Godhead or Deity - Is James White Right?
Colossians 2:8-9
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, aftr the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of THE GODHEAD bodily."
James White, a well known King James Bible critic, ignorantly harangues against the use of the word Godhead in the KJB. In his book, The King James Only Controversy, when discussing Colossians 2:9 Mr. White says on page 204: "Yet, the KJV rendering of this verse is probably the least clear of almost all currently available translations. How does one explain what "Godhead" means? Who really uses this term any longer? And what about the fact that the KJV uses "godhead" in other places when it is translating a completely different Greek term?"
Then Mr. White has a chart which shows the NASB rendering of the three passages where the KJB has Godhead in all three. Here are the NASB renderings: Acts 17:29 the Divine Nature (Theios); Romans 1:20 divine nature (theiotes), and Colossians 2:9 Deity (theotes).
As for Mr. White's puzzlement about how one explains what Godhead means, he might try looking at any number of current English dictionaries. Actually the word Godhead is much stronger and more accurate than the "deity" of the NASB, NIV and ESV.
GODHEAD
Merriam Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary 1967, " the nature of God especially as existing in three persons -- used with the".
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. 1. Divinity; godhood. 2. Godhead The Christian God, especially the Trinity.
The Greek lexicons of both Kittel and Thayer's also show Godhead as being one of the primary meanings of this Greek word used in Colossians 2:9.
The word Godhead implies the Three Persons of the Trinity, whereas the simple word Deity does not. There are many deities but only one Godhead. It is more than just coincidence that the KJB has the word Godhead three times in the New Testament.
As for Mr. White's charge that all three Greek words are "completely different", please note that all three have the base word Theos, which by itself means God. Not only does the KJB translate all three instances of these related words as Godhead, but so also do Tyndale 1525, Miles Coverdale 1535, Bishop's Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1599, Webster's 1833 translation, Young's "literal" translation, the KJV 21st Century Version, and the Third Millenium Version.
Mr. White complains about the translation of Godhead here in Colossians 2:9, yet the NKJV, which he recommends in his book as a reliable translation, also has Godhead in Colossians 2:9. Not only do all nine translations just mentioned have Godhead in Colossians 2:9, but so also do Lamsa's 1960 translation of the Syriac Peshitta, the Revised Version, American Standard Version, Darby, New English Bible 1961, Wycliffe, Hebrew Names Version, the World English Bible, Douay-Rheims, Amplified, Green's Modern KJV, and Rotherham's Emphatic Bible. That is a total of at least 21 English bible versions that disagree with Mr. White's "scholarly" opinions.
As for Mr. White's question, "Who really uses this term any longer?", I suggest he get on the internet or read any number of current magazines or books. He will soon learn that it is still a very common word used especially when discussing the Trinity.
I have also heard radio preachers today who use the modern versions talking about the Godhead, little realizing that this word no longer appears in the bible versions they use.
Mr. White also shows his hypocrisy when he says the KJB translates three "completely" different words as Godhead. The NASB, for whom he now works, has two very different words translated as deity - daimonion in Acts 17:18 and theotes in Colossians 2:9 - and another five very different words translated as Divine. In Acts 17:29 theios is translated as "divine nature", in Romans 1:20 theiotes is "divine nature", in Romans 11:4 kreematismos is translated as "divine response", in 2 Corinthians thew is translated as "divinely", and in Hebrews 9:1 latreia is translated as "divine service".
The word Godhead in orthodox Christian theology clearly implies the Trinity. If anyone studies their Bible, you know that Christ was God manifest in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16 in the KJB, but not the NASB, ESV, RSV, NIV). The Lord also said in John 14:10 "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?...the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works."
The Lord Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Ghost (Luke 1:35) and God anointed him with the Holy Ghost and with power (Acts 10:38). In Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
People like James White have no inspired Bible or sure words of God. They set up their own minds as being the final authority and correct every bible version out there. Mr. White often corrects his own NASB and thinks it too has errors. They don't believe any translation can be the inspired words of God, and since the "originals" no longer exist, they have no inspired Bible and resent the fact that many of us believe we do. They want to be the Final Authority and have you come to them to find out what God really said. It is a big ego trip, easy to get into and very hard to get out of. I feel sorry for all the Christians who have been robbed of the true Holy Bible by unbelieving modern scholars.
Will Kinney
Galatians 3:24-25 "the law was our SCHOOLMASTER to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."
Another Bible critic, with no inerrant Bible in any language, has recently published a long litany of alleged errors he thinks he's found in the King James Bible. His name is Dr. Theodore H. Mann, and his article is called Translation Problems in the KJV New Testament, copyrighted 2000.
In his article Mr. Mann writes: "Galatians 3:24/1 Corinthians 4:15: "Schoolmaster" and "instructor" are misleading. The Greek term (paidagwgo) refers to a male slave who had charge of the boy to take him to school."
The only good thing I can say about those who criticize our beloved King James Bible, is that they do drive me to further study God's preserved and inerrant words as found in the King James Bible.
