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[daretoshred]

Quote (t8 @ Sep. 16 2009,10:15)

God is a Spirit. That is what he is. It is written, “The LORD is the Spirit”. Spirit is not like a body. Spirit can be in all, a body cannot. Jesus on the other hand, is the image of the invisible God, and the firstborn of/over all creation.

t8 –

Which Lord/LORD is the verse talking about? is it YHWH? In some versions of 2 Cor 3:17 (I'm assuming that's the verse as you didn't provide a reference), it's written as Lord, not LORD. Could you let us know what it says in the original language?

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Quote (Nick Hassan @ Sep. 15 2009,18:49)

Hi DT, ooops. Jesus now has a new body and so will his brothers when he returns[1Cor 15, 2 Thess] We will be sexless and alike to the angels. So does God have such a body??

Jesus has a glorified body, I'm sure we can all agree that is scripturally correct.

God also must have a similar body, in order to have a Son in the same likeness. Plus there is plenty of scripture that shows God does have a body, but a body that is limitless, whatever that may be.

As for being like the angels, yes we will not marry nor be given to marriage, as Jesus says. But His response doesn't say anything about whether his Father is bodyless or not. There also isn't any other similarity as far as I know that we have with angels.

I'm a little lost as to what you're trying to say. We are not going to marry in the Kingdom of God, but there's a disconnect…how does that show that God has a body or doesn't have one?

A tangent…do angels have bodies? I don't think they do but I haven't really looked into it. They can appear as men, but they're usually (always?) referred to as spirits. Maybe I'll look into that another time. I really need to go to sleep.

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Who is HT? I'm new here so I don't know everyone's nicknames yet.

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I hope that I have not upset anyone in the way I've posted, my intention is not that.

But back to the topic, I was thinking what is the underlying concern of believing if God has a body or not? I figured that the main issue is how can God be omnipresent and all-powerful if He is confined to a body.

However, it is clear that God does not have a human body, one with certain limits, dimensions, etc. (and even though we change dimensionally as we age, there are definite limits)

Is it possible, however, that God has a transcendent body that is limitless? That his body doesn't have limits such as size, weight, density, like ours? Just as Jesus has a glorified body that is transcendent beyond our limited human bodies, wouldn't God also have a similar type of body? Jesus came from God, he is the Son of God, so wouldn't it also follow…like Father like Son? God says to Jesus, let us make man in our image, then it seems inconsistent that we, who have bodies, would be images of a bodyless God and a Son who has a body.

In no way am I saying that God is limited by having a body. Nor am I trying to make him to be human. If I am incorrect in my thinking, which is possible, please direct me to scripture that directly says God has no body. I contend that God has a spirit just as we have a spirit, and God has a body just as we have a body. God's body and spirit are greater than ours in every way, if such a comparison were even possible, without offending Him.

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Quote (Nick Hassan @ Sep. 15 2009,07:16)

Hi and welcome DT, Do you think God is as small as a man?

Thanks for the welcome. No, I do not think God is as small as a man. I don't think you do either.

Again, let me clarify that we are not talking about a body that is like ours. We are talking about a body that ours is like. God does not have a human body.

I guess you're trying to say how can an omnipresent God confine himself to a specific place, right? I really don't know the answer to that yet. But remember, His body does not have limits like our bodies do. So I guess He can be everywhere and somewhere at the same time. I don't have anything to support that at this time.

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So far, you have quoted a scripture that says God has feathers. If those are literal feathers, then God has a body. But we both agree it is a metaphor. That does not disprove that God has a body.

Then you quoted scripture that no one can see God. Yes, no one can see face to face God and live to tell about it. Again, this does not disprove God has a body. On the contrary, it proves it!

And now you quote a bunch of commentaries by men and not scripture itself to support your point. Not one single scripture that says God doesn't have a body. All those things you said are commentaries about what people say about scripture, rather than scripture itself.

