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3 Fold-Way Eternal Generation - Coggle Diagram

- - - - This is the form of generation that all creaturely generation is patterned after. It is the standard. The problem that will be seen later in this paper is that many theologians will make the mistake of trying to confine the Son's eternal generation to the limits of creaturely generation is if it was the standard that all generation should be held accountable.
        
        Scripture
  - - - Scripture
        
        The great problem that many theologians and Christians through church history make is failing to realize the importance of the way of negation as it relates to the Son's eternal generation. People such as Arius will uphold that the Son was begotten, but he fails to realize that this generation is one that is eternal in nature. The way of negation is critical in understanding the divine Father/Son relationship as it teaches us that the Son does not have a limited generation, but rather a generation rooted in eternity.
    - - The way of negation also helps us to see that the eternal generation of the Son is not like the generation of man. For a man can be begotton as a son, but he can also become a father who begets his own son. This is not the case in the godhead. As mentioned above, the eternal generation of the Son is different from human generation in that the Son will alway and only be the Son, and the Father will always and only be the Father.
        
        There is no Scripture that can be found that speaks of the Father becoming the Son, nor the Son becoming the Father. The reason for the absence of such a verse is due to the immutability of the relationships rooted in eternal generation.
        
        Again, a future section of this paper will deal with case studies where the three-fold way is ignored and results in heresy. However, a quick example is Modalism. It claims that the Father is the Son, and the Son is the Father.
  - - - The fact that we are able to bring forth progeny made in our image and likeness (Gen. 5:3), is because this perfection is first found in the Father/Son relationship and communicated to man. Jesus is the exact image or imprint of the nature of the Father (Heb. 1:3).
- - - - They are trying to uphold a basic Christian truth, which is that God is one. The name means "one rule" and was a common word for monotheism around the second century (Ferguson 142)
        
        Adoptionism
        
        Believed to have taken shape around 190 AD in Rome by a man named Thodotus. (Brown 96)
        
        Jesus was just a man, but received the Spirit of God in a special way at his baptism. (Brown 96).
        
        Still alive today, a noteable example being Adolf Von Harnack at the beginning of the 19th century. (Brown 97)
        
        It tends to rear it's ugly head wherever a rationalistic/materialistic approach to the Bible comes into play. (Brown 98)
        
        Paul of Samosata believed that Jesus was born of a virgin birth, and that the Holy Spirit had been given to him at his baptism. Paul referred to Jesus as God, but by this he really was referring to union with God due to his moral perfection and miraculous powers given to him at his baptism. He was condemned as a heretic in 268 at the Synod of Antioch. (Brown 98)
        
        Some in this camp point to Psalm 2:7 and say that eternal generation is clearly not what is being described because of the word "today." However, Cyril helpfully points out that begetting is according to nature. Humans beget humans, and God who is divine, eternally begets the Son of the divine essence. Therefore, the phrase, "you are my Son" refers to his eternal generation and "today" refers to Christ's birth. (Orr 95)
        
        Modalism
        
        Understood to first be developed by Praxeas, who was a committed believer, including earning the reputation as a confessor. Tertullian took aim at shutting down Praxeas; his best known work being "Against Praxeas." (Brown 100)
        
        Whereas Adoptionist try to preserve the unity of the godhead by eliminating the deity of Christ, Modalism does the very opposite. It affirms the deity of Jesus, but eliminates the personhood of Christ, and the Holy Spirit so that there is no distinction of persons in the godhead.
        
        God is one, but he manifests himself to man in three forms/modes. The massive error is the denial of the three distinct persons of the Godhead.
        
        The persons are confused because they are seen as modes so that the Son is the Father, and the Father is the son.
        
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        Often times the Father is viewed as the mode God revealed himself in the Old Testament as he gave the law. God then appeared in the beginning of the New Testament as Christ when he came to Earth to give grace. Lastly, God takes on the mode of Holy Spirit after Christ's ascension.
        
        Modalism is a form of Docetism because Christ was human in appearance only, because they only other alternative is to say that God died on the cross. (Brown 99)
        
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      - At the end make mention of how this fails to account for eternal generation
    - - Jehovah's Witness
        
        mistranslation of John 1:1
        
        They translate the verse "the Word was a god," due to the lack of the definite article
        
        The trouble with this translation is that it doesn't account properly for the Greek rules of grammar which indicate that the syntactical construction when there is a lack of the articles signifies theos as the predicate nominative even though it comes prior to the verb. (Beeke 886)
        
        It also runs a problem with multiple other Scriptures in the New Testament that have the same structure. John 1:6, 12, 13, 18, and 49 (Beeke 886)
      - Mormonism
      - EFS
    - - This is more than just the idea that the Son is subordinate to the Father economically, rather this theological view believes that the Son is subordinate to the Father ontologically and economically.
        