What I found to be of interest in this particular study is the wide variety of both opinions and translations of what this particular Greek word - paidagoogos - really means and how God applies it in the contexts of Galatians 3:24-25 and 1 Corinthians 4:15.
What one scholar adamantly affirms, another just as firmly denies. The polar opinions can be seen in these two quotes:
#1 - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - "No English word renders paidagogos adequately. "Schoolmaster" IS QUITE WRONG, but Revised Version's "tutor"(compare 1 Corinthians 4:15) is little better in modern English."
#2 - Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testaments - "The Law is become our tutor ...THIS RENDITION IS UNFORTUNATE, for "The Law was our SCHOOLMASTER to bring us unto Christ" (KJV) IS FAR BETTER."
Likewise the Greek Lexicons, the Bible commentaries, and the Bible translations are constantly at odds with each other. I believe the clear difference is between Bible wisdom and scholarly stupidity.
First of all, the Greek word paidagoogos simply means a pedagogue or a teacher of the young. This is what the word means in the modern Greek language, and how the Modern Greek New Testament still reads. We get our English word "pedagogue" directly from this Greek word. A pedagogue is defined as a teacher, a schoolteacher, or a schoolmaster. A schoolmaster is a male teacher of the young. Pedagogy is the function or work of a teacher, education, or instructional methods.
The Greek lexicons are all over the board on what the Greek word means and how it was applied in the context of the New Testament. Some lexicons agree with Mr. Mann's definition of "a male slave who had charge of the boy to take him to school", but others like Thayer, Robertson, and Moulton and Milligan, also tell us that the pedagogue was "a supervisor, censor and enforcer of morals" (Thayer), "watched his behaviour at home" (Robertson), and "he did not merely conduct the boy to school, but had a general charge of him as a tutor until he reached maturity" (Moulton and Milligan page 473, 1985)
Liddell and Scott's Abridged Greek-English Lexicon, 17th edition, 1887 page 511 says the word pedagoge means "generally, a tutor, teacher, or instructor."
Secondly, the clear Biblical context in both 1 Corinthians 4:15 and in Galatians 3:24-25 is that of a teacher or schoolmaster, and not that of "a male slave who had charge of the boy to take him to school."
In the CONTEXT of 1 Corinthians 4 the apostle Paul is talking about how he had planted the church and others like Apollos had later come along to further instruct them in the faith. He then writes: "For though ye have ten thousand INSTRUCTORS (pedagogues) in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel."
Most Bible translations, including the modern ones Mr. Mann might refer us to, translate the word in this passage as "instructors", "tutors" or "teachers". Not one of them has "a male slave who had charge of the boy to take him to school."
Likewise in the CONTEXT of Galatians 3:24-25 the apostle Paul is expounding upon the purpose of the law of Moses in contrast to the gospel of the grace of God in Christ. The law was "added because of transgressions, till the seed should come". By the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20), and it is written "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in book of the law to do them." (Galatians 3:10, 19)
At this point in our study I would like to list the various ways different translations have rendered the word pedagoogos here in Galatians 3:24-25. Then I will follow up with what several Bible commentators have to say about how the law was our "schoolmaster" unto Christ.
In the King James Bible we read: "But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our SCHOOLMASTER to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under A SCHOOLMASTER. For ye are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:22-26
Not only does the King James Bible correctly read SCHOOLMASTER, but so do the following Bible versions: Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, Bishops' Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1599, Daniel Mace's N.T. 1729, Wesley's N.T. 1755, Webster's 1833 translation, the KJV 21st Century version 1994, and the Third Millenium Bible of 1998.
It is of interest that the 1979 edition of the NKJV reads "schoolmaster", but then in 1982 the NKJV changed this to read "tutor". Actually, the word schoolmaster is more accurate than "tutor". A schoolmaster is a teacher of the young and immature, and this fits the context of the argument in Galatians. A tutor is not limited to the young, but older persons can also have a tutor when learning something new.
The versions that render this word as "tutor", which is a TEACHER and not "a male slave who had charge of the boy to take him to school", are the following: The Douay, NKJV 1982 edition, the NASB, RV, ASV, Darby, and the New English Bible.
The NIV paraphrases Galatians as "the law was PUT IN CHARGE", "UNDER THE SUPERVISION of the law", but has "guardians" in the 1 Corinthian 4:15 passage.
The RSV of 1952 has "custodian" in Galatians and "guides" in 1 Cor.
The NRSV 1989 has "disciplinarian" in Gal. but "guardians" in 1 Cor.
The ESV 2001 has "guardian" in Gal. but "guide" in 1 Cor.
The Holman Standard has "guardian" in Gal. but "instructors" in 1 Cor.
The New Life Version 1977 has "teacher" in both.
The Bible in Basic English 1961 has "servant" in Galatians but "teachers" in 1 Corinthians 4:15.
The Contemporary English Version 1995 reads "the law was our teacher"
There are also several foreign language versions which also read: "the law was our schoolmaster (or teacher) including the Spanish Biblia en Lenguage Sencillo 2000, the French Louis Segond 1910, the Italian Diodati, and Italian La Parola e Vita 1997, the Portuguese O Livro of 2000, and even the NIV Portuguese version of 2000 Nova Versao Internacional.
