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Jesus is Eternally Begotten, Firstborn, and the Beginning of God's Creation?

In some translations in the Biblical text, the English word begotten (John 1:14; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9), first-born (Colossians 1:15), and beginning have all caused opposition to Christ’s deity. Early Christians had to defend and prove why these accounts in scripture did not at all diminish the divin

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Eternally Begotten

In some translations in the Biblical text, the English word begotten (John 1:14; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9), first-born (Colossians 1:15), and beginning have all caused opposition to Christ’s deity. Early Christians had to defend and prove why these accounts in scripture did not at all diminish the divinity of our Lord and Savior. One of the first issues was found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten [italics added] Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (NASB). This English word for begotten is the Greek word monogenes (μονογενής, 3439) which morphology shows in this context is an adjective and means alone of its kind regarding relationship, or only, or unique (Soanes & Stevenson, 2004; Vine, Unger & White, 1996). This term is never meant to communicate creation or born in the space of time, but rather demonstrate a relational bond (Bird, 2013). Hebrews 11:17 is an excellent example of this showing us the true meaning when speaking about Abraham offering up his only begotten son. The sense of this word in Hebrews means unique, and the same Greek word is used in John 3:16. Bird also goes into length about how there was a considerable controversy which is known as the Arian controversy which communicated that Jesus was a created being and only the Father existed at one point of time (Bird, 2013; Grudem, 2004).

In response to this controversy, the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD added a qualifier in the text before the word begotten which was the word eternally. In our lecture this week it states the rephrase to eternally begotten stresses “that the Son’s beginning is not a temporal event, but an eternal relation between Father and Son could not have a beginning or otherwise He would not be fully divine since eternality is a divine attribute.” (“Lecture 2,” 2015). The early Church felt so strongly about this when comparing this same Greek word with other Gospels and letters that they thought whatever begotten meant; it did not mean created (Grudem, 2004). This is why we see this phrase appear in many of the famous creeds that the Church put out for years to come; the Nicaean Creed (A.D. 325; revised at Constantinople A.D. 381), the Chalcedonian Creed (A.D. 451), the Athanasian Creed (fourth-fifth centuries A.D.), and the Articles of Religion (1571: Church of England). It was in these Church creeds and Articles that the Church made abundantly clear, that the word begotten does not mean created but rather eternally present; highlighting the deity of Jesus Christ (Grudem, 2004).

Firstborn

Furthermore, Grudem (2004) also explains first-born in Colossians 1:15 speaks of primacy instead of creation as well. It was the first-born in the Hebrew culture which held all the authority, the rights, and privileges. This would all be handed over to Jesus (Philippians 2). A couple of examples in scripture make this clear. First-born is talking about preeminence in a position, not concerning birth order. We read in scripture that David is the last son of Jesse but in Psalm 89:27, David is said to be the first-born. In another case later in scripture, we read about Ephraim and Manasseh. Manasseh was born first, but the bible says that Ephraim was first-born in Jeremiah 31:9. Other scriptures can be used, but these two show the point when comparing scripture with scripture, first-born speaks of primacy, power, position, authority, rights, and privileges.

The Beginning of God’s Creation

Finally, one of the Jehovah Witnesses’ favorite passages to debate with Christians about is found in Revelation 3:14, “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation [italics added].” What on Earth does this mean? The Greek word “ἀρχή” “arche” in the transliteration form means beginner, originator, or initiator (Hamilton, 2012; Ladd, 1972, MacDonald, 1995). This lines up as well when compared with Colossians 1:15 which says Christ is the firstborn of all creation. The word firstborn is talking about preeminence in a position not in terms of birth order as I have already pointed out (Ex. 4:22; Jeremiah 31:9; Psalm 89:27). If you think about it concerning JW theology, it is crystal clear that Jesus here in Revelation 3:14 is the initiator of all creation. Jesus is the agent that God used to create all things as the apostle Paul and John have stated (1 Cor. 8:6; John 1:3; Poole, 1853). So, concerning the meaning, I would completely agree that this is speaking of Jesus the creator of everything which Jehovah Witnesses would accept but why they try to use this verse to push the agenda of Christ being created does not suffice for their argument.

Moreover, Jesus tells them that he is the beginning of God’s creation (Rev 3:14). This is not to be understood as though Jesus was created, for elsewhere in Revelation Jesus announces that he is the first and the last (Rev 1:17; 2:8), “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Rev 22:13). The references to Jesus as the Alpha and the beginning cannot point to a time when He was created or began himself, for the same things are said about the Father, who identifies himself as the Alpha and the Omega (Rev 1:8) and as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (Rev 21:6). Jesus and the Father are both referred to as “the Alpha” and as “the beginning” in Revelation, and the point is not that they had a point in time when they themselves came into being but rather that they are the beginning. As the HCSB translates it, Jesus is the “originator.” That is, with the Father, Jesus began all that is. This puts Jesus in a uniquely strong position to offer counsel that the church will want to hear. Finally, one needs to remember that the text doesn’t say that Jesus had a beginning, but rather, He is the beginning (MacArthur, 2006).

References

Bird, M. F. (2013). Evangelical theology: A Biblical and systematic introduction(p. 96). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: An introduction to Biblical doctrine. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.

Hamilton, J. M., Jr. (2012). Preaching the Word: Revelation—The Spirit Speaks to the Churches. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 121). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Ladd, G. E. (1972). A Commentary on the Revelation of John (p. 65). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Lecture 2. (2015). HTH-201: Christian Theology I. Phoenix, AZ: Grand Canyon University.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Re 3:14). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 2360). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Poole, M. (1853). Annotations upon the Holy Bible (Vol. 3, p. 958). New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.

Soanes, C., & Stevenson, A. (Eds.). (2004). Concise Oxford English dictionary(11th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson.