Eternal generation of the Son explained

The eternal generation of the Son is a Trinitarian doctrine, which is defined as a necessary and eternal act of God the Father, in which he generates (or begets) God the Son through communicating the whole divine essence to the Son. Generation is not defined as an act of the will, but is by necessity of nature.[1] [2] To avoid anthropomorphistic understandings of the doctrine, theologians have defined it as timeless, non-bodily, incomprehensible and not as a communication without but within the Godhead.[3] [4] [5] The view is affirmed by the Roman Catholic Church,[6] Eastern Orthodoxy[7] and Protestantism as is evident in the Westminster Confession[8] the London Baptist Confession[9] and by Lutheran confessions[10] among others.

The doctrine has been an important part of Nicene Trinitarianism, however some modern theologians have proposed different models of the Trinity, wherein eternal generation is no longer seen as necessary and thus rejected.[11]

History

The doctrine of eternal generation has been affirmed by the Athanasian creed,[12] the Nicene creed[13] and by church fathers such as Athanasius of Alexandria, Augustine, Basil of Caesarea[14] [15] [16] [17] being mentioned explicitly first by Origen of Alexandria.[18]

The doctrine was often disputed by the Socinians, arguing that the sonship of Christ is not derived from his eternal begetting.[19] [20] The view has also been disputed by some modern theologians, including some Social Trinitarians, such as William Lane Craig.[21] [22] Other trinitarian theologians to have criticized the view include Charles Ryrie,[23] John MacArthur (although later recanting of his position)[24] and J. Oliver Buswell among others.[25] [26] The doctrine was also disputed by the popular Evangelical theologian Wayne Grudem, arguing that the doctrine is derived from a misunderstanding of the Greek word monogenes ('μονογενής'). However, he later recanted of his opposition to the doctrine of eternal generation.[27]

Scripture

Those who teach the traditional doctrine of eternal generation have often used texts such as Proverbs 8:23,[28] Psalm 2:7, Micah 5:2, John 5:26, John 1:18, 3:16, Colossians 1:15, 2 Corinthians 4:4 and Hebrews 1:3.[29] [30] The ideas of 'image' and 'radiance' expressed in these texts have been argued to imply the idea of generation. Additionally, the idea of being 'begotten' in Psalm 2:7 and John 3:16 has been applied by theologians to support eternal begetting or generation.[31] The text of John 5:26 is one of the most central texts used to defend the idea of eternal generation, which references the Son being granted to have 'life in himself' by the Father.[32] [33] However, the idea that these texts teach the doctrine of eternal generation has been disputed by its critics. The critics of the theory such as William Lane Craig have argued that it introduces subordinationism into the Godhead. A major issue in the debate is the translation of the Greek term monogenes, translated as 'only begotten'. Those who hold to eternal generation generally argue the word to involve an idea of derivation or begetting, while its critics have denied that the word has such connotations.[34]

Characteristics

In his Reformed Dogmatics, 19th-century Dutch Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck presages an enumeration of the characteristics of the eternal generation of the Son by emphasising the classical attribution of 'life' to God, stating that he is not an 'abstract, fixed, monadic, solitary substance, but a plenitude of life'. This is rooted in the Biblical attribution of generation in a fatherly sense to God, for example, For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself . In addition, the Son bears names that denote this relation to the Father, including firstborn, only-begotten and image ('χαρακτηρ') as in, in which the Son is said to be the express image of God's person. Thus while Bavinck is cautious not to associate the imperfection and sensuality of earthly generation with the eternal generation of the Son, he nevertheless asserts the relevance of the analogy to the divine being.

God's fecundity is a beautiful theme, one that frequently recurs in the church fathers. God is no abstract, fixed, monadic, solitary substance, but a plenitude of life. It is his nature (οὐσια) to be generative (γεννητικη) and fruitful (καρπογονος). It is capable of expansion, unfolding, and communication. Those who deny this fecund productivity fail to take seriously the fact that God is an infinite fullness of blessed life. All such people have left is an abstract deistic concept of God, or to compensate for this sterility, in pantheistic fashion they include the life of the world in the divine being. Apart from the Trinity even the act of creation becomes inconceivable. For if God cannot communicate himself, he is a darkened light, a dry spring, unable to exert himself outward to communicate himself to creatures.[35]
Given this emphasis on the 'life' of God, Bavinck enumerates three major characteristics of the eternal generation which are characteristic of Nicene orthodoxy, in contrast to Arianism which the Nicene Creed opposes.

