Finis Dake’s teaching that God possesses a physical body represents one of the most significant departures from orthodox Christianity in modern evangelical history. Contemporary scholarship universally condemns this doctrine as heretical tritheism that fundamentally contradicts both biblical revelation and two millennia of Christian theological development. Dake’s anthropomorphic literalism has influenced charismatic movements while being decisively rejected by mainstream Pentecostal denominations, evangelical institutions, and biblical scholars who recognize its profound theological dangers.

Dake explicitly taught that God has a “personal spirit body, shape, form, image and likeness of a man, bodily parts such as, back parts, heart, hands and fingers, mouth, lips and tongue, feet, eyes, hair, head, face, arms, loins, and other bodily parts.” He insisted that God “goes from place to place like other persons” and “dwells in a mansion and in a city located on a material planet called heaven.”

This teaching creates insurmountable contradictions with essential divine attributes while transforming the Trinity into three separate embodied gods rather than one God in three persons.

Scripture Clearly Declares God’s Spiritual Nature

Scripture clearly declares God’s spiritual nature through direct theological statements. Jesus definitively declared in John 4:24 that “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” This foundational text establishes God’s non-physical, spiritual essence and emphasizes His transcendence beyond material limitations.

Numbers 23:19 reinforces this distinction: “God is not man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.”

Hosea 11:9 emphatically states “I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you.”

These passages establish God’s fundamental difference from human physicality. The resurrection account in Luke 24:39 provides crucial interpretive guidance when Jesus, in His incarnate physical body, states “a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” This distinguished His unique incarnate form from God’s essential spiritual nature. Additional passages demonstrate God’s omnipresence (Jeremiah 23:23-24), immutability (Malachi 3:6), and transcendence beyond physical containment (1 Kings 8:27).

Biblical Anthropomorphisms Serve Metaphorical Purposes

Biblical anthropomorphisms serve metaphorical, not literal purposes. When Scripture references God’s “hands,” “eyes,” or “face,” these describe God’s actions and attributes through human language accessible to finite minds.

• God’s “hand” represents His power and action
• His “eyes” represent omniscience and watchful care
• His “face” represents presence and favor

Church fathers like Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Augustine understood these descriptions as divine accommodation to human understanding, not literal physical descriptions.

Dake’s Critical Interpretive Errors

Dake’s critical interpretive error involves misunderstanding key biblical passages that use visionary or theophanic language. His literal interpretation of Genesis 1:26-27 (“image of God”) ignores scholarly consensus that this refers to spiritual attributes like rationality, morality, and relational capacity—not physical resemblance.

Similarly, his reading of Daniel 7:9-14 and Ezekiel 1:26-28 fails to recognize apocalyptic vision literature that uses symbolic imagery to convey spiritual truths about God’s authority. These theophanies represent temporary manifestations for specific communicative purposes, distinct from God’s eternal spiritual essence.

Historical Creeds and Confessions

Historical creeds and confessions explicitly affirm God’s spiritual nature. The Westminster Confession provides the most precise doctrinal statement:

“There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal.”

This confession systematically enumerates God’s incorporeal attributes while explicitly rejecting any physical composition. The Athanasian Creed emphasizes divine attributes that transcend material limitations: “The Father is uncreated, immeasurable, eternal.”

Early Church Father Teachings

Early church fathers consistently taught God’s incorporeal nature through theological precision and pastoral concern:

These theologians developed sophisticated frameworks for understanding divine attributes while rejecting anthropomorphic literalism.

Historical Condemnation of Anthropomorphism

The church historically condemned anthropomorphic physicalism as heresy. In 399 AD, Bishop Theophilus of Alexandria condemned Anthropomorphite doctrine, leading to widespread controversy among Egyptian monks who had interpreted biblical descriptions literally.

• Church fathers like Cyril of Alexandria composed refutations attributing this error to “extreme ignorance”
• Jerome dismissed such teaching as “absolutely senseless”
• Augustine argued it results from “carnal thought” that improperly “imagines God in the image of corruptible man”

Tritheism Instead of Trinity

Dake’s teaching leads inevitably to tritheism rather than orthodox Trinity. While using Trinitarian terminology, Dake redefined the doctrine:

“What we mean by Divine Trinity is that there are three separate and distinct persons in the Godhead, each one having His own personal spirit body, personal soul, and personal spirit.”

