Concerning the Godhead

On another group thread, a nebulous question concerning the Godhead was raised.

One of the problems confronting many Christians today is that there are a great many 'self-educated' Bible scholars and not enough students of the Bible. Having a good translation of the scriptures handy, so everyone can have immediate access to the word of God is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing is, of course, that everyone can obtain their own copy of the God’s word to read, study, and to consult with in times of need. The curse is that everyone is generally led to read into the scriptures whatever they desire, in order to support their own agenda(s) and not necessarily search the scriptures from God’s point of view. The result of such misuse in handling the word of truth can be observed in the literally hundreds of thousands of Christian denominations, groups, organizations, sects, cults, independent churches, and home gatherings scattered throughout the world. To illustrate my point, this very group and thread exists simply because of this diversity in biblical knowledge and scriptural understanding (James 3:1).

Back to the issue of the Godhead.

This is one of the more clear examples of how Greek/English translators created a stumbling block for many Bible readers, by being ‘creative’ in their translations and having only one particular translation being held up as the true, complete, and perfect rendering of God’s word, i.e., The King James Authorized Version of 1611,1624, 1633*, 1638,1762, and 1769.

*In 1633 the Elzevir brothers published their own second revision of the AKJV, in which they proclaimed that their ‘final’ edition was “the text which is now received by all, in which we give nothing changed or corrupted.”, and which was later to become known as the ‘received text’, or in order to sound authoritative, in Lain, Texus Receptus (tr). Of course, over time that statement has been demonstrated to be something less than accurate. The following is but one such deficiency:

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Three KJV passages that contain the term Godhead, should more appropriately be translated as follows:

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Acts 17:29 For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead [the one true God] is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

G2304 [θεῖος, Theios]

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Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead [the divine nature of God]; so that they are without excuse: (so…: or, that they may be)

G2305 [θειότης, Theiots]

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Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead [the state of being God, i.e. the essence of God’s deity expressed] bodily.

G2320 [θεότης, Theots]

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What we have are three different Greek words signifying three different aspects of God’s deity all being translated into one English word that is not well defined. Note: The term Godhead does not exist in any original Bible language text.

Can there be any god’s in deity? Not really. For if “deity” contained God, then the attributes of deity would be greater than God. The attributes, elements and composition of those things which express “deity” are contained within and defined by God, Himself, not the other way around. Therefore God contains His own deity; He is not contained within nor defined by His “deity” (as comprehended by mankind).

Conclusion:

(1) There are no gods in the Godhead, not even one.

(2) All discussions based on the misunderstood and the misused term, are discussions based on one or more false premises and are without validly.

(3) The arguments are not over “how many gods are there?”, but rather over how different people perceive God’s deity. And, there are no scriptural requirements for salvation based on knowing and understanding the elements, nature, and/or composition of God’s deity (Isaiah 40:28, Romans 11:33-36) beyond those expressly identified by Jesus and His Apostles. (Perhaps someone would care to list them here?)

Arguments arising from these mistranslations and interpretations of scripture have resulted in brothers and sisters judging each other harshly. So, rather than building up (edifying), encouraging and bringing unity to the body of Christ, we have been actively engaged in tearing it down and creating divisions – and that should never be!