Anti-Mormon Claims
Anti-Mormon Claimsjohn 1:181 timothy 6:16first visiontheophany

No Man Hath Seen God at Any Time

John 1:18 and 1 Timothy 6:16 say no one has seen God. So the First Vision is impossible, right?

Bible

They quote this

Bible · John 1:18

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

NRSVUE

No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

Our explanation

Their First Vision killer. Same Bible: Moses, Jacob, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Stephen.

How we read it

John 1:18 sits in a book where people see the LORD, and where the Son makes Him known. No one sees the Father without mediation, transformation, or the Son’s revealing. It is not a claim that Moses, Isaiah, and Stephen were hallucinating.

The Bible answers

Bible · Exodus 33:11, 20

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version

And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend… Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

NRSVUE

Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend… you cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live.

Our explanation

Face to face — and ‘no man shall see me and live.’ Both are in the verse. Theophany is real and costly.

Bible · Acts 7:55–56

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version

He… saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.

NRSVUE

He gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Modern Revelation

Joseph Smith—History 1:17

I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!

Our explanation

The Father and the Son. Stephen already saw the Son at the Father’s right hand.

Faithful answers

FAIR

No man has seen God

FAIR Latter-day Saints

If John 1:18 is an absolute, Moses, Isaiah 6, and Stephen are all liars. They are not. The verse means we do not seize God; the Son reveals Him. Joseph did not storm heaven. He asked, and the Father introduced the Son — which is exactly John’s theology.

The Bible is full of people who saw God. The First Vision is in that company. The ban is on the unsanctified stare, not on grace.

  • JST and some ancient readings qualify John 1:18 with ‘except he hath borne record of the Son.’
  • Stephen already saw two. Joseph is not the first Christian to report that.
  • 1 Timothy 6:16 is doxology: God dwells in light. Joseph describes that light, not a contradiction of it.
Read the original

Suggested videos

Faithful voices only. Most of these are independent — not official Church productions unless marked as such.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Ask of God: Joseph Smith’s First Vision

Watch on YouTube

Further reading

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