Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Monogenēs (only, unique, 'only-begotten')

The NT word describing the Son's relation to the Father — 'one of a kind', unique — traditionally rendered 'only-begotten'.

Greek monos ('only') + genos ('kind, class') — not from gennaō ('to beget'). Core sense: 'single of its kind, unique'. The 'only-begotten' rendering came via the Latin unigenitus in the eternal-generation debates.

John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9; used of an only child in Luke 7:12; 8:42; 9:38 and of Isaac in Hebrews 11:17 (though Abraham had Ishmael — so 'unique', not merely 'only-born').

In John 1:18 the earliest manuscripts read monogenēs theos ('the only God'), framing the prologue's inclusio on the Word's deity. The word fed the Nicene 'begotten, not made' and the doctrine of eternal generation.

Marks the Son as unrepeatably, uniquely the Son — sharing the Father's nature by an eternal relation, not one son among many.

Whether 'only-begotten' (implying generation) or 'unique' best captures the word; Arians read it as implying the Son had a beginning, which the word's actual sense ('unique') does not support.

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