Some Protestants and Catholics believe that the "Angel of the LORD" mentioned in several Old Testament narratives is not merely a created angel but a manifestation of God—specifically understood by many as the pre-incarnate Christ. This is often described using the theological term theophany (meaning an appearance of God), though the term itself does not appear in Scripture. For instance: > It seems when the definite article “the” is used, it is specifying a unique being, separate from the other angels. The angel of the Lord speaks as God, identifies Himself with God, and exercises the responsibilities of God (Genesis 16:7-12; 21:17-18; 22:11-18; Exodus 3:2; Judges 2:1-4; 5:23; 6:11-24; 13:3-22; 2 Samuel 24:16; Zechariah 1:12; 3:1; 12:8). In several of these appearances, those who saw the angel of the Lord feared for their lives because they had “seen the Lord.” Therefore, it is clear that in at least some instances, the angel of the Lord is a theophany, an appearance of God in physical form….whether the angel of the Lord was a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ (Christophany) or an appearance of God the Father (theophany), it is highly likely that the phrase “the angel of the Lord” usually identifies a physical appearance of God. (Protestant apologetics site GotQuestions.org ) A Catholic “Dictionary” describes the term “theophany” like this: > A direct communication or appearance by God to human beings. Instances: God confronting Adam and Eve after their disobedience (Genesis 3:8); God appearing to Moses out of a burning bush (Exodus 3:2-6); Abraham pleading with Yahweh to be merciful to Sodomites (Genesis 18:23). These theophanies were temporary manifestations. They were not like the Incarnation, which, though it began in time, will continue for all eternity. One such “theophany” in the form of “the angel of the Lord” is found in Zechariah: > Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. (Zechariah 3:1 - NKJV) Many Protestant and some Catholic scholars interpret this account as a theophany—an appearance of God in the Old Testament. In particular, some suggest that the figure identified as the Angel of the LORD may be a pre-incarnate manifestation of the second person of the Trinity, later revealed in the New Testament as Jesus Christ. > This angel was Christ, or the Logos, mentioned Zechariah 1:11, and called the Lord in the following verse (Benson Commentary) > standing before the Angel of the Lord; not any created angel, but Christ the Angel of God's presence, who is called Jehovah, Zechariah 3:2 is the rebuker of Satan, and the advocate of his people; (Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible) Interesting with this account is the following utterance by this “angel of the LORD” in Zechariah 3:2 > And the LORD [the Angel of the LORD speaking as the LORD] said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire (Zechariah 3:2 NKJV) Why does GOD in the form of the second person of the Trinity, manifesting Himself as the Angel of the LORD not rebuke Satan, but asks YHWH (the LORD) to do so? The Archangel Michael in Jude 9 uses a phrase closely resembling Zechariah 3:2—“The Lord rebuke you”—when disputing with the devil. While not a word-for-word quote (wording differs slightly across Hebrew and Greek), the parallel strongly echoes the rebuke found in the Old Testament passage: > Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you“ (Jude 9 NKJV) Could it be that the Angel of the LORD similarly “dared not bring against him (Satan) a reviling accusation” in Zechariah 3:2? If so, how could He be GOD? What other reason could there be NOT to rebuke Satan? One possible answer is found in 2 Peter 2:11 > whereas angels, who are greater in power and might [than humans], do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. This would suggest that the Angel of the Lord does have the same level of authority granted by GOD YHWH than many other Angels. It would mean that “the Angel of the LORD” is neither God nor the second person of the Trinity. How do those that hold to the position of “the Angel of the Lord” in Zechariah 3:1-2 being Christ pre-incarnate/God reconcile this? Why does the AOTL not rebuke Satan but asks YHWH/the LORD to do so?