        The basic idea is that a son who is begotten is one who comes after a father in time, and is inferior in authority. Subordinationist would say that there was a time when the Son was not.
        
        To have a beginning would imply that he is not divine. Origen's answer to this is to speak of the names Father and Son as referring to an eternal relationship, and thus his begetting is eternal in nature. Aquinas will later provide more insight by explaining that God subsists in three persons. (Brown 89)
        
        Origen argues that if the Father is eternal, then all that he is and does is from eternity. Therefore, the begetting of his Son is from eternity. (Brown 90)
        
        This begetting includes a sharing in the same substance/essence. The doctrine of consubstantiality was a blow to the subordination position.
        
        The mistake of claiming that the Father must be greater than the Son stems from a confusion of natural and personal property. It is right to understand the Father as the personal cause of the Son, however, they share the same nature. Thus, they are co-equal in glory and power. (TQT 113)
        
        All of the Scriptures that point to Christ submitting to the Father further fueled this position.
        
        An understanding of the economic Trinity and the roles of relationship make sense of those passages.
    - - Scripture
        
        John 1:1,3
        
        Jesus existed before all creation because he made all things, thus he must be eternal. Likewise, if all things were made through him (John 1:3) he cannot be on the creation side of the Creator/creautre distinction.
        
        Colossians 1:15-20
        
        This passage is about the Son. In it he is described as the image of God and the firstborn of all creation.
        
        The Arians claimed that first born meant he was the first creature God made. However, he cannot be a creature as the very next verse, verse 16 states that all things were created through him. "All things is comprehensive," and further expounded upon in verse 16.
        
        Instead, the pericope is communicating that since he is the creator of all things, he is also the heir of all creation which is the right of the firstborn. (Barrett 413)
        
        Another way to translate verse 15 is to say that the Son is the '"firstborn over all creation." (Wallace, 119)
        
        Furthermore, a creature could not hold together all things as verse 17 teaches about the Son.
      - A few Scriptures we will bypass in making the case for eternal generation that have been historically used in the past.
        
        John 1:14, 3:16, and others translate monogenous as begotten, but Arians don't mind this idea, as long as it's not eternally begotten.
        
        Basil of Caesarean took Eunomius to task over his translation of monogenous. He claimed that Eunomius' translation of the word was so wild that the whole world would have to relearn what the word meant if Eunomius was correct. Eunomius said the word meant conceived by one parent. Basil makes the point that no human could then have this term applied to them, yet, that was its customary use. (Basil of Caesarea Against Eunomius NEED PAGE)
        
        The church fathers were unanimous in using this term in John's Gospel to mean only begotten. (Barrett 405)
        
        Proverbs 8
        
        Wisdom is personified in this passage and many, including most of the church fathers, attributed the personification to Jesus. In using the Septuagint, they pointed to the word used to translate "he begets me" in verse 25. However, one has to also take into account verse 22 which states in the Septuagint that "The Lord created me." (Barrett 402)
      - History
        
        Nick Needham states that Arianism was "the greatest theological controversy in the histotry of Christianity." (Needham 219)
        
        Arius was an elder from Libya who was teaching in opposition to Alexander that the Father alone was God, and that the Son was a created being who had been formed out of nothing. He had a famous jingle that stated "there once was a time when the Son was not." Though not on equal ground with the Father, the Son was the first and greatest of all that God created.. (Neeham 219)
        
        Arius worked off the term "begetting" that Origen had employed. Origen's theology had allowed for degrees of divinity, which allowed Arius to use his works to support subordination, while Alexander used it to develop a doctrine that emphasized the unity of nature. (Fergueson 192)
        
        Alexander formed a council of Egyptian bishops in 320 which deposed Arius. However, he would continue to fight this theological battle during his time in Palestine. He would gain traction, so that even after the council of Nicaea, the issue was not resolved. (Needham 220)
        
        The East was susceptible to supporting Arius because at times he seemed closer to Origen whose theology subordinated the Son to the Father, than Alexander. (Needham 221)
        
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        The desire behind Airus' teaching was to protect the oneness of God.
      - Today, some of Arian's teachings live on in the cult of Jehovah's Witness.
    - - deny the divinity of Jesus Christ.
        
        Beliefs
        
        Jesus was just a good man who provided the ultimate example
        
        If eternal generation is embraced, how can one deny the divinity of Jesus when he shares the same substance of the Father?
        