  1. The generation of the Son is spiritual. That is, it is simple, without division, separation or flux. God expresses himself completely in the person of the Logos, the express image of his person . A common analogy of eternal generation is human speech; as human thought is expressed in speech, so God expresses his being in the Logos (which means 'speech', 'word' or 'reason'). Yet it is an imperfect analogy, since the expression of God's being in the Son is total and indivisible, For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself . The Arians, in contrast, alleged that generation necessitates separation, division and passion, such that the Son cannot be consubstantial with the Father.
  2. The Father generates the Son out of the very same being of the Father. As it states in the Nicene Creed, 'God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father.'[36] The Son was not created by the Father, rather he was generated out of the Father's being in eternity. Generation is thus not so much a work of the Father, but the very nature of the Father, in harmony with his knowledge, will and power as a perfect expression of his being. In this sense it can be said that Christ is over all, God blessed for ever . In Arianism, the Son is not generated but created by the Father out of nothing, which means that he is a creature.
  3. The generation is eternal. If the Son does not possess his sonship or generation of the Father eternally, than neither is the Father eternal. In other words, the very fact that the Father is eternally the Father necessitates that the Son is eternally the Son. Indeed, to deny the eternal generation of the Son would rob the Father of his eternal nature as the Father, since there would have been a prior time in which the Father was not the Father but something else, only later generating the son and thus becoming the Father. Generation is an everlasting act of God, eternally occurring as an aspect of the eternally generative nature of the Father. The Son is therefore everlastingly begotten. In Arianism, the Son is said to not have existed at some point, and further was brought about or created at some point.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2019-12-01 . God the Son . 2023-11-20 . Tabletalk . en-US.
  2. Book: Hodge, Charles . Outlines of Theology . The eternal generation of the Son is commonly defined to be an eternal personal act of the Father, wherein by necessity of nature, not by choice of will, he generates the person (not the essence) of the Son, by communicating to him the whole indivisible substance of the Godhead, without division, alienation, or change, so that the Son is the express image of His Father’s person, and eternally continues, not from the Father, but in the Father, and the Father in the Son.
  3. Book: Hodge, Charles . Outlines of Theology . In order to guard their doctrine of derivation and eternal generation from all gross anthropomorphic conceptions, they carefully maintained that it was—(1) αχρονος timeless, eternal; (2) ασωματως not bodily, spiritual; (3) αορατοςinvisible; (4) αχωριστως not a local transference, a communication not without but within the Godhead ; (5) απαθως without passion or change; (6) παντελως ακαταληπτος, altogether incomprehensible..
  4. Web site: Gatewood . Timothy . The Catholic Puritan: John Owen on Eternal Generation - Credo Magazine . 2023-11-20 . credomag.com . en-US.
  5. Web site: [Common Places]

    Pro-Nicene Theology: Eternal Generation ]

