What is meant by Jesus being God the Father's “only”
(John 1:18, 3:16 and 3:18) Son?
The original Greek adjective μονογενης (monogenes) in
John 1:18 and its grammatical case variants
(slightly different endings to describe the object of a verb vs. to
describe the subject of a verb, etc.) μονογενη (monogene) in
John 3:16, and
μονογενους (monogenous) in
John 3:18,
are all derived from μονος (monos), which means
“alone” or “solitary,” and γενoς (genos), which means
“type” or “kind”; this adjective literally means “alone type” or “solitary kind” - i.e.,
“unique” or “only” - and when used to
describe the “Son” (John 1:18, 3:16,
3:18), describes Him as the “unique” or “only” Son of God the Father.
(The case variant
μονογενους (monogenous) is also in
John 1:14 but as a substantive, which is an adjective that replaces a
noun instead of describing it (e.g., in the phrase, “the land of the
free, and the home of the brave,” “free” and “brave” are substantives),
and therefore means “only Son” on its own, without
the noun for “Son.”)
Can monogenes, monogene and
monogenous be translated as “only begotten” to
describe Jesus as the “only begotten Son” of God the Father?
Hebrews 11:17 describes Isaac as Abraham's μονογενη (monogene).
Since Abraham also begot Ishmael, as well as “Zimran,
Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah” (Genesis 25:2), it would
be an error to say that Isaac was his “only begotten”; since the Bible has
no error, μονογενη (monogene) cannot mean “only
begotten.” Isaac was “unique” among the sons of Abraham in the sense that he
was the one of God’s “covenant” (Genesis 17:19).
But doesn't Acts 13:33 quote God the Father as saying that He has
“begotten”
Jesus?
γεγεννηκα (gegenneka), the original Greek word
translated “have begotten” in Acts 13:33, is different from μονογενης (monogenes),
and God the Father is talking about bringing forth Jesus from His grave
after His death on the cross (see
“Begotten” meaning).
Then why do some English translations translate
monogenes, monogene and
monogenous as “only begotten”?
Latin, the official language of the Roman Empire, was the first language
into which the New Testament, originally written in Greek, was translated, and the
initial
translation into Latin correctly translated all nine occurrences of
μονογενης (monogenes) and its case variants in the New
Testament as
unicus, which means “only” or “unique” (the English word “unique” comes from this Latin word).
But when a 4th century heretic named Arius began to spread the lie that
Jesus was created (see
My Father is Greater than I), Jerome, a prominent figure back then in the
budding Roman Catholic church, somehow decided “begotten” is needed to fight off “created,” and changed unicus
to unigenitus, which means “only
begotten,” for six of the nine occurrences, including all five that refer to
Jesus (John 1:14,
1:18,
3:16,
3:18, 1 John 4:9; the sixth was Hebrews
11:17 about Isaac (see above)), while leaving unicus
alone in Luke 7:12, 8:42 and 9:38. Jerome's translation of the Bible
into Latin, called Latin Vulgate,
remained the official Bible of Roman Catholicism until 1979, and some
English translations still pay homage to it.
Is that homage warranted?
English versions of the New Testament need to translate the original
Greek directly into modern English, and the way to stamp out a heresy
is to simply present what the Bible says, not to change it; the antidote to falsehood isn't a lesser falsehood, but the Truth.
Then why is Jesus called the “Son” of God the Father?
See
Son of God.