Short answer
He cannot be, if the Bible is right about God (﷾). John's Gospel says no man has seen God (﷾) at any time. John's first letter says it again. The first letter to Timothy calls God the one whom no man has seen or can see. God (﷾) told Moses that no man may see His face and live. Yet crowds saw Jesus, and his disciples touched him. So the one they saw was not God. Jesus himself told his hearers that they had never heard the Father's voice or seen his shape. Christians reply with "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father". But the next verse explains: the Father in him does the works. Islam's answer is the Qur'an's: when Moses asked to see his Lord, Allah (﷾) told him he could not.
Full explanation
The verses Christians rely on
Christians answer first from John 14:9. There Jesus tells Philip, one of his disciples, that whoever has seen him has seen the Father. They also read Colossians 1:15, a verse in the New Testament letter to the Colossians. It calls Jesus the image of the invisible God (﷾). Christians take this to mean that the unseen God became visible in the Son.
“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”
“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”
What the Bible says about seeing God (﷾)
Now look at what the Bible itself says. John's Gospel and John's first letter both say that no man has seen God (﷾) at any time. The first letter to Timothy says no man has seen God (﷾) or can see Him. When Moses asked to see God's (﷾) glory, God (﷾) told him that no man may see His face and live. None of these verses limits the rule to the Father, or to the time before Jesus.
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
“No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”
“Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”
“And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”
Jesus was seen, heard and touched
Yet Jesus was seen, heard and touched. The letter that says no man has seen God (﷾) opens by saying its writers saw the Word of life with their eyes. It says they handled it with their hands. Jesus told a crowd that was looking at him that they had never heard the Father's voice or seen his shape. At Sinai, the mountain where God (﷾) gave the Law, Moses reminded Israel that they heard God's (﷾) voice but saw no form at all.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;”
“No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”
“And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.”
“And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.”
| Question | What the Bible says of God (﷾) | What the Bible says of Jesus |
|---|---|---|
| Has anyone seen him? | No. “No man hath seen God at any time” (John 1:18). | Yes. Crowds saw him. |
| Can anyone see him? | No. He is the one “whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). | Yes. His followers wrote that they saw the Word of life, whom Christians take to be Jesus, “with our eyes”, and that “our hands have handled” him (1 John 1:1). |
If the one people saw was God, then men have seen God (﷾), and John 1:18 is wrong. The Qur'an says no vision can grasp Allah (﷾).
The Bible answers the question two ways
Exodus says the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Nine verses later God (﷾) tells the same Moses that no man may see His face and live. Jacob says he saw God (﷾) face to face and lived. Exodus says Moses, Aaron, Aaron's two sons and seventy elders (Israel's leaders) "saw the God of Israel" and ate and drank. John says no man has seen God (﷾) at any time. Taken at its word, the Bible says yes and no to the same question. The Qur'an gives one answer: no one sees Allah (﷾) in this world.
“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.”
“And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”
“And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
“Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.”
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
What the Qur'an says
When Moses asked to look upon his Lord, Allah (﷾) told him he could not. He showed His glory to the mountain instead, and it crumbled to dust. The Qur'an says no vision can grasp Him. It also says Allah (﷾) speaks to a human being only by inspiration, from behind a veil, or through a messenger. The Qur'an says that on the Day of Judgement some faces will be "looking towards their Lord". That sight belongs to the next life, not to this world. No one in this world has seen Him, and no man who walked among men was Him.
“When Moses came to the place appointed by Us, and his Lord addressed him, He said: "O my Lord! show (Thyself) to me, that I may look upon thee." Allah said: "By no means canst thou see Me (direct); But look upon the mount; if it abide in its place, then shalt thou see Me." When his Lord manifested His glory on the Mount, He made it as dust. And Moses fell down in a swoon. When he recovered his senses he said: "Glory be to Thee! to Thee I turn in repentance, and I am the first to believe."”
“No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things.”
“It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by the sending of a messenger to reveal, with Allah's permission, what Allah wills: for He is Most High, Most Wise.”
“Some faces, that Day, will beam (in brightness and beauty);- Looking towards their Lord;”
Verse by verse
John 14:9 — Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 9
“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”
Cited for
Jesus says that whoever has seen him has seen the Father, so to see Jesus is to see God.