This constitutes three separate gods united only in purpose, not the orthodox understanding of one God existing in three persons. Systematic theology demonstrates that multiple infinite, perfect beings cannot exist, as they would necessarily differ and therefore lack something the others possess.

The Omnipresence Problem

Divine omnipresence becomes philosophically impossible under Dake’s system. He explicitly taught:

“Spirit-beings, including God Himself, cannot be omnipresent in body, for their bodies are of ordinary size and must be at one place at a time.”

This directly contradicts biblical passages declaring God’s universal presence (Psalm 139:7-12, Acts 17:27-28) and creates logical contradictions with God’s role as Creator and Sustainer of the universe.

Violation of Immutability and Simplicity

Physical embodiment violates divine immutability and simplicity. Bodies involve composition, change, and temporal existence, contradicting God’s unchangeable nature (Malachi 3:6, James 1:17).

• If God possesses parts, this presupposes another composer, since beings cannot compose themselves
• Divine simplicity maintains that God’s existence is identical to His essence—He doesn’t have goodness but is goodness
• Physical composition destroys this theological foundation, making God dependent on something outside Himself

Dake’s theology creates an infinity contradiction since bodies are inherently finite, limited to specific locations and subject to spatial constraints. An infinite body represents a logical impossibility.

Pentecostal Denominational Rejection

Major Pentecostal denominations explicitly reject Dake’s doctrine. The Assemblies of God removed Dake’s ordination credentials in 1937, with General Secretary George Wood stating:

“His opinions are in direct conflict with our statement of fundamental truth.”

Despite Dake’s historical influence in Pentecostal circles, denominational leadership has consistently maintained distance from his theological positions, recognizing their incompatibility with orthodox Christianity.

Scholarly Theological Refutations

Leading evangelical scholars have provided comprehensive theological refutations of Dake’s system:

Apologetic Organizations’ Response

Apologetic organizations have developed extensive resources addressing Dake’s errors. The Christian Research Institute produced comprehensive materials showing the logical contradictions in divine corporeality:

• If God has a body composed of parts, He must have been composed by another being greater than Himself
• Bodies exist in space and time, but God created both and must exist apart from them
• Contemporary evangelical systematic theologies universally affirm God’s incorporeality as fundamental to orthodox doctrine

Serious Pastoral Problems

Dake’s teaching creates serious pastoral problems in contemporary churches:

• Pastors report that members become “arrogant and unteachable” when committed to Dake’s system
• Leading to congregational discord and family divisions
• The teaching affects spiritual formation by creating false understanding of God’s nature
• Hindering proper worship and prayer
• Makes Christianity appear cultish to non-believers
• Creates evangelistic obstacles

Connection to Word-Faith Movement Errors

The connection to Word-Faith movement errors demonstrates Dake’s continuing harmful influence. Teachers like Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, and Kenneth Hagin adopted variations of Dake’s anthropomorphic theology, interpreting Scripture to mean:

“God wears clothes, is about six feet tall, weighs about 190 pounds, and has a hand span of roughly 9½ inches.”

This theological stream has infected broader Pentecostal and charismatic circles with heretical concepts.

Contemporary Pastoral Guidance

Contemporary pastoral guidance emphasizes direct confrontation with Dake’s errors through:

• Clear identification as heretical and unbiblical
• Educational approaches teaching proper hermeneutics
• Positive instruction in orthodox theology
• Church leaders recognize the necessity of disciplinary action against persistent promotion of these dangerous doctrines

The overwhelming contemporary Christian response demonstrates that Finis Dake’s teaching about God’s physical body represents a fundamental departure from biblical Christianity. This doctrine contradicts explicit scriptural declarations, violates essential divine attributes, parallels ancient heresies condemned by the church, and creates practical dangers for Christian communities.

The scholarly consensus from evangelical theologians, biblical scholars, denominational leaders, and pastoral practitioners is unanimous: this teaching is heretical and incompatible with orthodox Christian faith.

Dake’s anthropomorphic literalism reveals the critical importance of proper hermeneutical principles and theological method. While claiming to take Scripture literally, his system actually contradicts clear biblical teachings about God’s spiritual nature, unity, and transcendence.

The theological safeguards developed through two millennia of Christian reflection—including proper understanding of anthropomorphisms, recognition of God’s incorporeality, and maintenance of Trinitarian orthodoxy—protect the church from such dangerous errors that reduce the infinite God to finite, physical limitations unworthy of divine worship.