The Biblical Warrant for Eternal Generation According to the Church Fathers
We have seen that Giles is wrong when he claims that μονογενής meant “unique” and not “only begotten” in the writings of the fourth-century Greek-speaking fathers and in the Nicene Creed. But Giles makes another claim as well. He claims the Greek-speaking fathers “do not use [μονογενής] or the texts in which it is found as textual support for the eternal generation of the Son” (The Eternal Generation of the Son, p. 81 n44).
In this post, which will be my last in this series, I want to show that the church fathers frequently quoted John 1:14 (“glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father”) and 1:18 (“the only begotten God/Son who is in the Father’s bosom”) as proof that the Son is begotten of the Father. For example, in one of his works, Athanasius is arguing against the Arians with the classic distinction that the Son is “begotten, not made.” Athanasius sees a massive distinction between a creature made by God and an offspring eternally begotten of God’s own essence. In the course of his argument, Athanasius quotes the three standard OT proof texts that the Son is begotten—Ps 110:3 (109:3 LXX); Ps 2:7; Prov 8:25—and then right after these he concludes by quoting John 1:18 (Defense of the Nicene Definition §13; NPNF2 4.158). Cyril of Jerusalem does much the same thing, quoting Ps 2:7 and 110:3, followed immediately by three of the μονογενής passages in John’s Gospel (3:16, 18; 1:14) (Catechetical Lectures 11.5-6; NPNF2 7.65-66).
I fully acknowledge that the church fathers didn’t hang eternal generation solely on the Johannine μονογενής. I’ve already mentioned the three OT verses (in the Old Greek) that were important to them because they occur in Christologically significant passages and use the verb γεννάω (“beget”) (Pss 2:7; 110:3 [109:3 LXX]; Prov 8:25). There were also several New Testament texts outside of the Johannine μονογενής texts that the church fathers appealed to, most notably the following: “As the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself” (John 5:26 ESV); “All that the Father has is mine” (John 16:15 ESV); and “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb 1:3 ESV). The second one (John 16:15) was used especially by Athanasius, who reasoned that the Father has everlastingness, eternity, and immortality, and if the Father has given “all” that he has to the Son, then the Son must possess these things as well (In Illud: Omnia, etc. [NPNF2 4.87-90]; Against the Arians 3.35-36 [NPNF2 4.413]). Among modern exegetes who believe in eternal generation, John 5:26 is rightly viewed as having probative force, but it wasn’t frequently quoted by the church fathers. Of the NT passages outside of the Johannine μονογενής texts, Heb 1:3 is by far the most commonly quoted, and is the basis for the Nicene Creed’s language, “Light of Light.”
Having acknowledged the importance of these other proof texts, both OT and NT, I claim that texts in which μονογενής is found were in fact used by the church fathers in support of eternal generation. In particular, it would appear that John 1:14, 18 outstrip all the other proof texts in frequency of quotation, except for Heb 1:3. Here is a table showing the number of times each verse is quoted according to the Scripture index of the standard English translations of each author:
Ps |
Ps |
Prov |
John |
John |
John |
John |
Heb |
|
Athanasius |
4 |
7 |
8 |
31 |
18 |
2 |
9 |
14 |
Basil of Caesarea |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
2* |
9 |
Gregory Nazianzen |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Gregory of Nyssa |
0 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
1 |
4 |
14 |
TOTAL |
5 |
10 |
12 |
40 |
31 |
4 |
17 |
39 |
*FoC 122 incorrectly cites one of these as John 17:10 (p. 118).
The Scripture indexes consulted for Athanasius and the two Gregories were those provided in NPNF2 (vols. 4, 5, 7). For Basil, I consulted the Scripture indexes of NPNF2 vol. 8 and Against Eunomius, translated by Mark DelCogliano and Andrew Radde-Gallwitz (The Fathers of the Church [FoC] 122; Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011).
It should be noted that Basil speaks of “the glory of the Only-Begotten” at least five times (Against Eunomius 1.1, 17, 23, 26; 2.33), and while the phrase isn’t part of a quotation of John 1:14, it does appear to be an allusion to it.
Now I have to be honest and admit that I did not take the time to look up all of these passages in Athanasius and the Cappadocian fathers. I looked up many of them, but not all. So it is certainly possible that in some cases the verse is quoted to make a totally unrelated point that has nothing to do with eternal generation. There are also cases where it is a judgment call. For example, if a church father quotes John 1:18 but only comments on “who is in the Father’s bosom” does that count as using this verse as a proof text for eternal generation? So perhaps these stats can be questioned and refined.
Nevertheless, even though I have not looked up every single quotation, I am confident that it is simply not true to say that the church fathers “do not use … the texts in which [μονογενής] is found as textual support for the eternal generation of the Son.”
