When the LORD said to Moses I AM THAT I AM it showed the state of being God, its character and permanence. It revealed the Existing One in motion, present in every action of creation: physical and spiritual, through His seasons as Father, Son, Spirit and Angel, in His interactions with men: author, architect and Saviour, hallowed, eternal and complete.
Described by Isaiah as the Mighty God and Everlasting Father, we can identify the intrinsic qualities of I AM worn by the LORD’S Christ in His season of the Gospel and Redemption. And it is Paul who perfectly shows all divinity rests in JESUS: for in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead. (Col 2:9) But first a little background on the word Godhead; its origin and use in Scripture.
The English word Godhead is much older than the King James Bible, first written in the early 13th Century as godhēde, a Middle English word for divinity; divine nature or the state of being God. And it should be noted that it has nothing to do the physical head, as head comes from an Old English suffix hede meaning state, condition, quality or nature: from the older English hād from which we get hood. Thus: God + hede = godhede = Godhood – divinity – divine nature. Godhead is a long accepted English word used by English Bible translators, as it was deemed the most suitable rendering of Paul’s Greek: Theotēs.
John Wycliffe used ‘Godhed’ for the divine nature in Romans 1:20 and Colossians 2:9. Then Tyndale used ‘Godhead’ in his New Testament in the 1520s; retained by Coverdale (1535); Matthew’s Bible (1537); the Great Bible (1539); Geneva Bible (1560) and finally the King James Bible of 1611, and the 1769 edition we have today. Yet, it was Wycliffe who first used the term, except with the Old English variation. But we should look at two Verses from Paul and the Greek words behind them, as both of these words have a slightly different meanings although rendered as Godhead in the King James.
Theotēs: Deity-Godhead: Colossians 2:9: the fullness of the Godhead. Here theotēs means divinity, deity, and the state of being God. It is much stronger than merely saying Christ possesses godlike qualities and since Tyndale’s edition, translators used ‘Godhead’ to convey that idea; also expressed by Peter in Acts 2:36, with his use of LORD and Christ though not from the same Greek, Paul used.
The Greek word, Theiotē used by Paul in Romans 1:20,conveys divinity or divine nature, shown as eternal power and Godhead, when it should have been rendered Divine Nature. A third Greek word Theios, used by Luke in Acts 17:29, meaning divine or of belonging to God, was also rendered as Godhead when it should have been Divinity. Peter also uses Theios, properly rendered divine power and divine nature in 2 Peter 1:3-4. Colossians 2:9 is the high point for the use of Godhead, as Paul uses Theotēs to show all the attributes of God reside in JESUS. Going by the proper meanings of the Greek used by Paul, Colossians 2:9 is the only Scripture where Theotēs can and should be used correctly in English as Godhead: the Headstone of belief.
The Godhead Debate:
The idea of ‘Godhead’ held by the Roman and Protestant churches came out of the Council of Nicaea, called by the Emperor, Constantine in 325AD to settle arguments in the new and growing church on the substantive nature of God. A major bone of contention was not the fact Jesus was born, but who He claimed to be. That He was also called the Son of God fuelled the debate as to whether He was one with the Father or materially separate.
The dispute in essence came down to the qualities and nature of God and where true Deity actually rested, and how and where, did the Holy Spirit fit into this arrangement? The result was the creed of Trinity where the commands of Moses and Jesus; the LORD is one Lord were totally ignored, even though there was enough evidence in Scripture to confirm who Jesus actually was, and the reason why He came. There was enough evidence to show He was the promise: the LORD from Heaven.
So, what do we take from this? The matter of Godhead is firmly established in the Divine attributes of Father, Son and Spirit found in the LORD Jesus Christ: in that day there shall be one LORD and His Name one. (Zec 14:9) The use of Godhead by Paul is to underline redemption, salvation and the forgiveness of sin, is only found in Jesus Christ: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the LORD Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (1Co 6:11) It is not pertaining to individuals of Divineness, but the indwelling of completeness wherein we find the end of faith…
In love and peace as always,
James