Bible Question: Does God have wings since angels have wings? Or does He not need them? |
Bible Answer: MoreThanUseless: Does God have wings. Yes, the Bible does picture God as having wings in several passages, e.g. Ruth 2:12, Ps. 36:7 and Ps. 57:1, but we must never give a literal spin on verses that figuratively describe God in humanlike (anthropomorphic) terms. .... The Bible never intended to convey the notion that God has physcial features like His human or animal creation -- in spite of what Kenneth Copeland teaches about God: that He is about 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs in the neighborhood of 200 pounds. ..... John Calvin said that God talks to us in baby talk, and anthropomorphic descriptions were part of that baby talk meant to help us understand and relate to our Maker. Jesus taught that "God is spirit" (John 4:24). God is not a spirit-being with a body (cf. Deut. 4:12). God is God and not a man (see Hosea 11:9). ...... God is anthromorphised in a number of ways in various passages of Scripture. In Exodus 33:24, for example, God himself speaks of His hand, back, and face. In Ezekiel 16:8, God uses the descriptive term, "I spread my wing over you." Is God anthropomorphising Himself in this way so that Jersalem will think He is a chicken? No, He is clothing His language in human terms so that human beings will be able better to understand Him and His message. A wise mother would not think of speaking to her toddler in a complex speech pattern or using an advanced vocabulary that she might use in speaking to an educated adult. She speaks to her toddler in language that he is capable of understanding. She talks to him in baby talk. And that, as Calvin has said, is how God talks to His children. --Hank |