William Lane Craig’s “philosophical theology” is now turning into downright heresy!—And getting boring! Here is the video transcript:
“If there were perceptual, sensible evidence of God, then it wouldn’t be the God of the Bible. It would be an idol, some sort of finite being that reflects photons off its physical body so that we could see it, or that sets up sound waves so that we could hear it, and that wouldn’t be God. If you could have a direct, sensible apprehension of God, this would be a finite limited being unworthy of worship. So the fact that God is not perceptible by the five senses is just part and parcel of the greatness of God. He is a transcendent being who has created the physical universe and left traces in the physical universe that make his existence apparent. The great Swiss astronomer Gustav Tammann once said to me that it is as though as physical science explores the universe, we encounter what he called ‘signposts of transcendence’ pointing beyond the physical universe to its ground in a transcendent creator and designer. And I love that metaphor ‘signposts of transcendence,’ and I think that they are abundant in our physical world.”
There is no “what if” about it. According to the Bible, man certainly can see God. The Bible is full of examples of people having “seen God”. Here are some references:
Genesis 18:
1 And the Lord appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
Genesis 32:
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
Exodus 24:
10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his [God’s] feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
Exodus 33:
11 And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
Numbers 12:
8 With him [Moses] will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently [i.e. visually, visibly], and not in dark speeches [i.e. hidden, invisibly]; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
Deuteronomy 34:
10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,
Isaiah 6:
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train [i.e. the hem of his robe, his royal garment] filled the temple.
• • •
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Matthew 5:
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
1 John 3:
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Revelation 3:
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
In the first quote (Genesis 18) a close reading of the context reveals that one of the “three men” who appeared to Abraham was indeed God himself, and the other two were the two angels who later went on to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (and rescued Lot). God stayed behind, and continued to converse with Abraham; while the two angels left to perform their assigned task. God was on such familiar terms with Abraham that he used to come and visit him at his tent like a guest! That is how Abraham gained the reputation of being the “friend of God” (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23). None of the ancient prophets were on such close familiar terms with God as was Abraham—although Moses came close. In the fifth quote (Numbers 12:8), the word “similitude” (KJV Bible) means the actual shape, form, or visual appearance. In other words, Moses saw what God actually looked like. And of course, modern LDS scripture fully confirms this doctrine:
Ether 3:
13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.
Doctrine and Covenants 67:
11 For no man has seen God at any time in the flesh, except quickened by the Spirit of God.
12 Neither can any natural man abide the presence of God, neither after the carnal mind.
Doctrine and Covenants 88:
68 Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.
Doctrine and Covenants 93:
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;
Doctrine and Covenants 107:
49 And he [Enoch] saw the Lord, and he walked with him, and was before his face continually; and he walked with God three hundred and sixty-five years, making him four hundred and thirty years old when he was translated.
Moses 7:
4 And I saw the Lord; and he stood before my face, and he talked with me, even as a man talketh one with another, face to face; and he said unto me: Look, and I will show unto thee the world for the space of many generations.
Abraham 3:
11 Thus I, Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made;
It is true that there are biblical passages that seem to suggest that man cannot see God (Exodus 33:20; John 1:18; 6:46; Colossians 1:15); but the correct rule of biblical exegesis is that we take everything that the Bible has said on a given subject, to interpret the doctrine correctly; not to take a few isolated passages, and ignore the rest. When the greater number of Bible verses suggest that man can see God; and a few isolated passages seem to suggest the opposite; we go by the first, and use that to correctly interpret the few isolated passages that appear to say something different. What those other passages indicate is that it is carnal, sinful, natural man that cannot see God; not those who have been sanctified, purified, and made holy, like Abraham, Moses, and many others.
And you can’t do theology with philosophy. That is impossible. It is a self-contradiction. Theology is the knowledge of God; and you can’t know God, or understand anything about God, by “philosophy”. We can only know God, or know about God, to the extent that he has chosen to reveal himself to us in scripture. God either reveals himself, or he remains unknown. Philosophy can provide us with zero information about God, zilch, none! His obsession with philosophy is leading him far astray!
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