Alleged Bible Contradictions #2

3.     God dwells in light 1Tim 6:16

God dwells in darkness 1 Kings 8:12/ Ps 18:11/ Ps 97:2

Two different metaphorical illustrations are used, but the same thing is being described. God is unapproachable by any natural means; because of this, the only way we can be near to Him is through the means that He has determined.

 

4.     God is seen and heard Ex 33:23/ Ex 33:11/ Gen 3:9,10/ Gen 32:30/ Is 6:1/Ex 24:9-11

God is invisible and cannot be heard John 1:18/ John 5:37/ Ex 33:20/ 1 Tim 6:16

While this appears to be two different pictures of God, in actuality there are many different issues being looked at in these passages, and the atheists who attack the Bible are lumping them all together as if they made two simple statements. The fact that two of these apparently contradictory statements are located within a few verses (Exodus 33:20-23) makes it clear that the passages are being misrepresented. The situation becomes much clearer when the passages are viewed in their contexts.

God the Father is invisible; nobody has ever actually seen God. However, God has chosen to manifest His power in certain ways throughout human history. Many of the passages that speak of seeing God deal with the manner in which His glory has manifested; God was not actually a burning bush, but He made something for Moses to see to make communication easier. When God withdrew that manifestation, Moses needed to hide, because even that fraction of God's glory was too intense for any man to survive. God did not say that it could not be seen (as the infidels have presented Exodus 33:20) but that Moses could not see His glory and live. Similarly, God is omnipresent, but made the sound of a voice in a single location so that Adam and Eve would have been able to communicate easier.

Exodus 33:11 does not say that Moses saw God face to face, but rather spoke to Him directly, rather than through a mediator. Isaiah 6:1 says that Isaiah saw the Lord, but John 12:41 clarifies this, to say that it was not the Father that he saw, but Christ. This can also explain the apparent contradictions in Genesis 32:30 and Exodus 24:9-11. John 5:37 does not primarily deal with the manifestation of God, but rather that these people had not been following God, and had not been "hearing His voice" through His Word.