argument, misrepresenting my position and then tearing it down. I will repeat my previous questions: Where in these passages do we learn that we can progress to become a God? Are you saying we have to sin to be like God?

    Steve

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