"Now the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgad to Bochim, And he said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, I will never break My covenant with you." Then at Judges 2:5, "So they named that place Bochim and there they sacrificed to the Lord." Going back to Exodus 20:1-3, Then God spoke all these words, saying, Verse 2, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Verse 3, "You shall have no other gods before Me." The covenant referred to can be found at Genesis 17:1-7. "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk befor3e Me, and be blameless, verse 2, And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly." Verse 3, And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, verse 4, As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. verse 5, No longer shall your name be called Abram, But you name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. Verse 6, And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. verse 7, And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you." This covenant is further amplified at Genesis 22 where the Lord tested Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. At Genesis 22:10 Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son." Verse 11, BUT the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, Here I am." Verse 12, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son from Me." At verse 15, Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, verse 16, and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, verse 17, indeed I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. Verse 18, And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." The New Testament at Hebrews 6:13-16 clearly identifies and confirms who swore the oath. "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, verse 14, saying, "I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you." Notice what verse 16 states, "For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath give as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In taking oaths, men swear by God who is greater than they are. They do so in order to convince other men that they are truthful and intend to abide by their promises. So getting back to the question? Why does Judges 2:1 say the angel of the Lord would never break his covenant he swore to the fathers?

The whole verse of Acts 7:2, "And he said, Hear me, brethren and fathers! "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran." God ask Abraham to "Depart from your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you." (Acts 7:3). At Acts 7:8, God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve partriarchs." This event occurred at Genesis 17:1-10. Genesis 17:1-2, "Now when Abram was ninety-nine year old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless, vs2, And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly." Genesis 17:10-11, "This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you; every male among you shall be circumcised. vs11, And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you." My question is geared to those who deny the deity of Jesus Christ. Since Genesis 17:1-2 clearly states that God appeared to Abraham what form did God take? I fully understand that the Bible teaches that God (the Father) cannot be seen even according to Jesus Christ Himself at John 5:47 and at John 6:46. So how is this "seemingly" contradiction reconciled?

From *Nonresistant Nonbelief*, by J. L. Schellenberg: > One might fail to believe in God even while God is open to a belief-entailing personal relationship if one prevents oneself from believing in God through self-deceptive resistance of God. **So the hiddenness argument needs to show that not all nonbelief is of this sort: that there is (or has in the past been) nonresistant nonbelief**. Chapter 6 shows how this may be done. It does so by reference to humans in the early days of human evolution **as well as those today who are in doubt over whether such a God exists after careful reflection on the idea**. With this job completed, we can add a third premise: **Some finite persons are or have been nonresistantly in a state of nonbelief in relation to the proposition that God exists**. And from this premise together with the previous conclusion, a second conclusion can be drawn: No perfectly loving God exists. > > ([source](https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198733089.001.0001/acprof-9780198733089-chapter-6)) Other authors refer to nonresistant nonbelief as "blameless" disbelief or "inculpable" nonbelief. For example, [this article](https://philpapers.org/browse/divine-hiddenness) says: > “Divine Hiddenness” in contemporary philosophy of religion may refer to the supposed fact that the existence of God is less than obvious, or to an argument against theism based on this supposed fact. The argument begins with the observation that many people of apparently good will and at least average intelligence have investigated the claims of theism, and yet still do not believe that God exists. Suppose, as many theists do, that the greatest human good is found in a personal relationship with God. **Not believing that God exists seems an obvious barrier to such a relationship; but many of those who do not believe in God seem morally and epistemically blameless in their lack of belief**. If the God of theism—an omniscient, omnipotent, and perfectly good personal being—did exist, then surely those who genuinely seek God would find God: an omnipotent God would be capable of providing clear self-revelation to those who genuinely seek, and a perfectly good God would want to provide such revelation. **That so many of those who do seek or have sought God persist in unbelief is therefore itself evidence that God does not exist. Or so claims the advocate of the “argument from divine hiddenness.”** Some philosophers have responded by argued that “the problem of divine hiddenness” is simply a special case of the more general problem of evil, adding nothing new to the case against the existence of God, nor any new challenge to extant responses to the problem of evil. For example, it could be that there is some outweighing good that can only be obtained by God allowing **blameless disbelief** to continue in a person’s life. Other philosophers have argued that a good God might provide only “purposive evidence”; i.e., evidence that may only be made available to one if it would accomplish God’s purpose in one’s life (e.g., that one would respond to the evidence not just by believing that God exists, but also by loving and obeying God). There are contemporary individuals who identify themselves as "nonresistant nonbelievers". For example, in a [recent debate](https://youtu.be/rnIQFI1pYLM?t=1406) titled *DEBATE: Theism vs Atheism | Jonathan McLatchie vs Alex O’Connor*, Alex O'Connor said in his opening statement: > [...] I'm going to be making the claim, specifically, that atheism or naturalism provides better account for 3 facts of our universe: > - The first being the hiddenness of God. > - The second being the geographical, statistical arrangement of religious belief. > - And the third will be the problem of gratuitous suffering and we'll see if we get time to finish it off. > > Far from being unable to escape God, there is a very real contingent of nonbelievers, and I would count myself among their number, who are unable by any means to discover Him. Who seek and do not find, who knock and receive, as it were, no answer. This strange phenomenon is known as the problem of divine hiddenness. If there is a God, then simply why is He hidden from so many of us so much of the time? If theism is to offer a sufficient account of reality, then it must offer an account of what J. L. Schellenberg has famously labeled "nonresistant nonbelief", which he distinguishes from "resistant nonbelief" [...] **Question**: From a Christian perspective, what are Alex and others who identify themselves as "nonresistant nonbelievers" doing wrong that is preventing them from finding God and attaining genuine belief in Him? What are plausible reasons for why God may appear hidden to them despite their alleged nonresistance? **Note**: for scoping purposes, I'd be interested in answers that accept the following premises: - *Universalism* is false - Human beings possess some form of freedom of the will (i.e. full determinism is false, e.g. Molinists and Arminians would be welcome to answer this question) ___ Related: https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/81266/50422

