How is Jesus Christ the Son of God?
The doctrine of eternal generation has been a strongly believed doctrine in Christian churches since the Council of Nicaea, which was assembled by Constantine to settle controversies among church bishops. They settled on the doctrine that Jesus Christ was always the Son of God even before His birth. Eternal generation, which is not a Bible doctrine, is a necessary invention by scholars to explain how Jesus could have been a son from eternity past.
Just because a large majority of (possibly biased) Bishops came to an agreement about a doctrinal matter, does not mean the doctrine is correct. The very necessity of inventing extrabiblical doctrine to support such a far-reaching doctrine puts it in question. Furthermore, Scripture nowhere states unequivocally that Jesus was Son of God in the Trinity before he was born in Bethlehem. So, is it a doctrine that we should believe?
Surely Jesus was the Son of God (and Son of man) after His birth to the virgin Mary following her conception by action of the Holy Spirit. Scholars attempt to establish an eternal father-son relationship by reading the New Testament father-son relationship back into the time before Jesus’ birth. This is surely an effort to give structure to the Trinity beyond a perceived lack of structure set forth in Scripture.
When I set out to write about this topic, someone asked me who cares that some people believe Jesus was always Son of God? But as I have studied this, the issue has appeared far deeper than that. This doctrine of eternal generation, taught by almost everyone, is set forth as a cornerstone for understanding the Trinity and Jesus Christ. But can we really say that Jesus did not have the essence of deity unless He was Son of God by eternal generation? Is He only to be called the Son of God even after His birth because He had been eternally generated? Did Pharisees condemn Him to death because they believed in eternal generation and believed Jesus claimed such for Himself? Could Jesus not be the Messiah without having been eternally generated? Was His resurrection proof that He had been eternally the Son of God? Can He inherit rule over the nations of the world only because He was Son of God by eternal generation?
This doctrine of eternal sonship is indeed far-reaching. Does it help us understand Scripture, from which our knowledge of God should come? Scholars have set forth arguments from various points of view to support the doctrine of eternal sonship. To compare those arguments with Scripture, view these slides: The Son of God
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