In an effort to understand more, we can use the Bible as a resource. Understanding them is challenging on many levels. This is not exclusive to the Bible, but it is also true of the Bible. If you want to understand a story, you have to understand the paragraphs, the sentences, and ultimately the words. If we don’t understand the words, how can we understand the sentences, sections, chapters and statements of the Bible?

There’s something else: some words are used in different contexts. We cannot limit words to one context when it has been shown that different contexts can apply. One such word is the word “God.” God is not a proper name, but a designation.

Paul says, for example, that although there are many gods, for us there is only one, the Father:

“For though there are also so-called gods (whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us only One is God, the Father, from Whom is the universe (and we are turned to Him).”
1Cor 8,5-6

Accordingly, the designation “God” is not exclusive. Paul acknowledges that people generally know many gods (in heaven or on earth), but for us there is only One God. This one God is the God who created heaven and earth (“from whom is the universe”). We choose to see only Him as the true God.

The term “God” is not exclusive.

The term “God” is used differently in the world and even in the Bible. It is far from the case that the term “God” always speaks of the one God. We just read that in the quote from Paul’s letter to the Romans. God is not a specific term, but a general term, applicable to specific situations.

Whoever is called God fulfills a function. This function arises exclusively in a relationship. Whoever is God is in charge. For example, the first verse of the Bible says that God created heaven and earth. From this, it is clear that God is in charge of heaven and earth. It is about a relation.

People are also called God. Moses, for example, was appointed God over his brother Aaron (Ex. 7:1). This did not make Moses “deity” or “creator of the world.” Moses, however, was given a function towards his brother Aaron. The designation God applies only in this one relationship. There are other such assignments. Jesus, too, when accused of making himself equal to God, responds by referring to a Psalm in which people are referred to as “Elohim”, as “God”:

“Jesus answered them: Is it not written in your law: I say, gods are ye? (Ps 82:6). If He called those gods to whom the Word of God happened (and the Scriptures cannot be dissolved after all), why do you say to Him whom the Father sanctified and sent out into the world: You blaspheme – because I said: I in the Son of God?”
John 10,

Idols are also called “God”. In German, this can be distinguished. In Hebrew and Greek (the languages of the Old and New Testaments) there is no such difference. There are also the idols “God”. We may see it differently, as Paul has already explained, but for the people who believe in them, these idols have the function of God.

The term “God” is to be understood situationally, not absolutely. It is clear from the context what is meant. It’s not always about the same one. However, a situation is always depicted, a function described. However, it is nowhere a name.

The term “God” is to be understood situationally, not absolutely. It is clear from the context what is meant.

However, this One God, from whom everything is, also has a name, YHWH:

“But Moses answered God, Behold, when I come unto the sons of Israel, and say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they ask me, What is his name? Then what should I say to them? Then God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” Then he said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ⟨The⟩ “I am” has sent me to you. And God said further to Moses: Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: Yahweh [JHWH], the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my naming from generation to generation. “
Ex 3:13-15

Function and name are to be distinguished. In another comparison, let’s replace, just for clarification, the word “God” with “boss.” Then it becomes immediately clear that “boss” is not a proper noun. There are different bosses, small and big, important and less important. However, the word “boss” always denotes a relationship and a task. It is a responsibility, another position, but only within the scope of the task. Likewise, the term “God” in the Bible each has its own framework. Most often, of course, the term is used for the One who created heaven and earth. But this is not true everywhere.

This is also the case with the term “God”. It is a neutral term. This does not change the fact that we can say with Paul: “for us only One is God, the Father, from whom is the universe (and we are turned to Him)” (1Cor 8,6).

The most important thing here is at the end: We are turned toward Him.