Article September 4, 1978 Issue

The finger of God

MALCOLM W. BAYLEY

On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, Michelangelo depicts God as a corporeal being reaching out his right hand with one finger almost touching that of the first man, Adam, who is lying on the earth. The effect on the viewer of this allegorical portrayal of the Creation is often electrifying. The vision of a freshly created world is spread out before him. Man is being endowed with life! The viewer might almost expect to see a vital spark flashing from the finger tip of this symbolic representation of Deity to that of the recumbent man.

The painting possibly was the artist's honest conception of God—as it doubtless was of many Christians of the Middle Ages. Certainly it was imaginary, since no one has ever seen the creator with mortal eyes.^{ See John 1:18;} Today an ever greater number of Bible students are coming to understand that God is Spirit, having no physical characteristics at all, and that His creation, man, is made in His likeness and must therefore be spiritual. Mortal, material man is not that likeness.

The phrase "finger of God" occurs several times in the Bible. The book of Exodus relates that Deity gave Moses "two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God."^{ Ex. 31:18;} This indicates the divine origin of the Decalogue. And after Christ Jesus had healed one who had been mute and some onlookers maliciously remarked that he had the aid of Satan in his healing work, the Master replied: "If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? . . . But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you"^{ Luke 11:19, 20;}—or, as James Moffatt puts it, "the Reign of God has reached you already."

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

The finger of God

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access