GODHEAD

The term Godhead, although a Biblical word, is misunderstood in Christendom today. 

To every mainstream denomination – Roman Catholic, Anglican, Uniting, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Church of Christ, Seventh-day Adventist and others, the word Godhead means the Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

MEANING OF GODHEAD

The word is only used in the New Testament, and therefore in the Greek. 

There are actually three words – ‘theios’ (2304, from 2316), ‘theiotes’ (2305, from 2304), and ‘theotes’ (2320, from 2316). They all mean ‘godlike, divine, divinity’. Two of them are taken from ‘theos’ (2316), meaning ‘a deity, esp. the supreme Divinity; fig a magistrate; by Heb very: exceeding, God, god-ly, god-ward’.

KEY VERSES

Acts 17:29. “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead (theios) is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” 

The text could have been translated “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God (theos), we ought not to think that Divinity (theios) is like unto gold, or silver…” 

Both are correct and mean the same. It is just a grammatical change from ‘theos’ to ‘theios’.

Romans 1:16.17.18.19.20. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of Godunto salvation…. for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith… for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness…. because that which may be known of Godis manifest in them, for God hath shewed it unto them, 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 (theiotes); so that they are without excuse….”

The extra verses clearly show that ‘theiotes’ relates to the ‘God’ mentioned in the previous verses. It is His “eternal power and theiotes” that is clearly seen in the creation. 

Again, it is purely a grammatical difference. Thus it could have been translated, “His eternal power and divinity”. 

Colossians 2:8.9. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men…. And not after Christ, for in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead (theotes) bodily.”

Unfortunately, the word Godhead has become to mean three Supreme Beings that make one God, and so this verse is taken to mean that Christ is part of the Trinitarian Godhead.

But an understanding of the word ‘theotes’, which is from ‘theos’, shows that it simply means ‘divinity’. Thus the text could have been translated “…. for in Him (Christ) dwelleth all the fullness of divinity bodily.”

This means that in His Incarnation, Christ retained the divinity that was His own as the begotten Son of the Father. Colossians says, “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.”  Colossians 1:19.

Christ did not exchange His divinity for humanity; but He had clothed His divinity with humanity.

Christians some years ago wrote the word Godhead as God-head, signifying that the Father was the head, the supreme Ruler, or the divine Source of all things. This is ridiculed by Trinitarians, however, the Scriptures use this same terminology.

“But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Corinthians 11:3.

Thus the Bible shows it is not so ridiculous at all. God the Father is the Head of Christ, or has authority over His Son.

TEXTS USING THEIOS AS ‘DIVINE’.

2 Peter 1:3.4. “According as his divine (theios) power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine (theios) nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

These texts are absolutely clear, and should help us understand the previous verses that have been translated Godhead instead of divine or divinity.

If we have a true understanding of the term Godhead from the Greek and from the Scriptures, we should have no problem with the following statement. 

Christ took humanity upon Him, but He did not leave His divinity. Rather, He clothed His divinity with humanity.

No, Christ did not give up His divinity. 

Jesus Christ is Immanuel – God with us.