Begotten Not made

[wussup]

The Nicene Creed states: “…true God of true God. Begotten not made…” What is the difference between ‘begotten’ and ‘not made’.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Begotten means to come from something. This means the existence of Christ is dependent on the existence of the Father. Christ exists because God exists. “Not made” simply means that Christ was not created, but even though His existence comes from The Father, they both existed for all eternity.

 

[wussup]

Aaah! Very clever. I have read that for many years and wondered what the point was. Seems to be a differentiator within the RC of God the Father and God the Son as co-eternal, vs. the RC Doctrine of all else made from nothing. Or am I wrong?

 

[ConstantineTG]

Aaah! Very clever. I have read that for many years and wondered what the point was. Seems to be a differentiator within the RC of God the Father and God the Son as co-eternal, vs. the RC Doctrine of all else made from nothing. Or am I wrong?

I think this line is to make it clear that why the causation of The Son is the Father, He was not made by The Father. It had to be clearly stated as the Nicene Creed was written to combat the Arian heresy which you LDS adhere to.

 

[jonbhorton]

First, let’s look at the English etymology of the word “begotten”:

“Begotten”, a past participle of beget, is derived from the Latin Legitimatus (having the status of one lawfully begotten). Legitimatus is a past participle of legitimare which means “make lawful, declare to be lawful”. Legitimare is derived from the word legitimus which means “lawful” or more originally, in line with the law. Legitimus is derived from lex which gave us the English word law. Ergo, Jesus IS the only begotten Son of God, because he is the only one who meets ALL the criteria from the Law of God.

Furthermore, the phrase begotten in Greek is rendered/explained as:

monogenés: only begotten
Original Word: μονογενής, ές
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: monogenés
Phonetic Spelling: (mon-og-en-ace’)
Short Definition: only, only-begotten, unique
Definition: only, only-begotten; unique.

3439 monogenḗs (from 3411 /misthōtós, “one-and-only” and 1085 /génos, “offspring, stock”) – properly, one-and-only; “one of a kind” – literally, “one (monos) of a class, genos” (the only of its kind).

In Latin: Unigenitum, which means “only begotten”. So, while the Latin etymology of the conceptual phrase, as put into English, is not the same as the word itself, these words are in fact saying the same thing. Only the English requires a phrase instead of a word. But phrases and words both reveal concepts. Depending on the language, it might take a phrase to understand the concept or it might just take a word. However, a word is often only truly understood in the context of its meaning. Lose the language, lose the meaning; lose the meaning, lose the language. Same, same.

Here is an interesting article on the phrase itself and how it played into certain heresy:

Google Book link.

In short: Jesus incarnate was conceived of the Holy Ghost, yes. But, He has always existed with the Father and is in union with the Father. The only way to express this is how it is expressed in such a short phrase. It is fleshed out in the rest of the New Testament quite well and particularly in the first fourteen verses of the 1st chapter of the Gospel according to St. John:

1 In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God: and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. 4 In him was life: and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. 9 That was the true light, which enlightens every man that comes into this world. 10 He was in the world: and the world was made by him: and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own: and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. 13 Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.

 

[Ohana]

I thought that “Begotten, not made” meant that Jesus was not created, because as God, he always was in the Father. That is the consubstantial part. In his human nature however, he was begotten of the Virgin Mary in order to become flesh - incarnate. So, that whole section of the creed speaks to Jesus’ dual nature - what it is, and what it is not. One of the early heresies as I recall, was either doubting that Jesus was human or that Jesus was God. The Nicene Creed put that argument to rest. He is one and the same, both

 

[bmullins]

It also has a further implication to the term begotten. A human begets a human. A horse begets a horse. Things that are begotten are of the same ‘type’ as the previous.

Jesus being begotten indicates that He is of the same ‘type’ or substance as the Father. God from God. Not made, in that Adam was made, Adam is in the image of God… but Jesus is the same ‘type’ as God. I make a statue in my image, while when I beget a child it is clearly the same type as myself. The statue is as far from me, as we are from God… but Jesus is not, he is con-substantial with the Father.