What Does “Begotten, Not Made” Imply?

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 occasions within the New Testomony with regards to Jesus (John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9).

Whereas most newer translations render the time period “solely” or “considered one of a form,” 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 cases, 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 ought to be apparent. And the best way during 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 will 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 will 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 problem. 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 limitless ages; by means 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 may 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 system means that the Son is similar 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 indicate 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 “Mild of Mild.” This declare is much like the final, however not similar. Right here we’re coping with a time period somewhat than a title of divine identification. The argument is that if the time period mild means the identical factor with each the Father and the Son, then they have to each be of the identical essence. The Son is just not a distinct form of mild than the Father. To place it extra technically, a property shared in widespread, with the identical which means in each, signifies a standard nature.

The Son is just not a lesser mild 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 may need stated 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 form of God than the Father. However the Arians wouldn’t have stated that the Son is “very God,” for that suggests that the Son isn’t any much less God than the Father (“very” is an archaic approach 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 won’t enable 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 approach that Arius or his get together might 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 Music to Be Sung

The doctrine of the Son’s begottenness from the Father is named 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 exterior the bodily or materials realm), infinite (it doesn’t happen in time), and ineffable (it can’t be absolutely comprehended). By everlasting era we don’t imply that the Father created the Son’s essence, however somewhat that the Father communicates the essence he shares with the Son.

Nicene orthodoxy teaches us to carry a number of truths on the similar 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 is rarely of the Son.

The language of “solely begotten” helps clarify how all these truths can stand collectively. The early church thought lengthy and exhausting about how one can clarify that the Godhead can include 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 also 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 chatting with 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.

If you happen to discover all of that is exhausting to know, you aren’t alone. Essentially the most good theologians in historical past have gladly acknowledged that the doctrine of the Trinity is filled with thriller. We’re coping with realities past our capacity 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 think about 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 should always sing songs about Jesus and to Jesus.

Consider what we sing at Christmas in that good hymn Adeste Fidelis (“O Come, All Ye Devoted”): “God of God, Mild of Mild. / Lo, he abhors not the Virgin’s womb. / Very God, begotten, not created.” The Christ baby we worship within the manger is none aside 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 might learn or write. We all know it to be true. We all know it to be wonderful. We all know it to be lovely. And so we sing.

This text is tailored from The Nicene Creed: What You Have to Know in regards to the Most Vital Creed Ever Written by Kevin DeYoung.

Associated Articles