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 3:16 (KJV 1900)
John 3:16 is the single most popular Bible verse etched in the hearts of all Christians, and yet most of us never really go beyond to understand the depth and meaning of this very verse or passage. In this article, I hope to unpack the term “Only Begotten Son” that is exclusively used for Jesus Christ and how we ought to understand this very divine title of God The Word. We will first look into a very common way evangelical Christians interpret this term and then we will go through few quotations from early church fathers writtings and finally conclude by going back to John 3:16 and see the depth of God’s word.
The term “Only Begotten Son” is found in John 1:14,18; John 3:16,18 and 1 John 4:9, however we also find this term referring to Isaac in Heb 11:17 where he is called to be the only begotten son of Abraham. The term “Only Begotten” is translated from the Greek word monogenes where some commentaries or Bible footnotes will highlight that it also means unique. Thus we come to the common evangelical Christian interpretation of this term that Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God just as Isaac is the only begotten son of Abraham, that Jesus is unique just as Isaac is the promised son of Abraham and not Ishmael. However, I don’t find this explanation to suffice in the understanding of this title that we find John uses in regard to Jesus. Therefore, we will go through a few quotations from the early church fathers on Jesus as the Only Begottten Son of God.
IGNATIUS
For the Son of God, who was begotten before time began, and established all things according to the will of the Father, He was conceived in the womb of Mary, according to the appointment of God, of the seed of David, and by the Holy Ghost.
Ignatius, Epistle to The Ephesians, Chapter 18
In this quotation from Ignatius’s Epistle to the Ephesians we find Ignatius making a clear distinction between Jesus being begotten of God and being conceived as a human through Mary. Infact, Ignatius believed that Jesus is begotten in a way far distinct than humans, that Jesus is begotten before time began, that Jesus is Eternally Begotten; that should have reminder you of something familiar, yes, The Nicene Creed. Now, let’s see anothe quotation from Ignatius:-
He, being begotten by the Father before the beginning of time,was God the Word, the only-begotten Son, and remains the same for ever; for “of His kingdom there shall be no end,” says Daniel the prophet.
Ignatius, Epistle to The Magnesians, Chapter 6
Here we find Ignatius giving more meat as to what He believes of Jesus being the Begotten Son of God; again we find Ignatius proclaiming Jesus being begotten eternally and goes on to say that Jesus is God the Word, a clear distinction between Jesus the Son of God and the Father, yup, The Trinity but more on the Trinity for another article as I have more quotations to share.
Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly begotten of God and of the Virgin, but not after the same manner. For indeed God and man are not the same.
Ignatius, Epistle to The Trallians, Chapter 9
In this quotation, we find Ignatius again making a clear distinction of how the word ‘begotten’ is used for Jesus in a way that far transcends mankind as he says that the manner of Christ being begotten is different from how humans are begotten or born.
If any one says there is one God, and also confesses Christ Jesus, but thinks the Lord to be a mere man, and not the only-begotten God, and Wisdom, and the Word of God, and deems Him to consist merely of a soul and body, such an one is a serpent, that preaches deceit and error for the destruction of men.
Ignatius, Epistle to The Philadelphians, Chapter 6
This quotation is even more clearer in showing that the term only begotten is a divine title possessed by Jesus, Ignatius even goes further to call Jesus as the only begotten God and those who deny His Deity is a serpent.
JUSTIN MARTYR
when I asserted that this power was begotten from the Father, by His power and will, but not by abscission, as if the essence of the Father were divided; as all other things partitioned and divided are not the same after as before they were divided: and, for the sake of example, I took the case of fires kindled from a fire, which we see to be distinct from it, and yet that from which many can be kindled is by no means made less, but remains the same.
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter 128
This time let’s see one last example from Justin Martyr where we find more statements that leads us to the believe in the Trinity. Justin Martyr says that Jesus is begotten from the Father but that does not make Jesus a separate entity from the Father. Jesus comes from the Father or begotten from the Father but at the same time united to His Father as being of the same essense. Interesting how church fathers before the Nicene era had strong theological believes in the deity of Christ and Jesus being of the same essense with the Father.
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The point I was trying to make with all the quotations above is that the term ‘Only Begotten Son of God’ was used in a manner that modern Christians might not recognize. At times Christians even get fazed by heretics questioning the deity of Christ because He is called begotten and thus refering to Christ being a created being rather than eternal. However from the quotations above we can firmly believe that our early church fathers had a very specific use for the term ‘Only Begotten Son of God’ that infact it is used for Jesus to speak of His Deity rather than anything else.
Nevertheless, I would like to highlight a few more points before ending this article. If there is one thing that we can be sure of, is that God does not need us, it’s us who need Him. With that understanding, the Father does not need creatures to make Him the Father, He is eternally The Father because His Son is eternal as well because the Father and the Son is of the same essense, One Being, God. Speaking of the Son and Father being eternal, we find the true definition of love, the eternal love between the Father and the Son, before all creation the Father and the Son eternally exist in perfect union and love.
With that, we come back to John 3:16; the Father loves the world, we mere sinful creatures, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, the eternal Son that always been in union with the Father, sent as a living sacrifice, to be beaten and be crucified as a living sacrifice for all our sins, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.