The Etymology and usage of God

The initial written form of the Germanic word "god" appears beginning the 6th century Christian Codex Argenteus. The capitalized form "God" was initial used in Ulfilas' Gothic conversion of the New Testament, to signify the Greek Theos.

In the English language the capitalization continues to represent a dissimilarity between monotheistic "God" and the "gods" of polytheism. The specified name "God" now characteristically refers to the Abrahamic God of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith. Though in attendance are considerable cultural divergences that are implied by these different names, "God" remains the common English change for all.

The name may mean any associated or comparable monotheistic deities, for example the early monotheism of Akhenaten and Zoroastrianism.

In the context of relation religion, "God" is also often related to concepts of universal holy being in Dharmic religions, in spite of the historical distinctions which divide monotheism from polytheism — a difference which some, such as Max Müller and Joseph Campbell, have characterised as a bias inside Western culture and theology.