The word "Godhead" is used in Acts 17:29, Romans 1:20, and Colossians 2:9. The word "Godhead", in the King James Translation, is an old English word that we would recognize better as "Godhood". We are familiar with the term "childhood" and "manhood" and, therefore, it should not be difficult to understand "Godhood" or "Godhead". If "childhood" pertains to the qualities and characteristics of being a child and "manhood" pertains to the qualities and characteristics of being a man, then "Godhood" pertains to the qualities and characteristics of being God or Deity.

There are three who possess qualities and characteristics of Deity: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are all referred to as God: God the Father (John 6:27), God the Son (Hebrews 1:8), and God the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4).

Though the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are God (Deity), they are three separate and distinct persons. The three were present in the beginning (Genesis 1:1-2). Baptism is to be performed in the "name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). Jesus assured the apostles that after He ascended back to the Father into Heaven and no longer with them, the Father would send the Holy Ghost to comfort them and bring to their remembrance the things He had taught them. (John 14:26). The apostle Paul mentions all three in Romans 15:30 when he said, "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;". Also when Paul closed the second letter to the Corinthians he said, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen." (2 Corinthians 13:14). Therefore, we see three separate persons involved. When Jesus was baptized of John in Matthew 3:13-17, it was Jesus who was baptized, the Father that spoke from Heaven, and the Holy Spirit that lighted upon Jesus in the form of a dove. All three persons were present or else Jesus was a very good ventriloquist and magician to deceive us into believing there are three persons in the Godhead.

While God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all three divine persons in the Godhead, they are not the same person although they are "one". We can understand this if we can understand how a husband and wife are two separate persons, yet they are one (Matthew 19:5).

God the Father is Deity (John 20:17) but He is not Christ the Son (John 8:16). Neither is He the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). Christ the Son is Deity (Hebrews 1:8) but Christ is not God the Father (John 8:16). Neither is He the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). The Holy Spirit is Deity (Acts 5:3-4) but He is not the Father (John 14:26) and neither is He Son (Acts 10:38).

--E.R. Hall, Jr.

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