The word theophany is a combination of two Greek words, meaning God and appearance. A theophany is an appearance of God. More precisely, it is a visible appearance of God. According to Jesus at John 5:37, "And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any tinm, not seen His form." Also at John 6:46, "Not that any manb hath seen the Father, except he who is from God, he hath seen the Father." This raises the following question from Genesis 17:1-3, "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him. I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless, vs2, And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will greatly multiply your exceedingly." Vs3, "And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying," I'm going to parapharse the rest. At vs4-6, God changed Abram's name to Abraham. God also stated He will multiply his descedanants and a King will come forth from his seed. Finally, God said this covenant will be an everlasting covenant to Abraham and his descendants. The reason this is a physical appearance of God to Abraham is from Genesis 17:22, "And when He/God finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham." So how do Unitarians explain "Biblically" the physical appearance of God to Abraham?

In the Old Testament, God reveals himself numerous times to the prophets in physical forms (Genesis 18:1-2, Exodus 24:9, Numbers 12:8, Isaiah 6:1). But according to scripture, God is omnipresent, meaning he is already present everywhere (Jeremiah 23:24, Psalm 139:7). So what does it really mean for God to be physically present in a specific place if God is already present there?

Has anyone claimed to have been called by God to ministry (e.g. to serve as a missionary, pastor, evangelist, prophet, apostle, etc.) through some dramatic "Road to Damascus" encounter (like the Apostle Paul in Acts 9), and subsequently counted with the trust and ministerial support from a community of fellow Christians who believed in their testimony and backed their ministry? The Apostle Paul is an obvious example, but for the purposes of this question he obviously doesn't count. I'm interested in any examples from the 2nd century onwards, especially in modern times. Are there any modern (self-proclaimed) 'Apostle Pauls'?

In Judges 6:11-12 we read: > The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” In Judges 6:14 we read: > 14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” The Angel of the Lord appears to speak God's mind, and is interchangeable (by the writer) with the Lord himself. He doesn't speak as a messenger (as Gabriel does to Mary). One might conclude then that the person who knows the mind of God, and who the writer treats as interchangeable with God would be a pre-incarnation of Jesus. My question is: **What is the evidence that the Angel of the Lord in the old Testament is probably Jesus?** Clarification: This is asking generally across the whole old Testament - and is not limited to this passage.

Many places are cited 'angel of the Lord' as if whatever is said is said by the angel themselves not by the angel as messenger for the Lord. Judges 2:1 and on is an example but there are several. Then Michael who is called the 'archangel' becomes Jesus when Jesus is God, or Yehoshua in Hebrew. ASIDE: This is my first couple of attempts at fulfilling the requirements for an acceptable question while on a tablet. I invite all good criticism that helps better question construction. I believe SDA and JWs follow this interpretation. Are they the only ones?

