Religion:Eternal Generation of the Son

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The Eternal Generation of the Son is a trinitarian doctrine, which is defined as a necessary and as an eternal act of God the Father, where he generates (or begets) God the Son through communicating the whole divine essence to the Son. Generation is not 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 Catholic church,[6] Eastern Orthodoxy,[7] the Westminister confession[8] the London Baptist confession,[9] 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 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.[11] However, he later recanted of his opposition to the doctrine of eternal generation.[27]

The Bible

Those who teach the traditional doctrine of eternal generation have often used texts such as Proverbs 8:23, Psalm 2:7, John 5:26, John 1:18, 3:16, Colossians 1:15 and Hebrews 1:3. 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 such as John Walvoord to support an eternal begetting or generation. 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.[28][29][30][31][32] 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.[33][11]

References

  1. ↑ "God the Son" (in en-US). 2019-12-01. https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2019/12/god-the-son/. 
  2. ↑ 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. ↑ 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. ↑ Gatewood, Timothy. "The Catholic Puritan: John Owen on Eternal Generation - Credo Magazine" (in en-US). https://credomag.com/2020/12/the-catholic-puritan-john-owen-on-eternal-generation/. 
  5. ↑ "[Common Places: Pro-Nicene Theology: Eternal Generation"] (in en). https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/common-places-pro-nicene-theology-eternal-generation. 
  6. ↑ "Part 1 Section 2 Chapter 1 Article 1 Page 2 | USCCB" (in en). https://www.usccb.org/catechism/pt1sect2chpt1art1p2. "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. ↑ "The Orthodox Faith - Volume I - Doctrine and Scripture - The Symbol of Faith - Son of God". https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/doctrine-scripture/the-symbol-of-faith/son-of-god. 
  8. ↑ "Of God and of the Holy Trinity - Westminster Confession of 1646 - Study Resources" (in en). https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/ccc/westminster/Of_God_And_Of_The_Holy_Trinity.cfm. "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. ↑ "Of God and the Holy Trinity" (in en-US). 2017-05-31. https://www.the1689confession.com/1689/chapter-2. "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. ↑ "BookOfConcord.org" (in en). https://bookofconcord.org/. "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. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Giles, Kevin (2012-05-07) (in en). The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 978-0-8308-3965-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=lo42zEOKobwC&dq=eternal+generation+wayne+grudem&pg=PA147. 
  12. ↑ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: The Blessed Trinity". https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm. 
  13. ↑ Parkison, Samuel. "The Only Begotten God - Credo Magazine" (in en-US). https://credomag.com/article/the-only-begotten-god/. 
  14. ↑ "Trinitarian Agency and the Eternal Subordination of the Son: An Augustinian Perspective" (in en-US). https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/trinitarian-agency-and-the-eternal-subordination-of-the-son-an-augustinian-perspective/. 
  15. ↑ Wedgeworth, Steven (2020-04-15). "Athanasius on the Simple God And Eternal Generation" (in en-US). https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/article/athanasius-on-the-simple-god-and-eternal-generation/. 
  16. ↑ Graham, Wyatt (2022-02-13). "Impassibility Makes Sense of Our Faith in the Father and Son" (in en-US). https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/detrinitate/impassibility-makes-sense-of-our-faith-in-father-and-son/. 
  17. ↑ Giles, Kevin (2012-05-07) (in en). The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 978-0-8308-3965-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=lo42zEOKobwC&dq=Eternal+generation+early+church&pg=PA87. 
  18. ↑ "Bavinck On Eternal Generation - The Heidelblog" (in en-US). 2014-08-28. https://heidelblog.net/2014/08/bavinck-on-eternal-generation/. 
  19. ↑ Michial (2016-06-10). "Muller: The Reformed Affirmed Eternal Generation Against The Socinians - The Heidelblog" (in en-US). https://heidelblog.net/2016/06/muller-the-reformed-affirmed-eternal-generation-against-the-socinians/. 
  20. ↑ "John Owen Defended Eternal Generation Against The Socinians - The Heidelblog" (in en-US). 2020-10-24. https://heidelblog.net/2020/10/john-owen-defended-eternal-generation-against-the-socinians/. 
  21. ↑ "Is God the Son Begotten in His Divine Nature? | Reasonable Faith" (in en). http://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/scholarly-writings/christian-doctrines/is-god-the-son-begotten-in-his-divine-nature/. 
  22. ↑ "Responding to Craig's Proposals On The Eternal Generation Of The Son". https://theaquilareport.com/responding-to-craigs-proposals-on-the-eternal-generation-of-the-son/. 
  23. ↑ Ryrie, Charles C. (1999-01-11) (in en). Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. Moody Publishers. ISBN 978-1-57567-498-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=F55Dx_kFcZIC. 
  24. ↑ "Reexamining the Eternal Sonship of Christ" (in en). https://www.gty.org/library/articles/A235/. 
  25. ↑ "Eternally Begotten Son". https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/eternally-begotten-son. 
  26. ↑ Erickson, Millard J. (2009) (in en). Who's Tampering with the Trinity?: An Assessment of the Subordination Debate. Kregel Academic. ISBN 978-0-8254-9918-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=lNVTBmnZTlUC&dq=J.+Oliver+Buswell+eternal+generation&pg=PA61. 
  27. ↑ Parkison, Samuel. "How Then Shall We Theologize? - Credo Magazine" (in en-US). https://credomag.com/article/how-then-shall-we-theologize/. 
  28. ↑ "Proverbs 8:23, the Eternal Generation of the Son and the History of Reformed Exegesis" (in en). https://www.reformation21.org/blogs/proverbs-823-the-eternal-gener.php. 
  29. ↑ "The Person of the Holy Spirit Part 1: The Person of the Holy Spirit | Walvoord.com". https://walvoord.com/article/4. 
  30. ↑ Johnson, Keith (2017-06-16). "Is the Eternal Generation of the Son a Biblical Idea?" (in en-US). https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/is-the-eternal-generation-of-the-son-a-biblical-idea/. 
  31. ↑ "What is the Doctrine of Eternal Generation?" (in en-US). https://ps.edu/eternal-generation/. 
  32. ↑ "Series in Christology". https://walvoord.com/book/export/html/336. 
  33. ↑ "Is God the Son Begotten in His Divine Nature? | Reasonable Faith" (in en). http://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/scholarly-writings/christian-doctrines/is-god-the-son-begotten-in-his-divine-nature/. 



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