JOHN 1:18 : Wala Pa Ba Talagang Nakakita Kay Heavenly Father?

 

By Bro. Nathan 

“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (Jn. 1:18) ESV

Sa theme ng passage na ito sa prolouge ng Gospel ni Apostle John, gusto niya dito i-point out na si Jesus Christ, bilang ang "Word" sa John 1:1—was sent para ituro sa atin kung Sino ba si Heavenly Father. kumbaga nagbigay si John dito ng ilang clues kung bakit niya ginamit ang word na "Word" o sa Greek ay λόγος (logos) which is properly translated as "self expression. Jesus being the Word, Siya ay ang self expression ni Heavenly Father, na through Him ay ineexpress Niya ang Kanyang sarili to humanity—making interssection between sa atin at Kay Heavenly Father (cf Jn. 14:6; 1 Tim. 2:5-6). 

However, ilang critics ng Church ay sinasabi na hindi totoo yung first vision dahil sinasabi daw ng verse na "no one seen God at anytime". We know for ourselves na in other parts ng Bible ay may accounts ng mga individuals na nakakita sa Diyos, for example/e.g, si Moses through his faith— saw God, who is invisible, and saw him face to face (Heb. 11:27; Ex. 33:11; Dt. 34:10) at si Stephen, who had the same vision with Joseph Smith—who saw both the Father and the Son (Acts 7:55). Back to John 1:18, Ang passage ba na ito truly says na wala pang nakakita/nakakakita sa Dios? Or simply niliteral mo lang without going any further? first, ang Greek ng Jn. 1:18 reads :

Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακεν πώποτε· μονογενὴς θεὸς ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο. (Nestle-Aland 28)

Ang Greek word translated as "see" sa context ng Jn. 1:18 ay εώρακεν (eōraken) which has a rich meaning. ang Greek word na ito can also mean "to perceive" or "to understand". In the context however ay ito ay about sa understanding—thats why sa following sentences ay nagpapakita ang Greek word na εσεγεσατο (esegesato) which means "to explain" or "to reveal"—na kung saan ay dito nanggaling ang term natin ngayon na "exegesis". In that light, John 1:18 can be understood to mean that men have not fully “seen” or understood God. Therefore, Jesus Christ came as God’s messenger to “declare” or reveal to men what God the Father is like. This is a theme throughout the Gospel of John (Jn. 1:1, 14; 8:19; 14:7–9; 1 Jn. 2:23). Maging mga Non-Latter Day Saint (non-Mormon) scholars say its on the context of understanding God at hindi seeing Him! Adam Clarke commented :

No man hath seen God at any time - Moses and others heard his voice, and saw the cloud and the fire, which were the symbols of his presence; but such a manifestation of God as had now taken place, in the person of Jesus Christ, had never before been exhibited to the world. It is likely that the word seen, here, is put for known, as in John 3:32; 1 John 3:2, 1 John 3:6, and 3 John 1:11; and this sense the latter clause of the verse seems to require: - No man, how highly soever favored, hath fully known God, at any time, in any nation or age; the only begotten Son, (see on John 1:14; (note)), who is in the bosom of the Father, who was intimately acquainted with all the counsels of the Most High, he hath declared him, εξηγησατο, hath announced the Divine oracles unto men; for in 

this sense the word is used by the best Greek writers. (Adam Clarke Commentary on Jn. 1:18)

Sa isang book ng isang Catholic na meant to defend Trinitarianism, sinabi niya dito na people can see God in a limited way—which comments :

Surely it is not possible for us to comprehend the nature of God. Consequently, the Bible speaks of our inability to “see” God (e.g., John 1:18; 1 Tim. 6:16). On the other hand, some individuals are privileged to “see” God, at least in a “dark cloud” or by way of some visible appearance that God may temporarily assume, sometimes called a theophany. To complicate matters further, our heavenly hope is to “see God” (Matt. 5:8). If we seek to harmonize these various ideas, we are pushed to grant that, in some meaningful sense, humans have been given insight into God’s nature but that this insight must be qualified as far short of a full grasp of the infinite God. Our hope is that the limited knowledge we now have of God will be far surpassed in the life to come. In light of these distinctions, it is possible to say some men have “seen” (i.e., partial insight) God but, at the same time, none have “seen” (i.e., full comprehension) God. (Mark A. McNeil, All in the Name: How the Bible Led Me to Faith in the Trinity and the Catholic Church [El Cajon, Calif.: Catholic Answers Press, 2018], 42-43, italics in original)

Sinabi ng isang Calvinistic Theologian na si Matthew Poole :

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.