Which denominations believe in modern-day *Theophanies*, i.e., that God still manifests/reveals Himself to individuals in extraordinary, supernatural ways **today**? For the sake of having a common understanding of the term *Theophany*, I'd like to quote [Wikipedia's definition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophany) (emphasis mine): > **Theophany** (from Ancient Greek (ἡ) θεοφάνεια theophaneia, meaning "appearance of a deity") **is a personal encounter with a deity, that is an event where the manifestation of a deity occurs in an observable way**. **Specifically, it "refers to the temporal and spatial manifestation of God in some tangible form."** > > Where the deity does not take tangible form (outward manifestation), the broader term used for inward manifestation is divine revelation or divine inspiration. Where the spirit of god is manifest in a person the term used is divine incarnation, avatar or personification of the deity. > > Traditionally the term "theophany" was used to refer to appearances of the gods in ancient Greek and in Near Eastern religions. While the Iliad is the earliest source for descriptions of theophanies in classical antiquity (which occur throughout Greek mythology), probably the earliest description appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh. > > **In the specific usage for Christians and Jews, with respect to the Bible, theophany refers to an event where the Abrahamic God reveals his presence to a person**. _____ Similar/related questions: - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/83590/50422 - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/86115/50422 - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/66641/50422

**More restrictive version of the question**: Has the Christian God ever revealed Himself to someone who had never heard of Him before? By this I mean someone who never heard about the Bible, who never heard about Jesus, who never saw a picture of Jesus or the cross or anything related to Christianity. In other words, someone who was completely ignorant in every way, shape and form regarding the Christian faith. Has anyone in such a condition had an encounter with the Christian God that led them to convert to Christianity? **Less restrictive version of the question**: If the requirements above are too demanding, answers addressing less restrictive versions of the question are welcome as well. For example, in today's world it's probably very unlikely to find people who have never heard of Christianity, but it would still be interesting to know about cases where someone, who was barely aware of Christianity's existence and never took it seriously, for some reason received a divine revelation of a very specific passage in the Bible that they didn't even know existed, or had an unexpected experience with the Holy Spirit (like Cornelius in Acts 10) even though they didn't even know that the Holy Spirit was a thing, etc. Essentially, any type of experience in which the individual had no prior knowledge about it and the experience itself only makes (the most) sense under a Christian worldview. *Note: I'm looking for extra-biblical examples, of course.*

Many Christian teachers as far back as the early church fathers have taught it was Jesus that appeared to Abraham before destroying Sodom and Gammorah, wrestled with Jacob in the dessert, and appeared at other times in the Old Testament scriptures. Do Jehovah's whitnesses also teach that Jesus appeared to some people before his incarnation?