Why is this important? Because it affects how one views the epistemological basis and status of the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son. Giles views it primarily as a theological deduction from the correlative names “Father” and “Son” (The Eternal Generation of the Son, pp. 82-83). He argues against a “Bible-alone” view of doing theology. He writes that “no doctrine springs directly from the pages of Scripture” and that the Scriptures are insufficient for doing theology because they “do not speak univocally on most topics” and on some topics they say “nothing specific at all” (p. 43). Instead, he argues that “every doctrine … ultimately represents a theological affirmation predicated on a synthetic apprehension of what is given in Scripture” (p. 46). In relation to eternal generation, Giles cites Robert Letham favorably. Letham, he says, “accepts that there is no text that actually says the Son is eternally generated or begotten but nevertheless finds much in Scripture that suggests this idea and nothing that excludes it” (p. 42).
But I maintain that the doctrine of the two processions (the eternal generation of the Son and the eternal procession of the Spirit) is not a synthetic apprehension or a theological deduction. It is actually just saying as much as Scripture says and no more—the Son is “begotten” of the Father and the Spirit “proceeds” from the Father and the Son. That is what Scripture expressly teaches, in those very words, about the personal distinctions peculiar to each of the persons of the Trinity. The church fathers believed and taught these things, not because they deduced them theologically but because the Scripture itself says these things in those very words (“begotten,” “proceeds”).
Now I want to be clear. I’m not saying we should never engage in “synthetic apprehension” or “theological deduction.” The Westminster Confession affirms that “the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture” (WCF I.6). Often we do need to look at a large number of passages and make theological deductions. This is exactly what we are doing when we construct the doctrine of the Trinity. We are looking at everything Scripture teaches and putting the pieces of the puzzle together to form a coherent doctrine of God. The doctrine of the Trinity is biblically warranted, but the entire doctrine is not stated in one verse or even one passage.
What I am denying is that the biblical warrant for eternal generation is of the same character as the biblical warrant for the doctrine of the Trinity. As I read the church fathers, the Son’s being begotten of the Father is actually one of the constituent building blocks that is explicitly taught in Scripture, with chapter and verse to back it up. It is one of the things “expressly set down in Scripture” not one of the things that “by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.” The church fathers viewed the Son’s being eternally begotten of the Father as one of the givens of Scripture, one of the pieces of the puzzle, one of the revealed facts that we must reckon with, not as a theological deduction after all the pieces of the puzzle are put together into a whole.
I think a large part of the problem is that many (perhaps including Giles) think of eternal generation as a big, fat, complex doctrine, like the Trinity. They speak of “the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son,” and then ask, “What is the biblical warrant for this doctrine?” But this way of speaking gives it too much heft. Actually, it isn’t really a “doctrine” at all in that meaty sense. All it is, is the biblical answer to the question, “What distinguishes the three persons of the Trinity?” According to the church fathers, in order to answer that question we have to follow the exact words of Scripture, and no more. According to the church fathers, all the Scripture reveals is that the Son is “begotten” (Ps 2:7; 110:3; Prov 8:25; the five μονογενής verses in the Johannine literature) and the Spirit “proceeds” (John 15:26). Of course, technically we have to get a little theological and add that these terms “begotten” and “proceeds” are eternal or timeless actions appropriate to the impassible nature of God. But that is about it. That is the “doctrine” of eternal generation.
The five Johannine passages that apply the word μονογενής to Jesus Christ have particular importance because they provide prime New Testament evidence for saying the Son is “begotten.” The three Old Testament texts are very strong, but they aren’t completely free of doubts for the modern exegete. Psalm 2:7 (“You are my Son; today I have begotten you”) could be understood as a reference to the resurrection of Christ (as quoted in Acts 13:33). Psalm 110:3 (109:3 LXX) is so different in the Old Greek that we as Protestants worry if it is a correct translation of the Hebrew. And Proverbs 8:25 is about the shadowy figure of “Wisdom,” and some may not be convinced that Wisdom is the pre-incarnate Christ. I actually think there are good responses to all of these doubts and I firmly agree with the church fathers’ exegesis of these three OT (LXX) verses.
But if μονογενής means “only begotten,” then we have five clear New Testament texts that aren’t hampered by these doubts. Indeed, we have John 1:1-18 which uses the term twice (vv 14, 18). This is such an extraordinary passage that goes a long way toward our Trinitarian synthesis. There is no doubt that these verses are about the pre-incarnate Son in his immanent ontological identity “in the Father’s bosom” before creation. True, we also have John 5:26 and Heb 1:3—texts that the church fathers also appealed to. Thank God for those wonderful verses! I could hang the whole doctrine of eternal generation on them if I had to. But they don’t use the language of “begetting,” which is what we really need in order to be able to point to scriptural language that says, “See, the Scripture says the Son is begotten,” just as the church fathers pointed to John 15:26 and said, “See, the Scripture says the Spirit proceeds.”
Finally, it’s important to get the meaning of μονογενής right because it plays such an important theological role in the Nicene Creed as providing the exegetical anchor for the claim that the Son is “begotten, not made” (see previous post).