God and the Arian Controversy
By Zarathustra
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It was the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who coined the expression, "Lack of a historical sense is the original error of all philosophers,” in his work, Human, All-Too-Human.  In the course of my own studies, I found myself struggling to understand how it is that the modern Bible came to include the word God were earlier versions did not.

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew some time after the 12th century B.C.E. and translated to Greek in Alexandria between the 3rd and 1st centuries B.C.E.  The New Testament was originally written in Greek some time after the 1st century A.C.E.  The word God does not exist in the Hebrew books of the Bible or in the Hebrew language.  The word God does not exist in the Greek books of the Bible or in the Greek language either.  In fact, the word God did not exist in any known language of the time period when the books of the Bible were originally written.

The Hebrew Old Testament words for Elohim are translated 2,824 times first as Theos and later as God.  The Greek New Testament word Theos is translated 1,338 times as God.  The Latin, or Vulgate, Bible translates the word Theos to Deus.

The Greek and Latin words Theos and Deus descend from the Proto-Indo-European root word *dyeu- meaning to shine.  From the root word *dyeu- springs the Proto-Indo-European supernatural rulers of the daylight sky, *Dyēus and *Deiwos, and the Proto-Germanic *Teiwaz.  From these early names spring a host of names for more familiar supernatural rulers of the daylight sky:  Dyaus (Vedic), Zeus (Greek), Jupiter (Roman) and Tyr (Norse).  Each of these supernatural rulers was also considered to be a supernatural father.  Dyeus Ph2tr (Shining Father), Dyaus Pita (Sky Father), Zeu Pater (Father Zeus) and Iovis Pater (Father Jove) or Iuppiter (Jupiter) all translate literally to the modern expression Heavenly Father.

The phrases Heavenly Father and Father which is in Heaven are unique to the New Testament and do not appear in the Old Testament.  However, the Old Testament does refer to the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth. 

The Hebrew Old Testament Jehovah is translated 6,510 times first as the Greek word Kurios and then later as the English words LORD, 4 times each later as GOD and JEHOVAH. The Latin, or Vulgate, Bible translates the Greek word Kurios to Dominus.

In the 4th century a Goth missionary and Bishop named Ulfilas (ca. 310 – 383) translated the Greek Bible to the Goth language.  The Goths did not have an alphabet, so Ulfilas invented an alphabet for them based on his knowledge of the Greek and Roman alphabets. 

The New Testament Kurios and the Old Testament Jehovah translated to the Goth word frauja.  The English translation of frauja is to Lord.

The New Testament Theos and the Old Testament Elohim translate to the Goth word guda.  The English translation of guda is to God.

Ulfilas could have translated Theos to *Teiwaz, the words are literal equivalents.  Instead, he chose to elevate a simple adjective describing that which is invoked to a proper adjective or proper name meaning the invoked one.  The invoked one, Theos from the New Testament or Elohim from the Old Testament, is in contrast to the existing one, Jehovah.

If the myth were to be properly understood the Elohim of the Old Testament were rulers in the heavens (sky) and on the earth.  The Elohim of the earth were mighty men.  The Elohim of the heavens were supernatural beings that could be seen in the sky by their light, they were the stars, the moon and the sun.  It is easy to understand why the Greek translators called them Theos, shining ones.

Furthermore, according to the myth there existed one before all others and he had dominion over them all, he was Jehovah.  The Elohim came into existence to fulfill the will of Jehovah and Jehovah gave them dominion in their respective spheres, the shining ones in the heavens and the mighty men on earth.

A great controversy arose among Christians in the fourth century.  All Christians agreed that Jesus was the God (Lord) of both the heavens and the earth, in other words, the pre-incarnate Jesus existed as a ruler in the heavens before he was born to be a ruler on earth.  But not all agreed that he was also the LORD (GOD), the one who had always existed and had dominion over all others.   In c. 318 A.C.E, it was a priest named Arius who put forward the following syllogism, "‘If,’ said he, ‘the Father begat the Son, he that was begotten had a beginning of existence and from this it is evident, that there was a time when the Son was not. It therefore necessarily follows, that he had his substance from nothing.’"

The suggestion was that an unbegotten Father, Jehovah, by His own will begot the pre-incarnate Jesus who was called His Only Begotten Son.  The pre-incarnate Jesus was identified with Elohim and was the person in and through whom the will of the father was expressed and who created this world and all that is in it both the heavens and the earth.  The pre-incarnate Jesus was begotten to be both the preeminent ruler of the heavens, an Eloah or shining one, and the incarnate Jesus to be the preeminent ruler of the earth, a mighty man with supernatural powers.  The resurrected Jesus was preordained to be the supernatural ruler of both the heavens and the earth.

Arius was excommunicated and exiled for his heretical views, but not before they infected the minds of many of the leading priests and bishops of his day.  Bishop Ulfilas was a supporter of the Arian view and this is well known because the Goths adopted and held to this non-Trinitarian view long after it was disavowed by the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.C.E. in favor of the Trinitarian view.  Ulfilas’ viewed are best expressed in his translation of the Bible.  The name Jehovah literally means the existing one, or in other words, the unbegotten one.  Ulfilas translated Elohim as one that is invoked, or in other words, the begotten one.

Ulfilas maintained the Arian or non-Trinitarian view all of his life and his translation continues to bear testimony of the unbegotten Father and the begotten Son, modern theists who hold the Trinitarian Christian view do not give any thought to that fact.  Nor do they give any thought to the words Elohim or Theos.  If they gave thought to these things, they would know that their Judeo-Christian ancestors of only a few thousand years ago worshipped the stars, the moon and the sun and thought them to be shining ones, rulers in the sky, either begotten of the Shining Father or of the pre-incarnate Son when He created the world and whose counterpart were the mighty men with supernatural power who ruled on earth and were likewise begotten, each to fill their sphere and to fulfill the will of their Creator.

A better understanding of these chapters in history might also help modern theists understand the conceptual development of the Catholic Church.  The word catholic means universal.  Early church leaders did not see that there was a great disparity between the worship of Dyaus, Zeus, Jupiter or Tyr.  All of these supernatural rulers of the daylight sky were felt to be the same person and all that was needed was for an authoritative account to identify and promote the unifying characteristics while discouraging those differing characteristics that were fallacious and divisive.  Early Deists certainly understood that the word Deity was more all-embracing than the word God.

Without the fourth century Arian controversy the word God might not even exist in the modern English language.  Instead of God, modern theists might be worshiping Theo in Greek, Deo in Latin, and Tiu in English.  Instead of Seventh Day Adventists, a small cult of followers might be meeting on their sacred day of the week, Tiu’s Day or Tuesday.  Instead of the Church of God we might have the Church of Tyr.  And the phrase Shining Father might be as commonly used as Heavenly Father.

© Zarathustra, January 13, 2008. All right reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce electronically or otherwise for personal use and/or to share with others so long as article is published in its entirety and properly attributed.  May not otherwise be reproduced for profit without the author’s permission.

Word Count: 1,370