    . 2023-11-20 . Zondervan Academic . en.
  6. Web site: Part 1 Section 2 Chapter 1 Article 1 Page 2 USCCB . 2023-11-20 . usccb.org . en . And, since the Father has through generation given to the only-begotten Son everything that belongs to the Father, except being Father, the Son has also eternally from the Father, from whom he is eternally born, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son..
  7. Web site: The Orthodox Faith - Volume I - Doctrine and Scripture - The Symbol of Faith - Son of God . 2023-11-20 . www.oca.org.
  8. Web site: Of God and of the Holy Trinity - Westminster Confession of 1646 - Study Resources . 2023-11-20 . Blue Letter Bible . en . the Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, (Jhn 1:14; Jhn 1:18); the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son, (Jhn 15:26; Gal 4:6)..
  9. Web site: 2017-05-31 . Of God and the Holy Trinity . 2023-11-20 . The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith . en-US . the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father;29 the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son;30.
  10. Web site: BookOfConcord.org . 2023-11-20 . bookofconcord.org . en . l with us according to the humanity; that He is in all respects like us, excepting sin; that He was begotten before the world out of the Father according to the deity, but that the same person was in the last<
    II. That the Father is begotten of no one; the Son of the Father; the Holy Ghost proceeds from Father and Son..
  11. Book: Giles, Kevin . The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology . 2012-05-07 . InterVarsity Press . 978-0-8308-3965-0 . en.
  12. Web site: CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Blessed Trinity . 2023-11-20 . newadvent.org.
  13. Web site: Parkison . Samuel . The Only Begotten God - Credo Magazine . 2023-11-20 . credomag.com . en-US.
  14. Web site: Trinitarian Agency and the Eternal Subordination of the Son: An Augustinian Perspective . 2023-11-20 . The Gospel Coalition . en-US.
  15. Web site: Wedgeworth . Steven . 2020-04-15 . Athanasius on the Simple God And Eternal Generation . 2023-11-20 . The Gospel Coalition Canada . en-US.
  16. Web site: Graham . Wyatt . 2022-02-13 . Impassibility Makes Sense of Our Faith in the Father and Son . 2023-11-20 . The Gospel Coalition Canada . en-US.
  17. Book: Giles, Kevin . The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology . 2012-05-07 . InterVarsity Press . 978-0-8308-3965-0 . en.
  18. Web site: 2014-08-28 . Bavinck On Eternal Generation - The Heidelblog . 2023-11-20 . heidelblog.net. en-US.
  19. Web site: Michial . 2016-06-10 . Muller: The Reformed Affirmed Eternal Generation Against The Socinians - The Heidelblog . 2023-11-20 . heidelblog.net . en-US.
  20. Web site: 2020-10-24 . John Owen Defended Eternal Generation Against The Socinians - The Heidelblog . 2023-11-20 . heidelblog.net . en-US.
  21. Web site: Is God the Son Begotten in His Divine Nature? Reasonable Faith . 2023-11-20 . www.reasonablefaith.org . en.
  22. Web site: Responding to Craig's Proposals On The Eternal Generation Of The Son . 2023-11-20 . theaquilareport.com.
  23. Book: Ryrie, Charles C. . Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth . 1999-01-11 . Moody Publishers . 978-1-57567-498-8 . en.
  24. Web site: Reexamining the Eternal Sonship of Christ . 2023-11-20 . Grace to You . en.
  25. Web site: Eternally Begotten Son . 2023-11-20 . Catholic Answers.
  26. Book: Erickson, Millard J. . Who's Tampering with the Trinity?: An Assessment of the Subordination Debate . 2009 . Kregel Academic . 978-0-8254-9918-0 . en.
  27. Web site: Parkison . Samuel . How Then Shall We Theologize? - Credo Magazine . 2023-11-20 . credomag.com . en-US.
  28. Web site: Proverbs 8:23, the Eternal Generation of the Son and the History of Reformed Exegesis . 2023-11-20 . reformation21.org . en.
  29. Web site: What is the Doctrine of Eternal Generation? . 2023-11-20 . Phoenix Seminary . en-US.
  30. Book: Sanders . Fred . Retrieving Eternal Generation . Swain . Scott R. . 2017-11-21 . Zondervan Academic . 978-0-310-53788-5 . en.
  31. Web site: The Person of the Holy Spirit Part 1: The Person of the Holy Spirit Walvoord.com . 2023-11-20 . walvoord.com.
  32. Web site: Johnson . Keith . 2017-06-16 . Is the Eternal Generation of the Son a Biblical Idea? . 2023-11-20 . The Gospel Coalition . en-US.
  33. Web site: Series in Christology . 2023-11-20 . walvoord.com.
  34. Web site: Is God the Son Begotten in His Divine Nature? Reasonable Faith . 2023-11-20 . reasonablefaith.org . en.
  35. Book: Bavinck, Herman . Reformed Dogmatics: God and Creation . Baker Academic . 2004 . Grand Rapids, Michigan . 2.308-310 . Bolt . John . Vriend . John.
  36. Web site: Nicene Creed Christian Reformed Church . 2024-08-01 . www.crcna.org . en.

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