I'm starting to read up on the biographies of some the most notable revivalist preachers in Christianity. [Wikipedia has an article that lists many of them](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revivalist_(person)#Notable_revivalists) . What brought my attention to this topic in the first place was the many times I've heard people tell stories about the great revivalists of old, who testified of powerful encounters with the divine prior to the start of their revivalist ministries. I've done a bit of research, and can confirm at least that these experiences were in fact reported by the following revivalists (assuming that the testimonies were really written by them): [John Wesley](https://www.thejesusgathering.org/john-wesley.html) (1703 - 1791): > About three in the morning as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As soon as we recovered a little from the awe and amazement at the presence of His Majesty, we broke out with one voice, 'We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.' > > In souls filled with love, the desire to please God is continual prayer > > My fear is that our people will become content to live without the fire, the power, the excitement, the supernatural element that makes us great. [Charles Finney](https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/charles-finney.html) (1792 - 1875): > The 29-year-old lawyer Charles Grandison Finney had decided he must settle the question of his soul's salvation. So on October 10, 1821, he headed out into the woods near his Adams, New York, home to find God. "I will give my heart to God, or I never will come down from there," he said. After several hours, he returned to his office, where he experienced such forceful emotion that he questioned those who could not testify to a similar encounter. > > "The Holy Spirit … seemed to go through me, body and soul," he later wrote. "I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed it seemed to come in waves of liquid love, for I could not express it in any other way." [Evan Roberts](https://www.revival-library.org/revival_heroes/20th_century/roberts_evan_testimony.shtml) (1878 - 1951): > **God visits in the night** > > “One Friday night last spring, when praying by my bedside before > retiring, I was taken up to a great expanse – without time and space. > It was communion with God. Before this a far-off God I had. I was > frightened that night, but never since. So great was my shivering that > I rocked the bed, and my brother, being awakened, took hold of me, > thinking I was ill. > > “After that experience I was awakened every night a little after one > o’clock. This was most strange, for through the years I slept like a > rock, and no disturbance in my room would awaken me. From that hour I > was taken up into the Divine Fellowship for about four hours. What it > was I cannot tell you; except that it was Divine. About five o’clock I > was again allowed to sleep on till about nine. > > At this time I was again taken up into the same experience as in the > earlier hours of the morning until about twelve or one o’clock. > > They questioned me at home. Why didn’t I get up earlier, &c., &c. > > **Another deep experience of the Spirit at Seth Joshua meeting** > > ‘On the way to the nine o’clock meeting the Rev. Seth Joshua remarked, ‘We are going to have a wonderful meeting to-day.’ To this I replied, ‘I feel myself almost bursting.’ > > “The meeting, having been opened, was handed over to the Spirit. I was conscious that I would have to pray. As one and the other prayed I put the question to the Spirit, ‘Shall I pray now?’ ‘Wait a while,’ said He. When others prayed I felt a living force come into my bosom. It held my breath, and my legs shivered, and after every prayer I asked, ‘Shall I now?’ The living force grew and grew, and I was almost bursting. And instantly someone ended his prayer-my bosom boiling. I would have burst if I had not prayed. What boiled me was that verse, ‘God commending His Love.’ I fell on my knees with my arms over the seat in front of me, and the tears and perspiration flowed freely. I thought blood was gushing forth. Mrs. Davies, Mona, New Quay, came to wipe my face. On my right was Mag Phillips, and on my left Maud Davies. For about two minutes it was fearful. I cried, ‘Bend me! Bend me! Bend us!’ Then, ‘Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!’ and Mrs Davies said, ‘O wonderful Grace!’ What bent me was God commending His Love, and I not seeing anything in it to commend. After I was bent a wave of peace came over me, and the audience sang, ‘I hear Thy welcome Voice.’ And as they sang I thought of the bending at the Judgement Day, and I was filled with compassion for those who would be bent on that day, and I wept. ____________________ **Question**: How common is it that behind a revival there is a preacher who has had a dramatic, life-changing encounter with the divine? So far I know that this is the case with John Wesley, Charles Finney and Evan Roberts according to testimonies attributed to them. Is this also the case with other notable revivalists? Is it a recurrent pattern? Is it also true of more recent or less notable revivals?

In [Exodus 4:24-26](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%204:24-26&version=NIV) : > At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.) I have 2 questions about these passages: 1. Who was the person referred to as "The LORD"? Was it The Holy Spirit Himself appearing in human form? Was it Jesus? Or someone else? 2. Why did the circumcision and touching of foreskin to Moses' feet apparently satisfy Him?

Exodus tells of Moses meeting face to face with God. Shortly thereafter there is a warning that nobody can see God's face or they will die. So contradiction, translation problem, or other explanation? How can both statements be correct. There are other instances that seem to contradict each other including some in the NT.

