The next couple of posts I will look at possible responses to the Biblical case I developed against God the Father having a physical body.
God met Moses face to face so therefore He must have a body.
Mormons contend God the Father must have a body becauseMoses met with God face to face. They may take you to Exodus 33:11 (NIV) “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”Here they will say, only a physical body can have a face.
Again we see the Bible using metaphorical (or anthropomorphic) language. How do we know? First by the evidence just presented that God is spirit and invisible and therefore not physical. Second by reading further down at Exodus 33:19-20. “And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. [20] But,’he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.’”
Moses never saw the Father’s face. It was just an expression to demonstrate the close relationship between the Father and Moses. If Moses had seen God the Father he would have been dead. “Face to face” is an expression that Moses and God had a special relationship.
We are made in the image of God. We have a body therefore so does God.
They will point out the Bible says we are made in God’s image and therefore He must be physical because we are. Genesis 1:26, 27 “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ [27] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Ask the Mormon does the word image have to be physical? Can it be immaterial or non-physical? An example could be, I am cleaning up my life and trying to change my image. This has nothing to do with trying to physically look like someone else. It has to do with character development.
Ask them if it could refer to qualities character? Remember if God is spirit and invisible then image cannot mean physical. Being made in the image of God refers to our immaterial self is made in God’s image. We know justice, love, and righteous anger because God has all these qualities and by making us in His image we now possess those qualities.
Paul says this in Romans 8:29 [talking to a believer] “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren.” This verse is not an encouragement to physically look like Jesus. To be conformed to His image we are to be like him in our character; in our daily actions. Therefore, Genesis 1:26, 27 does not make the case that God the Father has a physical body.
