Evidence for God from Science

It's a past tense of "beget", which in the biblical sense typically means "to procreate". So if I were to reference "my only begotten son" I am talking about "the only son that I have brought into this world."

Philip wrote:Who out there can provide illumination to the term "Begotten?" Seems like there should be a better term, but perhaps none truly sufficiently accurate.

Quoted from AMG’s The Complete Word Study Dictionary

Strongs Number 3439

μονογενής

monogenēs; gen. monogenoús, masc.-fem., neut. monogenón, from mónos (3441), only, and génos (1085), stock. Unique, one of a kind, one and only.

The only one of the family (Luke 7:12 referring to the only son of his mother; Luke 8:42, the daughter of Jairus; Luke 9:38, the demoniac boy).

John alone uses monogenēs to describe the relation of Jesus to God the Father, presenting Him as the unique one, the only one (mónos) of a class or kind (génos), in the discussion of the relationship of the Son to the Father (John1:14, John1:18; John 3:16, John 3:18; 1John 4:9).

Génos, from which genḗs in monogenēs is derived, means race, stock, family, class or kind, and génō comes from gínomai (1096), become, as in John1:14, "and the Word became [egéneto] flesh." This is in distinction from gennáō (1080), to beget, engender or create. The noun from gennáō is génnēma (1081), the result of birth. So then, the word means one of a kind or unique.

There are two schools of thought regarding the meaning of this term. The first view, which began with Origen, teaches that Christ's unique Sonship and His generation by the Father are eternal being predicated of Him in respect to His participation in the Godhead.

Although monogenḗs was traditionally cited in proof of this explanation, modern proponents, recognizing the mistaken identification of genḗs as a derivative of gennáō instead of génos, understand the word to be descriptive of the kind of Sonship Christ possesses and not of the process establishing such a relationship. This would serve to distinguish the Sonship of Christ to God from that spoken of other beings, e.g., Adam (Luke 3:28), angels (Job 1:6), or believers (John1:12).

The last view teaches that Christ's unique Sonship and generation by the Father are predicated of Him in respect to the incarnation. The proponents of this interpretation unequivocally affirm the triune nature of the Godhead and Christ's deity teaching that it is the word lógos (3056), Word, which designates His personage within the Godhead. Christ's Sonship expresses an economical relationship between the Word and the Father assumed via the incarnation.

This stands in fulfillment of OT prophecies which identify Christ as both human, descending from David, and divine, originating from God. Like David and the other kings descending from him, Christ is the Son of God by position (2 Sam 7:14), but unlike them and because of His divine nature, He is par excellence the Son of God by nature (Psalms 2:7; Heb 1:5). Thus the appellation refers to the incarnate Word, God made flesh, not simply the preincarnate Word.

Therefore, monogenēs can be held as syn. with the God-Man. Jesus was the only such one ever, in distinction with the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Triune God.

He is never called téknon Theoú (téknon [5043], child; Theoú [2316], of God) as the believers are (John1:12; John11:52; 1 John3:1-2, 1 John3:10; 1 John5:2). In John5:18, Jesus called God His very own (ídion [2398]) Father. To Jesus, God was not a Father as He is to us. See John 20:17. He never spoke of God as the common Father of Him and believers. The term monogenḗs also occurs in Heb 11:17.

God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Philip wrote:

God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Wow: So people will bow to Him that Scripture says God the Father also calls "LORD." God equates Jesus with Himself and says "to the GLORY of God the Father," Jesus will be bowed down to - as LORD. And we all know that no one but God should be bowed down to or is worthy of worship or ever should be worshipped. Note that those bowing down are also ones in heaven, and thus their bowing down is clearly in worship of Jesus.

"give back?"