The response
The next verse gives his meaning. The words he speaks are not his own, and it is the Father dwelling in him who does the works. The Father is known by what He does through Jesus. He is not seen in Jesus' body. Earlier in the same Gospel, Jesus tells a crowd that is looking at him that they have never seen the Father's shape.
Where it lands — Read as eyesight, John 14:9 would contradict John 1:18 and John 5:37 in the same Gospel. Read with verse 10, it means the Father is known through His works.
John 1:18 — Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 18
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
Cited for
The verse itself says the only begotten Son has declared the Father. The unseen God is made known by the Son, who is also God.
The response
To declare someone is to make him known, as every prophet did. The verse still says that no man has seen God (﷾) at any time. If the Son is God and crowds saw him, then men have seen God (﷾). Then the first half of the verse is false. Some early manuscripts read "the only begotten God" here. Even on that reading, the verse still says no man has seen God (﷾) at any time, and crowds saw Jesus.
Where it lands — Whichever reading is taken, the verse says no man has seen God (﷾), and men saw Jesus.
John 6:46 — Gospel of John, chapter 6, verse 46
“Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.”
Cited for
John means that no one has seen the Father. The God whom Jacob and the elders of Israel saw was the Son before he became man.
The response
In Exodus 33 the Lord speaks with Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Christians who say the God (﷾) men saw was the Son must take this speaker to be the Son. Yet the same speaker tells the same Moses, nine verses later, that no man may see His face and live. The first letter to Timothy also calls the unseen One the one "who only hath immortality". And Christians say Jesus died.
Where it lands — Moving the unseen God (﷾) onto the Father alone makes the Son say of himself that no man may see his face and live.
Colossians 1:15 — Epistle to the Colossians, chapter 1, verse 15
“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”
Cited for
Colossians calls Jesus the image of the invisible God: the unseen God made visible.
The response
An image is not the one it shows. The same verse calls him "the firstborn of every creature". Genesis says God made man in His own image, and no one takes Adam to be God.
Where it lands — Bearing the image of God (﷾) does not make anyone God, and the verse itself calls the invisible God (﷾) someone other than his image.
John 1:18 — Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 18
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
Cited for
The disciples saw the human nature of Christ. His divine nature stayed invisible, so John 1:18 still holds.
The response
A nature is not seen or unseen by itself. A person is. The creeds say the one person in Christ is God the Son, "not parted or divided into two persons". If that person was seen, God (﷾) was seen and John 1:18 fails. If only a man was seen, then the one the disciples saw and handled was a man.
Where it lands — Moving the question from the person to a nature does not answer it. By the creed, the one who was seen is the only "he" there is.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
God the Father is invisible. The Son makes Him known, and in Jesus the invisible God was seen in human flesh.
John 1:18 goes on to say that the only begotten Son has declared the Father. Christians read this as the Son making the unseen God known.
Rebuttal
To declare someone is to make him known, as every prophet did. Some early manuscripts read "the only begotten God" here. Either way, the verse says no man has seen God (﷾) at any time, and crowds saw Jesus.
Christians read John 14:9, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father". They take it to mean that to see Jesus is to see God.
Rebuttal
The next verse gives his meaning: the words are not his own, and the Father in him does the works. The Father is known by His works. Jesus also told a crowd looking at him that they had never seen the Father's shape.
Christians hold that the Son, being God, became visible when he took on human flesh.
Rebuttal
The creeds say Christ is one person, God the Son. If that person was seen, men have seen God (﷾), and John 1:18 fails. And an image is not the one it shows: Genesis says man too was made in God's (﷾) image.
The Islamic perspective
No one has seen God (﷾) in this world. Jesus was seen, heard and touched by crowds, so he was a man and a messenger of God (﷾), not God.
John's Gospel, John's first letter and the first letter to Timothy all say that no man has seen God (﷾).
God (﷾) told Moses that no man may see His face and live.
The writers of 1 John say they saw and handled the Word of life, whom Christians take to be Jesus.
Jesus spoke to his hearers while they were looking at him. He told them they had never heard the Father's voice or seen his shape.
If the one the disciples saw was God, then men have seen God (﷾) and John 1:18 is false. If only a man was seen, then the one they saw was a man.
The Qur'an teaches that Allah (﷾) cannot be seen in this world, as He told Moses at the mountain.