        John Gill, a great Baptist theologian, asserted that the Socinians failure to embrace the eternal generation of the Son is what led them astray. (Beeke 430)
        
        Understood themselves to be rationalists and faithful the Scripture.
- - - - General
        
        Psalm 110
        
        No man can sit at God's right hand
        
        Daniel - the son of man (Jesus' title for himself). Ancient of Days
        
        Isaiah 9:6 - Isaiah foretold of a child to be born who would also be mighty God.
        
        Micha 5:2 whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting
        
        Isaiah 45:21-22 - God and Savior there is only one
        
        1 Cor. 8:6 - Beeke points out that Paul uses this verse riffing off of the Shema (Beeke vol 1 881-882
      - Lord
        
        This is the translation of the Hebrew name of God as Yahweh. (more can be found in Beeke 886-887)
        
        Status as only God and Savior - Isaiah 45:21-23 with Romans 14:9-12 and Philippians 2:10-11
        
        His eternity and immutability as Creator - Psalm 102:25-27 and Hebrews 1:10-12
        
        His name saves - Joel 2:32 and Romans 10:9 & 13
        
        "I am" statements
    - - John 1
        
        Scholars doubt whether the best translation of this Greek word should be begotten. However, even if the term is granted to mean begotten, it still does not establish "eternal" generation.
        
        Two main ways to take the Greek word. It can either mean that a child is without sibling, or it can mean unique. The rule for determining the meaning is fairly straight forward. In familial contexts, it's translated as "only begotten" or "only child." If it is in nonfamilial context, it's translated as unique. You never see in Greek writing a child translated with this word as "unique." (Barrett 404-405)
    - - Hebrews 1:3-5
        
        The radiance imagery was used by the church Fathers to show that Jesus was coeternal with the Father, and it is that led to the Nicene Creed's phrase, light of light (Barrett 415)
        
        He is the exact imprint of his nature. How is this possible outside of eternal generation? If it is not an eternal generation, he cannot be the exact imprint of his nature because he does not share in the divine eternal essence. If his status as begotten means he is created, then he who would be creature could not possible be the exact imprint of he who is divine.
        
        In comparing Christ to the angels in order to make the case of his superiority, the writer quotes Psalm 2:7 stating, "today I have begotten you."
      - John 14:9
      - John 5:26
        
        "granted life" is of the same meaning as begotten
        
        "life in himself" points to aseity. The parallel expression for both the Father and the Son points to the Son having aseity.
        
        Aseity is the mark of divinity. It shows Jesus belongs on the Creator side of the Creator/creature distinction.
        
        This understanding makes sense of Jesus' claims in John 5:21,23 about having the power to give life to whom he will just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life.
        
        How can we say Jesus has aseity if it was given to him? It was eternally gifted to him, thus the doctrine of eternal generation. (Barrett 411)
    - - The Father sent the Son into the world.
      - The Father speaks of Christ not as himself but as distinct
        
        Luke 3:22
      - Christ prayed to the Father Mark 14:36
  - - - This creed starts off with speaking of Jesus as the Son of God, and the first Son of God interpreting phrase is monogenés, only begotten from the Father.
        
        The creed tells us where and when this generation is located. The only begotten Son is located in the Father and from eternity (before all ages).
        
        The Son being eternally from the Father teaches that the Father is to be understood as the principle of the Son. This showcases the Father's relation as paternity. He cannot be Father without the Son, and the Son cannot be so without the Father.
        
        The phrase light from light shows that the Father and Son share one essence. Yet, the word "from" points to the eternal generation from whence Christ came. (Barrett 423)
        
        True God from TRUE God
        
        The Son is of one homoousios/substance
        
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        Aeons in the Greek places an emphasis on the temporal, but it also includes a cosmic scope. Therefore, the begetting takes place outside of time, regardless of how many ages are to be considered. (Barrett 422)
        
        The creed also informs us that unlike creation, which comes from the Father, Christ being eternally begotten means that he was not made.
        
        The breakdown of the eternal generation by the creed emphasizes who the Son is in light of theologia and not God's works ad extra.
- - - - This is understood through eternal generation which teaches that God the Son has an eternal relation of origin whereby the divine essence was perfectly communicated to him from the Father. (Barrett 419)
        
        Calvin commentary on Gal. 4:4 The Son, who was sent, must have existed before he was sent; and this proves his eternal Godhead
        
        Eternal generation does not lead to a zero sum game where God the Father has his divinity diminished. Rather, he
      - This doctrine is foundational to the Trinity because it allows for unity and distinction. The basic trinitarian claim is that Christians worship one God (unity) in three persons (distinction).
        
        Same in Substance distinguished by relations (distinction via economic activity is not sufficient). If it is only economic, it is temporal, which gives way to inaccurate claims such as modalism.
        
