Skeptics frequently point to an apparent contradiction regarding whether God can be seen. Verses like John 1:18, Exodus 33:20, and 1 Timothy 6:16 state that no man has seen God, nor can see His face and live. In contrast, verses like Genesis 32:30, Exodus 24:9-11, and Amos 9:1 describe individuals seeing God.

This is not a contradiction, but a paradox resolved by understanding the ways in which God manifests. Christianity teaches that God cannot be seen by men in His transcendent essence, but God can be seen in theophanies—manifestations of the pre-incarnate Word (the Son)—or the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 17:1 and 26:2: It is the pre-incarnate Word who appears before Abraham and Isaac, revealing God to them.

Genesis 32:30: Jacob states he has seen God face to face. The Hebrew term 'face' has an idiomatic twist which refers to awareness and direct knowledge of presence, without the help or hindrance of a mediator. Jacob clearly knows that the fact his life was preserved is something unexpected, presupposing the knowledge that God in His unshielded essence cannot be seen.

Exodus 24:9-11: The Hebrew word for 'see' here is chazah, which has the connotation of gazing at with mental perception, or having a vision.

Exodus 33:18-23: Moses asks to see God's glory (His uncreated energies). The Hebrew word used here is ra'ah, which carries a simpler connotation of seeing and discerning by sight, or establishing awareness without establishing the means whereby awareness is made. No one has seen God's face in the idiomatic sense of His incomprehensible essence.

Amos 9:1: Once again, it is a theophany of the Word that is seen.

John 1:18 / 1 Timothy 6:16: The New Testament maintains the dichotomy. The Greek word horao (to see or understand) is used. The One who dwells in unapproachable light refers to the invisible divine essence of God.

John 14:7: Here, 'seeing' God is equated with knowing Jesus. Jesus declares oneness in essence with the Father, which is not the same as saying that people are seeing God's literal, unshielded essence.