When a Bible corrector like Mr. Mann tells us the King James Bible reading of "schoolmaster" or "instructor" is MISLEADING, and that it really means "a male slave who had charge of the boy to take him to school", he is merely giving us his own very flawed opinion and nothing more. He himself does not believe that any Bible in any language is the complete, inerrant and 100% true words of God, and he wants you to come to the same point of view he has on this vital subject.
Now for some thoughts from various Bible commentators who have a lot more spiritual sense about the context and meaning of the Galatians passage, than do men like Dr. Theodore Mann.
JOHN GILL comments: "the law was our schoolmaster" - the sense of the passage is, that the law performed this office of a schoolmaster until the coming of Christ; which shows that till that time the church was in its minority, that the Jews were but children in knowledge and understanding, and therefore stood in need, and were under the care of a schoolmaster, the law, by which the whole Mosaic administration is designed. They were taught by the moral law, the letter, the writing on the two tables, with other statutes and judgments, their duty to God and men, what is to be done and to be avoided, what is righteousness and what is not, the nature of sin, its demerit and consequences;... besides the instruction the law gave, it made use of discipline as a schoolmaster does; it kept a strict eye and hand over them, and them close to the performance of their duty;... Moreover, the law being called a schoolmaster, shows that the use of it was but temporary, and its duration but for a time; children are not always to be under, nor designed to be always under a schoolmaster, no longer than till they are come to a proper age for greater business and higher exercises of life; so the law was to continue, and did continue, to be of this use and service to the Jewish church during its minority, until Christ came, the substance of all it taught and directed to."
MATTHEW HENRY remarks: "he tells them, the law was their schoolmaster, to bring them to Christ, that they might be justified by faith. As it declared the mind and will of God concerning them, and at the same time denounced a curse against them for every failure in their duty, so it was proper to convince them of their lost and undone condition in themselves, and to let them see the weakness and insufficiency of their own righteousness to recommend them to God. And as it obliged them to a variety of sacrifices, etc., which, though they could not of themselves take away sin, were typical of Christ, and of the great sacrifice which he was to offer up for the expiation of it, so it directed them (though in a more dark and obscure manner) to him as their only relief and refuge. And thus it was their schoolmaster, to instruct and govern them in their state of minority."
JOHN WESLEY tersely comments: "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster unto Christ - It was designed to train us up for Christ. And this it did both by its commands, which showed the need we had of his atonement; and its ceremonies, which all pointed us to him. "
JOHN CALVIN comments: "Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster" A schoolmaster is not appointed for the whole life, but only for childhood, as the etymology of the Greek word paidagoogos mplies. Besides, in training a child, the object is to prepare him, by the instructions of childhood, for maturer years. The comparison applies in both respects to the law, for its authority was limited to a particular age, and its whole object was to prepare its students in such a manner, that, when its elementary instructions were closed, they might make progress worthy of manhood. And so he adds, that it was our schoolmaster unto Christ. The grammarian, when he has trained a boy, delivers him into the hands of another, who conducts him through the higher branches of a finished education. In like manner, the law was the grammar of theology, which, after carrying its students a short way, handed them over to faith to be completed. Thus, Paul compares the Jews to children, and us to advanced youth."
MARTIN LUTHER, in his well known commentary on the book of Galatians, says: "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. This simile of the schoolmaster is striking. Schoolmasters are indispensable. But show me a pupil who loves his schoolmaster. How little love is lost upon them the Jews showed by their attitude toward Moses. They would have been glad to stone Moses to death. (Ex. 17:4.) You cannot expect anything else. How can a pupil love a teacher who frustrates his desires? And if the pupil disobeys, the schoolmaster whips him, and the pupil has to like it and even kiss the rod with which he was beaten. Do you think the schoolboy feels good about it? As soon as the teacher turns his back, the pupil breaks the rod and throws it into the fire. And if he were stronger than the teacher he would not take the beatings, but beat up the teacher. All the same, teachers are indispensable, otherwise the children would grow up without discipline, instruction, and training...The Law is like the good schoolmaster who trains his children to find pleasure in doing things they formerly detested."
The American Tract Society Bible Dictionary has this to say about the word "schoolmaster" - 1 Corinthians 4:15 Galatians 3:24,25, in Greek Paidagogos; a sort of attendant who took the charge of young children, TAUGHT THEM THE RUDIMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE (Caps are mine), and at a suitable age conducted them to and from school. Thus the law was the pedagogue of the nation, and a length conducting them through its types and prophecies to Christ. When a Jew came to a believing knowledge of Christ, this office of the law ceased."
The original Scofield notes say concerning the word "schoolmaster" - Greek - paidagogos , child-conductor. Among the Greeks and Romans, persons, for the most part slaves, who had it in charge TO EDUCATE (Caps are mine) and give constant attendance upon boys till they came of age."--H.A.W. Meyer.
The King James Bible is correct, as always.
Will Kinney