A pattern I've noticed after watching many Christian conversion testimonies is that plenty of them report feeling the presence of God in a life-changing manner at the moment of conversion or maybe not long after. For illustrative purposes, I will list below some of the testimonies that in my opinion are the most reliable (i.e. they are very likely being honest and not making up stories) and impressive, along with a short summary/paraphrase of what each testimony says. In case you may want to watch the testimonies yourself, I'm including the links with timestamps so that you can jump directly to the parts where the relevant experiences are narrated. 1. [From model/to New Age witchcraft/To saved by Jesus Christ](https://youtu.be/Ur8fDYKb0ZY?t=1441) : after water baptism, she was lying in bed at night and suddenly was overwhelmed by a feeling of holiness, love, joy. She also had tears of joy and had a vision of the air as gold. For more details, please watch the video. 2. [New Age to Christianity // My Supernatural Experience with God](https://youtu.be/5bgZIBkS9qQ?t=819) : she prayed to Jesus in the bathroom, and suddenly an "atmospheric peace" engulfed her. She describes it as the most supernatural experience she ever had in her life. Afterwards, she reports having both an "inner knowing" and the feeling that the Holy Spirit entered her, and then reports her life completely changing. 3. [From New Age to Jesus - My Unexpected Encounter with God](https://youtu.be/4bRh9ETHGx4?t=827) : she prayed the sinner's prayer, asking God to become the ruler of her life. A minute after the prayer, she says: *"I felt this incredible feeling, coming from the top of my head [...] it was like someone pouring oil or warm honey from the top of my head, and just sort of slowly moved down my body, and as it was going down I felt the warmth, just pure love, pure joy, pure peace [...]"*. She also claims that the feeling was *"a whole nother level"* above anything she had experienced before in the New Age. 4. [Testimony of Andres Bisonni. Daystar Television Network](https://youtu.be/2o6-Jb2Pv14?t=132) : he visited Argentina during a revival and was hungry for having an encounter with the Holy Spirit after hearing encouraging testimonies from fellow Christians in a youth conference. While in a bus, someone prayed for him and suddenly he experienced the following: *"[...] it's almost impossible to describe with words, but I felt this love being poured into my heart, and this like heat that came and surrounded me, this supernatural presence embraced me [...]"*. 5. [Paul Washer- The Presence of God](https://youtu.be/aWDZW0at068?t=186) : simply put, after months of seeking an encounter in a prayer closet, one night he was suddenly visited by the presence of God, which he perceived as glorious and making him vividly aware of his sin initially but then turning into an overwhelming joy that led to spontaneous praises. Some common themes I observe in these and other testimonies: * The experience of peace, joy and love. * Describing the experience as something that surpasses anything experienced before (including people who were previously involved in meditation and other spiritual practices). * Describing the experience as something "atmospheric" or that "surrounds" or "embraces" the individual, as if submerged into something. * Sometimes the feeling of heat or warmth is reported. * Sometimes the feeling of a holy presence (a sense of holiness) is reported. * Most individuals describe the experience as life-changing. Is there any biblical support for this experience? Are there records in the Bible of individuals having encounters with the presence of God who reported feelings or symptoms that resemble the ones reported by these and other testimonies?

Abraham addresses the three visitors as LORD. Is there any group of Christians that understands this as a theophany of the Trinity? > [Genesis 18:1-2 NASB](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen+18%3A1-2&version=NASB) 1 Now the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth,

I looked at many Christian apologist websites, like GotQuestions, which states that anybody who claims to see God can have their claims evaluated by Scripture . So far so good, but how would people like Abraham know that their visions of God were real and that they were not deceived if they didn't have the complete edition of the Scripture?

Genesis 3:8 tells us: > Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was > walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the > Lord God among the trees of the garden And Exodus 33:20 reads > But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and > live.” What is the Biblical evidence that this theophany was the second person of the trinity?

Tried to understand the doctrine deeply and in a broader way than it is taught in school, or presented in Wikipedia. And no one can explain it to me in a simple way for my mind to accept it, How it can be that: x = G y = G z = G BUT! x != y != z != x And even in this site the authors of the site have written without no doubt: > The most difficult thing about the Trinity Doctrine is that there is no way to adequately explain it. The Trinity is a concept that is impossible for any human being to fully understand, let alone explain In the end the authors just throw at me their problems: > This is a difficult concept to grasp. But let's put a God-sized doctrine into perspective -- God is beyond our comprehension. Logically, something does not work out for me, The Almighty **will not allow** us to believe that there is a triangle with four sides, or that he will create a square whose diameter is equal to its side. Of course it **"is a difficult concept to grasp"**, because maybe they have disrupted the intent of Christ, who can tell me that Christ accept Tertullian: > new theological concepts and advanced the development of early Church doctrine. I'm desperate to understand the truth, and to settle this problem.