The short answer
John 1:18 says no one has seen God and points to the Son as the one who reveals Him. John 6:46 singles out the Son as having seen the Father. Exodus and Acts also describe encounters God grants. Latter-day Saints read the First Vision as such a vision, given by the Father to bear witness of Jesus Christ.
Three passages to compare
- John 1 and 6. Take John’s exclusive language seriously. Ask how the Son’s unique access relates to what the Son can reveal to others. Read John in context
- Exodus 24 and 33. The elders see God in one passage. In the other, God grants Moses a particular view while withholding His face. Compare the biblical encounters
- The First Vision. Joseph says the Father introduced the Son. The Joseph Smith Translation reads John 1:18 in light of that kind of witness. Read the Latter-day Saint interpretation
What John says about seeing the Father
John 1:18 says, “No man hath seen God at any time,” then says the only begotten Son has declared Him. John 6:46 is more specific. In a discourse about coming from heaven and drawing people to the Father, Jesus singles out the one who is from God as having seen the Father. Matt Slick and PMI Center for Biblical Studies cite this as evidence that Joseph could not have seen the Father. Any answer has to preserve the Son’s unique relationship to the Father. John 1:14–18 · John 6:38–46 · Matt Slick, Preguntas a los Mormones · PMI Center for Biblical Studies
In John 14, Philip asks Jesus to show him the Father. Jesus says that seeing Him is seeing the Father, then points to their relationship and the Father’s works in Him. This is a way of seeing the Father through the Son’s revelation. The passage does not say that Philip looked directly at the Father. Matthew 11:27 likewise distinguishes the Son’s unique knowledge of the Father from what He reveals to others. It speaks of knowledge, so it supports the distinction without deciding which visions are possible. John 14:7–11 · Matthew 11:27
What Exodus and Acts report
Exodus 24 says Moses, Aaron, and the elders saw the God of Israel and survived. Exodus 33 says the Lord spoke with Moses face to face as a friend, then describes a more specific request to see His glory. God shields Moses as He passes and says Moses may see His back but cannot see His face. Read together, the scenes distinguish intimate speech, a granted encounter, and the sight Moses was denied. Exodus 24 leaves the precise nature of what the elders saw open. Exodus 24:9–11 · Exodus 33:11, 18–23
Pioneer Christadelphians also cites 1 Timothy 6:16 and 1 John 4:12. First Timothy describes the divine sovereign dwelling in unapproachable light and says no one has seen or can see Him. First John repeats that no one has seen God, then says God dwells in us when we love each other. 1 Timothy 6:13–16 · 1 John 4:12–16 · Pioneer Christadelphians
Acts says Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, saw the glory of God and Jesus at God’s right hand. Acts describes a granted vision and distinguishes Jesus from the one at whose right hand He stands. Its wording describes God’s glory without specifying what Stephen saw of God’s face. Acts 7:55–56
How Irenaeus read these passages
Irenaeus distinguished God’s incomprehensible glory from what God enables people to see. He describes the prophets seeing through the Spirit, people coming to know the Father through the Son, and a fuller encounter in the kingdom of heaven. He also distinguishes prophetic visions from a direct view of the Father’s face. His reading shows why Christians can affirm biblical visions and still disagree with a Latter-day Saint about what Joseph saw. Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV.20.5–7, 10–11
How Latter-day Saints read the First Vision
Latter-day Saints believe the Father and the Son actually appeared to Joseph. In his canonized account, the Father introduces the Son and tells Joseph to hear Him. Doctrine and Covenants 67:10–12 describes the Spirit enabling a person to see God. Joseph Smith’s revision of John 1:18, printed as JST John 1:19, adds an exception that the Church’s scripture helps read as the Father bearing record of the Son. The biblical comparison stands on the published biblical texts. The JST adds Joseph’s interpretation for readers weighing the Latter-day Saint claim. Joseph Smith—History 1:16–17 · Doctrine and Covenants 67:10–12 · JST John 1:19 · Church scripture helps, John 1
On this reading, John 6:46 speaks about Christ’s unique access to the Father in the context of His coming from heaven. The Father can still grant a vision to bear witness of the Son. Reading John this way is an interpretation, and its exclusive wording gives the objection real force. Whether the 1820 vision happened is a separate historical question. Compare the First Vision accounts · Read the related priesthood objection
A Latter-day Saint response
“I take John’s wording seriously, especially John 6:46. Christ has a unique relationship to the Father and reveals Him to us. Exodus also distinguishes what God lets Moses see from what He withholds, and Stephen describes a vision given through the Holy Ghost. I believe Joseph saw the Father in a vision God granted, and the Father’s message was to hear His Son. Which part of John’s teaching rules out that kind of revelation?”