        God's being is what grounds God's actions. Eternal generation belongs to his being while all other things such as creation, redemption, consummation belong to God's actions.
        
        distinguished
        
        Augustine states in his work De Trin that the very names of the Trinity imply distinction. The Father cannot be Father, without a Son, cannot be Son without Father. The Spirit is never addressed as Father. The Son never sends the Father. (Orr 204)
        
        The concept exists in the understanding of the relations of persons within the Godhead. The Father has the relation of paternity, and the Son has one of filiation. Therefore, the essence of God is one, but the distinction relates to the opposition of relations.
        
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        Unity
        
        Perichoresis (Beeke 892)
        
        Divine Will
        
        John 5:21 Jesus says that he gives life to whom he will. Yet, he also says in John 5:19 that he does nothing apart from the Father. The only conclusion to draw from these two statements is that the Father and Son share the divine will
        
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        Activity
        
        The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit act as one. Though accomodation associates particular acts as naturally being associated with one person, the activity is nonetheless Triune. The Triune God in perfect unity is involved in creation, redemption, and the consummation.
      - Fred Sanders makes the claim that without the doctrine of eternal generation we don't have the most important category needed to defend the Son of God. Eternal generation is the key and foundation to understanding Sonship claims about Jesus. If eternal generation is missing in a sonship claim, at best it is weak, and at worst, heretical. (Barrett 428)
        
        A correct understanding of eternal generation makes it impossible to accept the heretical claims that will be briefly discussed later on in this paper.
    - - According to Aquinas, the Father's intellect brings about the eternal generation, and the Father's will, which is eternally shared with the Son, is the eternal spiration of the Spirit (Poythress 318)
    - - Just as humans are begotten in time, but the Son was begotten outside of time since his origin is eternity.
        
        Generation and its relation to 4 types of causes (Barrett 417)
      - The Father's essence is one of impassibility, eternity, and simplicity. Since the Son is of the same essence as the Father because it was eternally begotten to him, the Son has all of the same attributes as the Father.
      - Because his generation is eternal, the Son is properly understood to never have been created.
      - Eternal (timeless) generation (source of origin)
    - - It is not a part of the divine essence. Some may retort that if the Son is of the same substance as the Father, then he must have the attribute of being unbegotten. However, this is a mistake which results from confusing an attribute which belongs to the person of the Father, with an attribute belonging to the substance of divinity. What makes the Father so is his being unbegotten. What makes the Son so, is his being eternally begotten. (TQT 113)
  - - - Also known as the via triplex, the three-fold way is a tool for providing a metaphysical structure for understanding categorically the unique relationship between the Father and the Son.
        
        Typically, when naming God, it involves a subject and a predicate. Consider the following sentence: the Son is begotton. The Son is the subject, and begotten is the predicate. The predicate is the divine name.
        
        Why the three-fold way is important is because when naming God, one uses anthropomorphic language. One is using language in an analogous way in which there is a type of relation between God and man. While it is correct to engage in the use of analogous language, one can be tempted to take language about finite creatures and then impose that understanding upon God who is infinite as opposed to man who is finite. Take the example "the Son is wise" and compare it to "the man is wise." For the man, he remains a man whether he is wise or not. Wisdom is an accidental property meaning that they are ontologically distinct. This is not the case for God. Wisdom is not ontologically distinct, and therefore not accidental to his nature. For the man, wisdom is distinct from his goodness, whereas for God who is simple, it is not distinct. Wisdom for the man can increase or decrease, but for God, his wisdom is immutable. God is categorically different from man. Therefore, we need a proper way of handling the names of God.
        
        The three-fold way includes the way of eminence, negation, and causation. The way of eminence states that the attribute belonging to God is an all-surpassing perfection. As it relates to wisdom, there is no wisdom more perfect than the wisdom of God. Whatever good is found in a creature is preeminently found in God
        
        Whereas the way of eminence relates to perfections, the way of negation deals with imperfections (How God's Nature is Known). The way of negation informs that God's attribute is not to be understood in a creaturely manner. God is certainly wise, but he is not wise in the same way that a parent is wise compared to a child because that parent is foolish compared to God. Dr. Dennis Bonnette states that "while God is needed to cause the perfection of a nature, its defect or lack need not be attributed to God as the ultimate cause of the thing itself." (How God's Nature is Known). Therefore, wisdom belongs to God, a limited wisdom does not belong to him.
        
        The way of causation helps one to understand how his divine name is the basis for what we experience in creation. For instance, one cannot be wise, unless God is wisdom. His wisdom is thus the cause for our wisdom. This stems from the understanding that God is the ultimate uncaused first cause.
    - - Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher who lived around the 5th century, is the one typically credited for developing this method.
        
        he laid the foundation, and Aquinas built off of it and employed this tool.