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]
- ^ "God the Son". Tabletalk. 2019-12-01. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- ^ 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ Gatewood, Timothy. "The Catholic Puritan: John Owen on Eternal Generation - Credo Magazine". credomag.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- ^ "[Common Places]: Pro-Nicene Theology: Eternal Generation". Zondervan Academic. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- ^ "Part 1 Section 2 Chapter 1 Article 1 Page 2 | USCCB". usccb.org. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
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.
- ^ "The Orthodox Faith - Volume I - Doctrine and Scripture - The Symbol of Faith - Son of God". www.oca.org. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- ^ "Of God and of the Holy Trinity - Westminster Confession of 1646 - Study Resources". Blue Letter Bible. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
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).
- ^ "Of God and the Holy Trinity". The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. 2017-05-31. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
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
- ^ "BookOfConcord.org". bookofconcord.org. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
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. - ^ Giles, Kevin (2012-05-07). The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 978-0-8308-3965-0.
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