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Quote (CatholicApologist @ Sep. 15 2009,06:22)

Quote (daretoshred @ Sep. 15 2009,06:04) I was being facetious because I assumed you were being facetious. The Psalms passage you mention is the only passage that mentions God having feathers. I agree it is a metaphor because earlier in the chapter it likens God to a fortress. Obviously, He is not a literal fortress. However, in the Exodus passage, Moses writes that he and the 70 elders saw God's feet. It is a historical writing, Moses is writing as he saw it. There is nothing metaphoric or poetic about it. Plus, it is not the only passage that mentions that God has feet or hands or other things that people who are made in His image have. And yet we read: “No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” John 1:18 How do YOU reconcile this?

Moses writes that they saw God's feet. Not God. They saw His FEET.

But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” – Exodus 33:20

When God says we cannot see Him, it means we cannot see Him face to face. Moses did not see God face to face. In verse 22: When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

God covers Moses with his hand to protect Moses from dying by seeing God's face! If God doesn't have a physical body, how can he cover Moses?

Later, in verse 23: Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

This chapter again is not metaphorical in nature. It's historical. Moses does not see God face to face. He sees his back, he is covered by God's hand.

Just because we cannot see God's face does not mean he does not have one.

In Psalm 110:1, God says that Jesus will sit at His right hand. Jesus also says he will sit at God's right hand in Mark 14:62. If God has no body, then Jesus would ask, uh where do I sit? A secondary implication is that God has 2 hands just as he made us to have 2 hands. Otherwise, God would not need to say right hand.

Let me clarify though, when I say that God has a body, he has a glorified body. Not a body like we humans have, that are mere images of who He is.

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I was being facetious because I assumed you were being facetious.

The Psalms passage you mention is the only passage that mentions God having feathers. I agree it is a metaphor because earlier in the chapter it likens God to a fortress. Obviously, He is not a literal fortress.

However, in the Exodus passage, Moses writes that he and the 70 elders saw God's feet. It is a historical writing, Moses is writing as he saw it. There is nothing metaphoric or poetic about it. Plus, it is not the only passage that mentions that God has feet or hands or other things that people who are made in His image have.

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Yes, he has feathers. They're invisible though.

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oops I meant mormon. I'm not mormon.

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God has a body. I'm not a muslim, btw. We are made in the image of God, therefore we reflect who God is. Well we should, anyway.

Since we have bodies and are images of God, it would follow that God has a body. It seems odd that God would not have a body and yet we are his image and have bodies.

In Exodus 24 the elders and Moses saw God. They saw His feet. It does not say they saw something like his feet, for in verse 10 it says under his feet they saw something like a pavement made of sapphire. So the ground that God walked on looked like a sapphire pavement, although it was probably not made of sapphire. I would think that if it was something like feet, then Moses would have written that they say what looked like God's feet. In verse 11 it says, “But God did not raise his hand…” God has hands. He does not have “hand-like structures.”

Elsewhere in scripture, it says that God will put his enemies under His feet. Not under what appears to be His feet, or something that looks like feet.

God also has a heart: The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip. Psalm 37:31
David did not write God has something like a heart and something like feet do not slip.

And finally:
How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7

3 different authors mention God's feet, and in fact God's feet make something beautiful. Now since our feet are dirty, it would suggest that God's feet are the lowest part of him but I'm not saying that He is our image. I point this out to show that even God's feet (since we consider our own feet are dirty but that's an extension of our fallen nature) are so amazing that he turns the ground into something like a sapphire pavement, and makes mountains beautiful. That's how incredible God is.

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Quote (Nick Hassan @ Sep. 11 2009,06:52)

Hi WJ, Still confused? The Lord is the Spirit.

wait a minute, Jesus is not the Spirit. It says Spirit OF Christ. Even if you're a trinitarian, based on that triangular diagram, God the Father is not the Son is not the Spirit.

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I also challenge the rapture. Here where I'm at I saw a sticker that said “After the rapture, can I have your car?”

It's in response to “In case of rapture, this car will be unmanned.”

The irony is that a Christian could legitimately sport the “After the rapture, can I have your car?” sticker on his/her car.

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