What Does “Begotten, Not Made” Mean?

Solely Begotten Son of the Father

The Nicene Creed confesses that the Lord Jesus Christ is “the one begotten Son of God.” The Greek phrase translated “solely begotten” is monogenēs, a phrase used 5 instances within the New Testomony close to Jesus (John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9).

Whereas most newer translations render the time period “solely” or “one in all a sort,” the King James Model makes use of “solely begotten” in these 5 Johannine verses. Regardless of the correct translation of the phrase is in every of these 5 biblical situations, each English translation I’ve ever seen of the Nicene Creed renders the phrase “solely begotten.”

Let’s take into consideration the names “Father” and “Son.” God is Father as a result of he has a Son; Jesus is the Son as a result of he has a Father. That a lot must be apparent. And the best way through which the Father pertains to the Son is by “begetting.” The Father generates the Son, and the Son is “from the substance of the Father” (Creed of Nicaea). One factor we are able to say in regards to the Father that we can not say in regards to the Son is that the Father is unbegotten. One factor we are able to say in regards to the Son that we can not say in regards to the Father is that the Son is begotten.

Okay, however what does that every one imply?

The Arians agreed that Jesus Christ was the one begotten Son of God. This particular language wasn’t the difficulty. The problem was what these phrases meant. In a letter to Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, Arius defined that God was “the begetter of his solely Son earlier than infinite ages; by way of whom he made each the ages and all that’s.” Arius wouldn’t have objected to saying, because the Nicene Creed does, that Christ was “begotten of his Father earlier than all worlds.” However within the letter to Alexander, Arius additionally argued that the Son, “timelessly begotten by the Father,” was “created and established earlier than all ages” and “didn’t exist previous to his begetting.”¹ To counter this place, the Nicene Creed made 4 additional statements in definition of “solely begotten.”

The Son is “God of God.” The phrase “God of God” is just not a superlative like “Holy of Holies” or “King of kings” or “Lord of lords.” The “of” right here would possibly higher be translated “from,” talking of derivation. Jesus Christ is God from God, and the truth that God is utilized in each halves of the method means that the Son is identical form of God because the God from which he comes. The phrase additionally communicates that the Son is just not a half of God. He’s wholly God of wholly God. The era of the Son doesn’t suggest the division of the Godhead or the multiplication of deities.

The Son is God; the Father is God; the Son is of the Father (the Father is just not of the Son); and there is just one God. The Son is “Gentle of Gentle.” This declare is much like the final, however not an identical. Right here we’re coping with a time period quite than a title of divine id. The argument is that if the time period gentle means the identical factor with each the Father and the Son, then they need to each be of the identical essence. The Son is just not a distinct form of gentle than the Father. To place it extra technically, a property shared in widespread, with the identical that means in each, signifies a standard nature.

The Son is just not a lesser gentle than the Father. The Son is “very God of very God.” This clause is essential, particularly with regard to the Arian controversy. The defenders of Arius might need mentioned that the Son was God of God. They could have affirmed that Jesus Christ was God and that he got here from God. They could have affirmed these statements as a result of they reckoned the Son to be a distinct type of God than the Father. However the Arians wouldn’t have mentioned that the Son is “very God,” for that suggests that the Son is not any much less God than the Father (“very” is an archaic method of claiming “actually”). The Phrase was God—that a lot was plain from John 1. However for the Arians, the divine Phrase was a distinct form of deity (a created, lesser deity) than the Father. The Nicene Creed is not going to permit for an Arian misinterpretation of John’s Gospel.

The Son was “not made.” Now we come to the crux of the Nicene argument. There was no method that Arius or his get together may probably defend this assertion. For Arius, one couldn’t be “begotten” until he was “made” or “created.” Therefore, the Nicene Creed is making the all-important affirmation that the Son’s begottenness is just not like our begottenness, or not in each respect. The Son’s begottenness is an everlasting begottenness. Nobody created the Son. There by no means was when the Son was not—not in time and never earlier than time.

A Tune to Be Sung

The doctrine of the Son’s begottenness from the Father known as everlasting era. It’s a basic and essential Trinitarian doctrine, but it surely additionally a thriller past human description. Everlasting era is like human era in that one essence begets the identical essence, however it’s in contrast to human era in that it doesn’t contain bodily copy. Everlasting era is hyperphysical (it’s outdoors the bodily or materials realm), infinite (it doesn’t happen in time), and ineffable (it can’t be totally comprehended). By everlasting era we don’t imply that the Father created the Son’s essence, however quite that the Father communicates the essence he shares with the Son.

Nicene orthodoxy teaches us to carry a number of truths on the identical time:

• The Son is of the identical essence because the Father.
• The Son is to be distinguished from the Father.
• The Son is of the Father.
• The Father isn’t of the Son.

The language of “solely begotten” helps clarify how all these truths can stand collectively. The early church thought lengthy and onerous about the way to clarify that the Godhead can encompass a number of individuals with out there being a number of essences. The Son is equal with the Father as a result of he was eternally begotten of the Father. The Son can be distinct from the Father as a result of he was eternally begotten from the Father. When Jesus says he’s within the Father and the Father is in him, he’s talking to the theological actuality that the Nicene Creed means to defend (John 14:11). We all know {that a} son is from the “stuff” of his father, and but a son is just not the identical as his father, and the daddy doesn’t come from his son. What we perceive intuitively in an earthly sense, the Nicene Creed is making an attempt to elucidate and safeguard in an everlasting and theological sense.

For those who discover all of that is onerous to know, you aren’t alone. Essentially the most sensible theologians in historical past have gladly acknowledged that the doctrine of the Trinity is filled with thriller. We’re coping with realities past our skill to completely perceive or articulate. However mysterious doesn’t imply unreasonable or irrational. It signifies that we, as finite creatures, don’t possess ample mind to completely grasp the infinite. When confronted with such glories, it’s usually sensible to consider how we pray and the way we sing. Intuitively, led by the Spirit, filled with the phrase, we all know that Jesus Christ is to be worshiped simply because the Father is to be worshiped. We all know, just like the earliest Christians knew, that we must always sing songs about Jesus and to Jesus.

Consider what we sing at Christmas in that sensible hymn Adeste Fidelis (“O Come, All Ye Trustworthy”): “God of God, Gentle of Gentle. / Lo, he abhors not the Virgin’s womb. / Very God, begotten, not created.” The Christ little one we worship within the manger is none apart from “very God of very God,” the one begotten Son who’s from the Father however was not created or made by him. Many people have been reciting Nicene theology since earlier than we may learn or write. We all know it to be true. We all know it to be superb. We all know it to be stunning. And so we sing.

This text is tailored from The Nicene Creed: What You Need to Know about the Most Important Creed Ever Written by Kevin DeYoung.

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