Perceiving God through the senses (Mathias Winkler)

We constantly read in the Old Testament that God speaks. So one must also be able to hear him. We also read very often that he makes himself visible – that is, that he appears. So one must also be able to see him. In Christianity, however, we have very strong reservations about sensory perceptions of God – and yet God is perceptible through the senses in the Old Testament. That said, these sensory descriptions do not actually tell us what God looks like or what He sounds like. Why, then, do we speak of sensory perceptions of God?
I explore the question of how sensory perceptions of God are discussed in the Old Testament. And I ask myself what purpose is being served for the readership when accounts of sensory perceptions of God are given, yet none of this actually becomes ‘vivid’ for the readers. Furthermore, I touch upon the question of the status accorded to the various senses in the perception of God and the significance the senses may have in this context.