Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Eternal generation (of the Son)

The Son is 'begotten' of the Father timelessly and without beginning — a relation, not an event.

From 'begotten' (Greek gennetos) in John 1:14, 18 and the Nicene 'begotten not made'.

John 1:14, 18; John 5:26; Hebrews 1:3, 5; the sense of monogenes ('only', 'unique').

Origen: 'there is no when he was not.' Nicaea: 'begotten, not made.' The point is that a son shares his father's nature; a product does not.

The Son's being is 'from the Father' as an eternal relation of origin — this is what distinguishes the Son as a person, not a difference in nature.

A minority of modern evangelicals have questioned 'eternal generation'; the historic churches retain it.

Open in the glossary for related terms and the doctrines this concept appears in.