.
● John 1:18 . . No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten god
who is in the bosom position with the Father is the one that has explained
him.
The Greek word for "only-begotten" in that verse is monogenes (mon-og-en
ace') which is also found in John 1:14, John 3:16, John 3:18, and 1John 4:9.
It's a combination of two words.
The first is mono, which music buffs recognize as a single channel rather
than two or four in surround sound stereo. Mono is very common; e.g.
monogamy, monofilament, monotonous, mononucleotide, monochrome,
monogram, monolith, monologue, monomial, et al.
The other word is genes; from whence we get the English word gene; which
Webster's defines as a biological term indicating a part of a cell that controls
or influences the appearance, growth, etc., of a living thing. In other words:
monogenes refers to one biological gene set rather than many.
Monogenes always, and without exception, refers to parents' sole biological
child in the New Testament. If parents have two or more biological children,
none of them qualify as monogenes because in order to qualify as a
monogenes child, the child has to be an only child.
Examples of monogenes children are located at Luke 7:12, Luke 8:42, and
Luke 9:38.
So then, scientifically speaking, Christ is unique in that he is God's sole
biological offspring, while God's other sons are not; viz: they're placed as
sons, i.e. adopted. (Rom 8:15-16, Gal 4:4-6, Eph 1:4-5)
FAQ: God literally fathered a child?
A: I think it's probably a bit more accurate to say that God literally co
fathered a child.
FAQ: How did he do it? Is there a Mrs. God? And who was the other father?
A: Jesus' conception, described at Luke 1:26-35, wasn't only miraculous, it
was a very mysterious collaboration of human and divine.
David contributed the human component. (Luke 1:32, Acts 13:22-23, Rom
1:1-3, and 2Tim 2:8)
God contributed the divine component. (Luke 1:35 and 1John 3:9)
Jesus then, is just as much God's progeny as he is David's; and just as much
David's progeny as he is God's.
FAQ: What about Heb 11:17 where Isaac is stated to be Abraham's
monogenes child? Wasn't Ishmael a biological child of his too?
A: At the time of the event recorded in the 22nd of Genesis, Ishmael was no
longer Abraham's son. Paternal laws back in that ancient culture allowed a
man to disown a son if the lad was born of a mother in slavery. The catch is:
the father had to emancipate the mother, which Abraham had already done
at Sarah's urging, and God's approval.
Now, here's the inescapable ramification:
Like reproduces its like. In other words: If Christ really is David's progeny,
then Christ is just as much a human being as David. In the same vein; if
Christ really is God's progeny; then Christ is just as much a divine being as
God.
To say that this is all very baffling, illogical, unscientific, and unreasonable
would be an understatement. In my mind's normal way of thinking, Christ's
rather odd case of mixed-species genetics is an outlandish fantasy that,
biologically, makes no sense at all. It's sort of like crossing an iguana with
an apricot to produce a reptilian fruit tree. But; the circumstances of Christ's
conception are in the Bible, so those of us who identify ourselves Christians
have got to accept it.
_