Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Christ is the embodiment of the Godhead. Why do people try to divide God?
.
In the Christian Greek Scriptures certain words derived from
theos (god) appear and relate to that which is divine. The related words theios, theiotes, and theotes occur at
Acts 17:29, Romans 1:20, Colossians 2:9 and 2 Peter 1:3, 4.
At
Acts 17:29, Paul, when in Athens, showed that it was illogical for humans to imagine that “the Divine Being [
to theion, form of theios] is like gold or silver or stone.” Many translators here use terms such as “the Godhead,” “the Deity,” or “the divinity” (
AV, AS, Dy, ED, JB, RS), while E. J. Goodspeed’s translation says, “the divine nature.” (
AT) Liddell and Scott’s
Greek-English Lexicon (p. 628) shows that the phrase "to theion" was used by ancient Greek writers to mean “the divine Being or Essence, the Deity.” According to ancient Greek usage, then, this word can be translated by words indicating divine
personality or by terms indicating divine
qualities or
attributes, and this is true of the other words such as theiotes and theotes mentioned earlier. Obviously, then, the context and sense of what is stated must guide the translator in his choice of words.
At
Romans 1:20 the apostle refers to the undeniable visible evidence of God’s “invisible qualities,” in particular his “eternal power and Godship [
theiotes].” Other translations read “Godhead,” “deity,” or “divinity,” while Goodspeed’s translation says “divine character.” Vincent’s
Word Studies in the New Testament (Vol. III, p. 16), in commenting on this text, states “[
Theiotes] is
godhood, not
godhead. It signifies the sum-total of the divine attributes.”
Then, at
Colossians 2:9 the apostle Paul says of Christ: “It is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality [form of
theotes] dwells bodily.” Here, again, some translators lean toward attributing personality to the word
theotes, rendering it as “Godhead” or “Deity.” E. J. Goodspeed’s translation, however, says, “It is in him that all the fulness of
God’s nature lives embodied.” (See also
Weymouth.) Lexicographers Liddell and Scott also allow for the meaning of “divine nature” here, and Robinson’s
Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament (p. 334) gives as one meaning of the word “the divine nature and perfections,” referring to
Colossians 2:9 as an example.
It can be seen that the renderings of
Colossians 2:9 that favor a sense of personality would give the idea of God’s personally dwelling in Christ, a view held by trinitarians. The translations expressing “divine nature” or qualities would, instead, indicate that Christ is the very embodiment of the divine qualities, such as wisdom (
1 Corinthians 1:30; Colossians 2:3; Revelation 5:11, 12); so, as the context shows, those in the Christian congregation would look to the resurrected Jesus, their divinely appointed Head, for all their guidance and instruction, as well as blessings, from God, and not to human philosophers and traditionalists. (
Colossians 2:8-10; compare 1:18-20.) Jesus, therefore, had the “fullness” of all that such Christians needed. This, it must be noted, was granted him by his Father, who raised him from the dead and sat him “on the right hand of [God’s] majesty” as the “reflection of [God’s] glory and the exact representation of his very being.”—
Hebrews 1:1-3; Philippians 2:8-11.
Finally, at
2 Peter 1:3, 4 the apostle shows that by virtue of the “precious and very grand promises” extended to faithful anointed Christians by divine power, they “may become sharers in divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Elsewhere in the Scriptures Christians are referred to as ‘sharing’ with Christ in his sufferings, in a death like his, and in a resurrection like his to immortality as spirit creatures, becoming joint heirs with him in the heavenly kingdom. (
1 Corinthians 15:50-54; Philippians 3:10, 11; 1 Peter 5:1; 2 Peter 1:2-4; Revelations 20:6) Thus it is evident that the sharing of Christians in “divine nature” is with Christ, and also with their fellow heirs, rather than with Jehovah God. Since “nature” is generally associated with that which is produced, or is born or grows, it is inappropriate to speak of God as having “nature”; he is without birth or growth, having no beginning. However, he can give divine nature or qualities to others.(
Psalm 90:1, 2; 93:2; 1 Timothy 1:17)
