The Doctrine of Eternal Generation In Scripture

The trinity

 The doctrine of eternal generation is today often neglected, however it should not. This doctrine is one of the foundations of classical trinitarian theology, it was affirmed by the Council of Nicaea and it was taught by dispensationalists such as Lewis Sperry Chafer, Ironside and John Walvoord. For example, Ironside says:

It is Christ as the Uncreated Word, yet the Begotten Son by eternal generation; words admittedly paradoxical, but after all distinctly Scriptural. (Proverbs and Song of Solomon)

The doctrine of eternal generation is defined thus by Charles Hodge:

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.

Eternal generation thus does not mean that Jesus is created in any way, which would be heretical. On this, John Walvoord comments:

Procession like the eternal generation of Christ is not a matter of creation, commencement of existence, or analogous in any way with physical relationships common in the human realm. It proceeds rather from the very nature of the Godhead, being necessary to its existence. (The Person of the Holy Spirit)

Scriptures

However, the major question is, is it scriptural? This article will attempt to demonstrate this doctrine from scripture.

The most popular scripture used to defend this idea come from the gospel of John, these are:

John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 5:26: “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.”

John 6:57: As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

John 3:16 is a very commonly used verse to defend the doctrine of eternal generation, this is due to the word "monogenes", which has been traditionally translated as "only begotten", which implies a kind of generation. However, in the modern day this has been questioned, and many today have attempted to argue that it should better be translated as "only-unique". However, I would myself prefer the King James translation of this verse (although I am not KJV only), which states "only begotten". Now, there are also good evidences for translating it as only begotten as it is evident that the early church fathers who spoke Greek natively, understood it as referring to being begotten. For example, the Nicene creed clearly referenced to John, when calling Jesus " Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father". We also see that Jerome understood the term as implying being begotten, as the Latin vulgate reads "For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.".

The fact that almost everybody living close to the age of the apostles, understood the term "monogenes" as "only begotten" makes a very strong case for its meaning as thus.

The next verse, John 5:26 is also a very great text that demonstrates this doctrine, as it says that the Son was "granted" to have life in Himself. Those who oppose the doctrine of eternal generation, generally argue that it is referencing only communication of the ability to grant life. However, what must be noticed is the first part of the verse, which states "For just as the Father has life in Himself". Thus, whatever "life in Himself" means at the end of the verse, must mean the same as at the beginning of the verse. If this is granted, this verse alone is sufficient to establish eternal generation.

These three texts are not the only ones to establish this view, next we find Psalm 2:7 and Hebrews 5:5, which also reference Jesus being begotten:

So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. (Hebrews 5:5)

I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. (Psalm 2:7)

Some may object that the word "today" is used, yet we must remember that this is spoken by God, Who is outside of time. The bible declares that with the Lord "one day is like a thousand years" (2 Peter 3:8), thus the word "today" is not referencing a specific time in history, but eternity.  Now, Paul applied the text in Acts 13:33 to the resurrection, yet it must be carefully maintained that Christ did not become the Son of God when He rose from the dead, as Jesus is already called the Son prior (Matthew 14:33), but it was at the resurrection that He manifested being the Son of God.

Yet, there are still more texts to look at for this doctrine! The next strong verse comes from Hebrews 1:3, which states:

who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Some might question, how does this verse relate to eternal generation? Well, that comes from a closer look at the terms, as Sam Shamoun explains:

"There are several points which we can glean from this very crucial text. The first point is that Jesus is the very exact imprint, the very exact copy, the perfect reflection of God’s own substance, nature, essence etc. That is the meaning of the Greek word charakter, that Jesus is the precise and perfect imprint left by the Original or the Source. The author of Hebrews is basically saying that the Father is the underived Source of all Deity with the Son being the perfect duplicate of that Deity. If God’s substance is eternal, then Christ must be eternal also since he is the exact imprint. If God’s substance is infinite, then Christ must also be infinite seeing that he is the exact copy of it."

Christ is similarly called the "image" of God in Colossians 1:15, which aligns with Hebrews 1;3.

The last text to look at is Proverbs 8, although this one is more disputed. Some, such as Ironside see this verse as a description of Jesus, because Christ is called the "wisdom of God" in the New Testament. If this is true, it would necessarily mean eternal generation, as Proverbs 8:23 reads:

"I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was."

However, this verse has been very controversial. Although Ironside took this as Jesus and a reference to His eternal generation, there are many who do not. However, it is not necessary that this verse references Jesus, thus I am leaving it open.