Did Paul see God?

1 Timothy 6:16 Speaking of God, he say, "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 honor and power everlasting. Amen."

Is he talking about the light, or is he saying no man can see God? If he is saying the latter, it seems strange because Paul's whole conversion story is about how he saw God! Ideas please!

In the few days since I have posted this, I have done much searching though the Bible and it seems many, many people have seen God, they've talked with Him face to face, they have wrestled with Him, they have been taken to heaven to see Him, they have had visions of Him. Most of all, hundreds saw the risen, resurrected Lord. I have come to the conclusion that 1 Timothy 6:16 is a poor translation - probably changed to fit the needs of the Nicene creed in the 4th Century. It is wrong.

John said:

John !: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.

Jhn 5:37 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.

Paul saw Jesus, We know that no man has seen the Father, Jesus tells us that. It is my belief it was Jesus who talked to Adam, who wrestled with Jacob, who talked to Moses and on and on

YHWH is the name of God not the name of the Father it is the name of our triune God the name of the trinity or YHWH the Father, YHWH the son, YHWH the Holy Spirit

We have seen and heard God the Son

Thats how I look at it

Click to expand...

Very good point! I failed to think about the distinction between the Father and Jesus. Yes, I think you are right that basically ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, the God that has dealt with the human race has been Jesus. Jehovah as the premortal, and Jesus in the flesh and resurrection. Thanks for your insight!

clark thompson said:

Paul did not see God but the light that came from His glory. Man in His flesh can not bear to see God.

Click to expand...

This statement is not in line with the fact that many people did see God, or more specifically Jesus. Jesus lived on earth for 33 years and everyone bore his presence just fine. You may say, well, he was mortal so it was okay. Then I ask you to remember that Jesus returned as an immortal, glorified, resurrected being and showed himself to mankind. It seems very clear that mankind in the flesh can see God. Otherwise, one might be thinking of a God that is so powerful, but he cant manage to visit his creations?

As far as Paul seeing just a light, the scriptures are unclear on that. Matter of factly, the two accounts that we have of that story in Acts contradict each other enough to give us no confidence in the details. One version tells us they saw a light but did not hear the voice. The other tells us they heard the voice but did not see the light. Either way, that appears to be making reference to the people that were with Paul, not to Paul himself. I'll let you look up those stories in Acts and compare, but in Acts 9: 27 we find this: "But Barnabas took [Paul], and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had SEEN THE LORD in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus." (Emphasis added)
This clearly says Paul saw the Lord. It doesnt say he saw a light, or heard a voice from yonder. It plainly says he saw Jesus.

I think John in his post above makes a good point that Paul may have been speaking of the Father and that up to the point that Paul wrote his letters, maybe no one had seen the Father. They had heard his voice, but not actually seen him, as Jesus is the Mediator between us and him.