No man hath seen God at any time; no man hath at any time seen the essence of God with his eyes, John iv. 24; nor with the eyes of his mind understood the whole counsel and will of God, Matt. xi. 27; Rom. xi. 34. Moses indeed saw the image and representation of God., and had a more familiar converse with God than others; upon which account he is said to have talked with God face to face; Numb. xii, 7. 8. God saith he would speak unto him mouth to mouth, even apparently; but he tells us how in the same verse, and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold; and God, who had spoken to the same sense, Exod. xxxiii. 11, saith verse 20, Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live. Now to whom he did not discover his face, he certainly did not discover all his secret counsels. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father; but he who is the only begotten and beloved Son, hath such an intimate communion with him in his nature, and such a free communication of all his counsels, as it may be said, he is continually in his bosom. He hath declared him; hath declared him, not only as a prophet declareth the mind and will of God, but as the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy-work, Psal. xix. 1; being the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person, Heb. i.3. So as the Father can only be seen in his Son; nor is so full a revelation of the Father’s will to be expected from any, as from the Son. (Matthew Poole, A Commentary on the Holy Bible, volume 3: The New Testament [1685; repr., Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1963, 1990], 280, emphasis in bold added)

Sa isang parallel sa Jn. 1:18, in 1 Jn. 4:12 reads :

“No one has seen [θεαομαι] God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.” (1 Jn. 4:12) NKJV 

Wherein, ang Greek word translated sa verse na ito ay θεάομαι (Theaomai), samantalang ang Greek word sa Jn. 1:18 ay εωρακεν. Ang θεάομαι however ay hindi lang Basta bastang "seeing". Ang Greek word means " to behold, view attentively, contemplate, indicating the sense of a wondering regard involving a careful and deliberate vision which interpets its object. It involves more than merely seeing (Mt. 6:1; 11:7; 22:11; 23:5; Mk. 16:11, 14; Lk. 5:27; 7:24; 23:55; Jn. 1:14, 32, 38; 4:35; 6:5; 8:10; 11:45; Acts 1:11; 8:18; 21:27; 22:9; Rom. 15:24; 1 Jn. 1:1; 4:12, 14). (Spiros Zodhiates, Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible [Chattanooga, Tenn.: AMG Publishers, 1984, 1990], 1839). Sa kanilang Book, The Vocabulary Of The Greek New Testament, Louw and Nida commented :

θεάομαι

The deeper meaning, involving moral and spiritual perception, which underlies the use of this verb in such a passage as Joh 1:14, may be illustrated from P Par 51.38 B.C. 160), where the recipient of a “vision” in the temple of Serapis at Memphis writesτὸ ὅραμα τοῦτο τεθήαμαι : cf, Syll 324.20 (i/B.C.) αἰφνίδιον σ(υ)μφορὰν θεασάμενος. The thought of attentive, careful regard, as in Mat 11:7, appears in the account of the death of a slave from leaning out of a bed-chamber (?) θεάσασθαι τὰς [κρο]ταλιστρίδας, “to behold the castanet-players” (P Oxy III. 475.24A.D. 182). But in other passages the verb cannot denote more than ordinary seeing with the eyes, as when a woman writes to her mother ἀσπάζομαί σε, μῆτερ, διὰ τῶν γραμμάτων τούτων ἐπιθυμοῦσα ἤδη θεάσασθαι (P Oxy VI. 963ii/iii A.D.), or as when a woman who has quarrelled with her husband and has appealed to the tribunal, regrets that she has had anything to do with him from the firstεἴθε μὴ τεθέαμαι αὐτόν, εἴθε μὴ συνήφθ[ην α]ὐτῷ ἐξ ἀρχῆς (PSI I. 41.19iv/A.D.). So in one of the scribblings on the walls of the royal tombs at Thebes a visitor writes . . . θεασαμένη . . . (Preisigke 1800). It may be noted that the Attic θεάομαι is modelled upon θέα, “sight” : the Ionic θηέομαι points to an original *θᾱϝέομαι.

Cognate: G2300, G2334, G2529, G3705, G3706, G3707, G3708, G4308, G517 (Louw-Nida : The Vocabulary Of The Greek New Testament) 

In conclusion, ang understanding ng most Anti-mormons sa Jn. 1:18 para sabihin na wala pang nakakita sa Diyos, therefore mali ang first vision at divine embodiment—is merely eisegetical at hindi exegetical.

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