Defending The Godhead

One day I was talking to some of my trinitarian friends about Oneness theology (the belief that there is one God; and that the one God is revealed in Jesus).  As we talked, I read them a verse that contained the word "Godhead"; one of my friends who was following along in a different version of the Bible said "My version has 'divine nature'."  This may seem like a small difference, but there are implications to this change.  First, let's examine the word Godhead in the English language; then we will look at how the word is used in the Bible.

• Godhead--- Godship, deity, divinity, divine nature or essence (ADEL); the essential being or nature of God; the Almighty (WCD)

"But wait!" you say, "the definition of 'Godhead' includes the very words that you say are inferior!"  I know that.  But we have to define our terms before we can go any further.  When certain people say "divinity", or to a lesser extent "deity", they do not use it the same way that the definition of "Godhead" uses it.  Godhead has the connotation of actually being God.  For many people, "divine" simply means being God-like, being a spirit or spiritual, or something like that.

A perfect example is the Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation.  A phrase from John 1:1 in this corrupt translation says "and the Word was a god".  In a footnote for this verse, we are told that this verse could also be translated "and the word was divine".  The point is that the Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe that Jesus is God, yet they call him divine.  This is because they use the word "divine" to refer to being a spirit or to being like God.

Godhead is a very interesting English word.  The Online Etymology Dictionary has this to say under the entry for "godhead":

godhead (n.)

c.1200, from god + Middle English -hede (see -head). Along with maidenhead, this is the sole survival of this form of the suffix. Old English had godhad "divine nature."

-head 

word-forming element meaning "state or condition of being," Middle English -hede, Old English -had, cognate with -hood and German -heit. The only surviving words with it are maidenhead and godhead.

Understanding the etymology of the word "Godhead" will help us see the disconnect.  From the etymology dictionary entry above, we learn that Godhead comes from two elements: first "God", and  then "-head", which means the "state or condition of being".  In this case, "-head" is equivalent to the modern English suffix "-hood"; and the synonymous meaning for "-head" and "-hood" is vital to our understanding of this issue.  Let's examine some words that end in "-hood" so that we can understand what "-head" means within the word "Godhead".

Think about the word "personhood".  Only people (viz. humans) can have personhood.  It is impossible for animals, plants, and rocks to have personhood; because they aren't people.  There is a certain nature, a certain quality of existence, that is unique to human beings; that only people have.  Only people have personhood.  Think about the word "manhood".  Only men can have manhood.  It would be utterly illogical to say that women had manhood!!  There are certain qualities---and I am not just referring to physicality, here--- that only men have.  There is a certain nature, a certain state of being, that is unique to only men.  Only men have manhood.

We have seen that "-hood" = "-head".  The point is that only God has "Godhead".  Only God has that certain "essential being or nature" that makes him God.  No other thing in the universe can make that claim.  God alone has "the state or condition of being" God.  But in a loose sense, many things in the world can be called "divine"---angels, devils, moral teachings, or any other spiritual thing.  This sense of the word is how many people (including the Jehovah's Witnesses) understand the word "divine".  "Godhead" is much more specific, referring to a quality that only God has as his unique nature.

Now that we have wrapped our mind around the English word "Godhead", let's see how this word is used in scripture.  The word "Godhead appears three times in the Holy Bible.  Each passage uses a different Geek word in the original Greek New Testament.  So how can they all mean "Godhead"?  We will examine each of the three Greek words in its context.

Colossians 2:9 tells us that "all the fullness of the Godhead" dwells in Jesus bodily.  The Greek word here is θεότης (theotes), which implies "the state of being God" (Thayer, 288).  Notice how similar that is to part of our definition for "Godhead" above.  The best translation of θεότης (theotes) here is "Godhead" because both words (Greek and English) signify being God; and that is just what Paul is asserting about Jesus: THAT JESUS IS GOD.

Next, Romans 1:20 states that we may clearly understand the invisible things of God, "even his eternal power and Godhead".  The Greek word here is θειότης (theiotes), which is a synonym for θεότης (theotes) above (Thayer, 258&288, Trench §ii).  Some would disagree with this point, but since these words are spelled so closely, and share close etymological origins, I would argue that these two words mean essentially the same thing.

The Latin Vulgate translates both words as divinitas; the Spanish Bible translates them both as divinidad; the French Bible translates both as divinite; the German Bible translates both as Gottheit; the Hungarian Bible uses two different words that are spelled only one letter apart; sound familiar?  Oh yeah...the original Greek does that!  Thus we see that θεότης (theotes) and θειότης (theiotes) are essentially the same word with the same meaning.  If the one means "Godhead" in Colossians 2:9 then the other means "Godhead" in Romans 1:20!

We have covered two of the three Greek words, so let's finish strong.  In Acts 17:29 Paul is trying to convince a group of pagan men "not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device".  The Greek word here is θεῖον (theion).  Notice that it is similar in spelling to the other two Greek words discussed above.  θεῖον (theion) is derived from the Greek word for God.  

Remember our English definition for "Godhead" above?  It can mean "God's nature" or "the Almighty".  In Acts 17, Paul is trying to persuade a bunch of pagans that there is only one true Almighty God, a God that is unknown to them; and that they should turn from their idolatry and seek this one true Almighty God.

It is as if Paul is purposely trying to be vague.  According to the great Greek New Testament scholar Trench, θεῖον (theion) "is nearly though not quite equivalent to Θεός", the Greek word for God (§ii).  Paul carefully chooses to use the less concrete word θεῖον (theion); and apparently this was in the custom of his day (Vine).  Paul wants the men of Mar's hill to seek the one true Almighty God, BUT PAUL NEVER NAMES THIS GOD!  Therefore "Godhead" is a perfect translation for θεῖον (theion) in this passage; because both are purposely general terms.

Think back to my friend who said "My version has 'divine nature'."  In my opinion that translation is a poor one.  The best translation is the one in our good ole' King James Bible.  "Godhead" is an extremely important---and extremely accurate---word that needs to stay in our spiritual vocabulary.  That is why I am defending the Godhead!       ~CJK
Sources: 

• ADEL= An American Dictionary of the English Language
• WCD= Webster's College Dictionary
• Thayer's= Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Joseph Thayer
• Online Etymological Dictionary
• Vine= Vine's Expository Dictionary, W.E. Vine
• Trench= Synonyms of the New Testament, Richard C. Trench
• The various foreign language Bibles cited can be found at www.biblegateway.org