[B-Greek] PNEUMA HO THEOS and similar expressions

kramer kramer brews4jesus at yahoo.com
Tue Jun 26 08:42:15 EDT 2007


Several translations render PNEUMA HO THEOS in John 4:24 as "God is a spirit" whilst others translate it without the article 'a'.  I was under the impression that two other Johannine phrases, HO THEOS AGAPE EIMI (God is love) and HOS THEOS PHOS EIMI (God is light), are functionally identical, but is this the case?  A friend of mien recently suggested to me the following:
   
  ho theos agape eimi 
THE God love is 
=God is love 

God is love is an expression showing love as God's dominant quality. 

ho theos phOs eimi 
THE God light is 
=God is light 


pneuma ho theos 
spirit THE God 

  Since spirit come before "the God" it is not saying God has a dominant quality of "spirit" but that he "is a spirit". When God "is" some quality the quality comes after "ho theos". 
   
  Is my friend correct about this?  Any help would be appreciated.
   
  K. Kramer (layman).

       
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