The Bible can be complicated at times and even appear to contradict itself. One such area of apparent contradiction centers on whether human beings can “see” God. Some verses seem to suggest that God cannot be seen, while others claim He can (and has been) seen by human beings.
This essay will examine this problem and suggest that the apparent conflict can be resolved by distinguishing between two forms of seeing. In the first instance, seeing can refer to encountering God’s unmediated, essential glory. In the second manner, seeing can be understood as perceiving a mediated manifestation or theophany.
First, however, reviewing the relevant Scripture verses is in order.
To See Is To Die
It was widely accepted in the ancient world that no one could see God and live. This belief appears to be supported by several biblical verses.
In Genesis 32:25-32, Jacob “wrestles” with God and is surprised that he lived despite “seeing the face of God.” During the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites feared any direct contact with God (see Exodus 20:19). This belief that any kind of direct contact with God was fatal for human beings is reiterated in Deuteronomy and again in the Book of Judges.
Why is this the case? Why does the sight of God lead to death?
There are two fundamental ways to approach these particular biblical passages. The first is literal. Simply put, the infinite and transcendent nature of God is such that a mortal being cannot experience God without being overwhelmed and dying. For a person to see God’s full glory and live would, presumably, require that person to experience the beatific vision, an event that fallen humans cannot experience while alive.
It is important to note that death seems to be the dividing line, so to speak. To see God while one is alive in the flesh is to die. However, from the Catholic perspective, blessed are those who experience the beatific vision in Heaven. That is to see God as He truly is.
The second way of interpreting the biblical passages is spiritually or metaphorically. In this sense, seeing God does not mean a physical death, but rather a radical transformation of the individual in such a way that he “dies” to his old self.
Perhaps there is a third way of understanding these passages. What if seeing God does not result in death of any kind?
See God And Live?
It is not necessary to dwell long here. The theme of the Gospels, if not the whole of the New Testament, is that “The Word [Christ] became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).
If a fundamental claim of the Old Testament is that seeing God led to death, then a basic truism of the New Testament is that God became one of us and was seen by many. Obviously, there is a fundamental contradiction between these two claims.
A core belief and tenet of the Catholic faith is that God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ. If Jesus is God, and if many saw Jesus and lived, it must be false that seeing God is deadly. Said differently, how do we reconcile the biblical texts that indicate that humans cannot see God and live with the New Testament canon that clearly depicts people seeing Jesus and living?
To reconcile this problem requires a little logic, specifically the law of noncontradiction, which states that something cannot be true and untrue simultaneously and in the same respect. Moreover, for a contradiction to occur in a statement, the predicate must refer to a different aspect of the subject. How does this help?
It can be argued that the contradictory verses about the sight of God causing death refer to different aspects of God. To elucidate this claim, I will reference two apparently contradictory verses.
In Exodus 33:20, God tells Moses that it is impossible for Moses to see His face and live. However, in John 1:18, we read, “No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, who has made him known.” If no one has seen God, surely no one has died from encountering Him. To avoid the contradiction inherent in these two statements, I suggest viewing them as referring to different aspects of God.
As God is a spirit, He cannot be seen by those still in the physical body. For a human being to see God as He is, in His essential nature, would require that the person be a spirit, as well. That is, one would have to be dead. Therefore, when the Bible states that one cannot see God and live, it refers to a human being’s incapacity to see God’s essential nature. This seems to be what God tells Moses in the Exodus 33:20 passage mentioned above.
Conversely, human beings can and have seen God in various mediated ways. Natural theology studies the ways we can see God through His effects. An example of this is the teleological argument, which argues that the universe’s apparent features and design infer a divine designer’s existence.
Moreover, Catholicism and the Bible teach that one can see God through the mediator, Jesus Christ. Christ’s role as the mediator has several aspects associated with it; however, for the purpose of this essay, to say that Christ is the mediator is to suggest that Christ is the link between humanity and God the Father. Because Christ is both human and divine, He provides the link that allows human beings to not only “see” God and live but to have life abundantly. (See John 10:10).
Conclusion
Does the Bible contradict itself by claiming that no one can see God and live while also claiming that God “dwelt among us”? The answer is, of course, no.
Owing to our physical and spiritual limitations, it is impossible for human beings to see (that is, to know God’s essence) and live. However, in becoming a human being, God, in the person of Jesus Christ, became the “lens” through which we may yet see God.
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