An Exhaustive Transcription of Finis Dake’s Teachings on the Nature of God

The following is a greatly expanded and detailed compilation of direct quotations from Dake’s writings. It is organized to thoroughly document his specific theological positions on the corporeality of God, the Trinity, divine attributes, and biblical interpretation.

I. The Doctrine of a Corporeal God: A Physical Being

Dake’s theology is fundamentally centered on the belief that God the Father possesses a tangible, physical body with human-like characteristics. This section details the substance, form, size, parts, and actions he ascribes to God.

A. The Necessity and Substance of God’s Body

“The Bible declares that God has a body, shape, image, likeness, bodily parts, a personal soul and spirit, and all other things that constitute a being or a person with a body, soul, and spirit.”

“If, as some teach, God is a mouthless, bodiless being where would His words come from? If from something that does not exist, it is a miracle indeed. Common sense, as well as Scripture demands us to believe in a real God with body, soul, and spirit as other beings have, though not necessarily a flesh and blood body. Spirit bodies are just as real and tangible with bodily parts as ours.”

“He is a person with a personal spirit body, a personal soul, and a personal spirit, like that of angels, and like that of man except His body is of spirit substance instead of flesh and bones (Job 13:8; Heb. 1:3).”

“God can have a spirit-substance body and still be as magnificent as we have always thought Him to be.”

B. God’s Human-like Form, Image, and Size

“God’s body is like that of a man, for man was created in His likeness and His image bodily (Gen. 1:26, notes; also note r, Jn. 4:24).”

“The Greek word for shape in John 5:37 is eidos, meaning form, appearance, shape, fashion, or sight, and refers to outward form or what can be seen with the eyes…”

“Moses declared that man was made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27; 9:6). The Hebrew word for image is tselem, meaning shape, shadow, resemblance, figure, bodily form… The Hebrew word for likeness is demowth, meaning model, shape, fashion, similitude, and bodily resemblance… They refer to bodily form and shape.”

“Here again He is pictured as an ordinary sized being in the midst of all His subjects on the right hand and on the left.”

C. Exhaustive Catalogue of God’s Bodily Parts and Actions

Physical Parts Attributed to God:

• Back Parts (Ex. 33:23)
• Heart (Gen. 6:6; 8:21)
• Hands and Fingers (Ps. 8:3-6; Ex. 31:18; Rev. 5:1-7)
• Mouth, Lips and Tongue (Num. 12:8; Isa. 30:27)
• Feet (Ezek. 1:27; Ex. 24:10)
• Eyes and Ears (Ps. 11:4; Ps. 18:6)
• Hair, Head, Face, Arms (Dan. 7:9-14; Rev. 5:1-7)
• Loins (Ezek. 1:26-28; 8:1-4)
• Voice, Breath, and Countenance (Ps. 29; Gen. 2:7; Ps. 11:7)

Physical Actions and Needs Attributed to God:

• He wears clothes (Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-19)
• He eats food (Gen. 18:1-8; Ex. 24:11)
• God and angels eat even in heaven, so why not on earth? (Ps. 78:25; Lk. 22:16, 18, 30…) What could this mean other than what it says?
• He rests (Gen. 2:1-4; Heb. 4:4)
• He dwells in a mansion and in a city located on a material planet called Heaven (Jn. 14:1-3; Heb. 11:10-16)
• He sits on a throne (Isa. 6; Dan. 7:9-14)
• He walks (Gen. 3:8; 18:1-8, 22, 33)
• He rides upon cherubs (Ps. 18:10; 68:17)

II. Redefining God’s Core Attributes to Fit a Physical Framework

To maintain his doctrine of a physical God, Dake systematically reinterprets traditional divine attributes, arguing against omnipresence of the body and defining invisibility as a matter of physical distance.

A. The Denial of “Omnibody” and Corporeal Limitation

“This plainly teaches that God, as well as men and angels, is limited to one place as far as the body is concerned. The doctrine of omnipresence of God can be proved, but not His omnibody.”

“He is omnipresent, but not omnibody.”

“In His body He goes from place to place like other persons (v 21; 11:5-9; 17:22; 18:33; 35:13; etc.). Abraham stood yet before the bodily presence of God, but not before the bodily presence of the 2 angels because they went to Sodom and were no longer bodily present (v 22; 19:1).”

B. Invisibility as Physical Distance or Choice

“Invisibility (1:15) Gr. aoratos. Trans. invisible… The word really means not visible, not in sight, unseen, concealed. Invisibility consists more of distance than substance. Cities or other material objects cannot be seen even 30 miles away. At this distance they are invisible. Objects concealed are invisible. Anything out of eyesight is invisible.”

“God, angels, and other spirit beings are thus invisible. They can appear or disappear at will. They have been seen with the natural eyes many times, proving that invisibility must be understood with them as with all other invisible things that can become visible.”

C. Counter-Argument: Solomon and the “Heaven of Heavens”

“What could Solomon mean by saying ‘the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him’? Would he want us to have the idea of his body, soul, and spirit being so large that they fill all space and matter? … the simple fact that God cannot be limited to the place called heaven. Surely the size of His body, soul, and spirit are not referred to, for he is of ordinary size as proved by the many personal appearances He has made to men.”

“It is plainly stated in many scriptures that the different members of the Divine Trinity will literally, visibly, and bodily dwell with men in eternity…”

III. The Trinity as Three Separate, Corporeal Beings

Dake’s view of the Trinity deviates sharply from orthodoxy, proposing three distinct beings united only in purpose, each possessing his own body, soul, and spirit.

“That God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct persons, each with a personal body, soul, and spirit?”

“If there are three separate persons, then all three would have to have a separate body, soul and spirit, as is true of any three persons we could use as an example.”

“The doctrine of interpenetration in Scripture, that is, persons entering into each other… It means in union with, consecration to the same end – one in mind, purpose, and life, not bodily entrance into. It may be best understood by a man and woman becoming one in life together, to be in each other’s plans, life, etc.”

A summary note in the provided images states: “Dake teaches that each of the three God’s has their own spirit, soul, and body. This body can only be in one place at a time (God has the same limitations as us) and can be touched. This includes the Holy Spirit and Father.”

IV. Hermeneutics: The Foundation of Absolute Literalism

The basis for Dake’s theology is a rigid hermeneutic that demands a literal interpretation of all passages describing God, rejecting any figurative or anthropomorphic understanding.

“Anthropomorphism is the ascription of human bodily parts, attributes, and passions to God, and taking the substantiating statements of Scripture to be literal, and not figurative.”

“In support of such teaching an appropriate question is: If God did not mean all He said about Himself in over 20,000 scriptures then why did He say such things? … why would God, in hundreds of places, refer to Himself as having bodily parts, soul passions, and spirit faculties if He does not have them?”

“Why not believe what God says about Himself in the same literal sense in which we understand the same kind of language when it is used of anyone else? Why not believe that God means what He says about Himself?”

In response to “No man hath seen God at any time” (Jn. 1:18), Dake argues it “…can only be understood to mean that no man has seen Him face to face in His glory and comprehended Him fully as ‘the only begotten Son’…”

V. Complete List of “63 Facts About God”

The following is a verbatim transcription of Dake’s list that mixes ontological attributes with physical parts and actions, presented as equal “facts.”