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Was Jesus “begotten” in the sense of being created?

Claim:

John refers to Jesus as “the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father” (Jn. 1:18). Does this imply that Jesus was a created being?

Response:

The original Greek word here is monogenes. Mono in Greek means “one” and genes means “species” or “kind.” Thus this is literally rendered as “one species” or “one of a kind.” This is why other translations render this as “the only God” (ESV), “the One and Only” (NIV), “the only Son” (NRSV), and “the unique God” (NLT). Therefore, in the original Greek language, there is no sense of Christ being a created being here.

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    Tenney writes, “The “one and only Son” represents the Greek monogenēs, which is derived from genos, which means “kind” or “species.” It means “literally ‘one of a kind,’ ‘only,’ ‘unique’ (unicus), not ‘only-begotten.’” Tenney, M. C. (1981). John. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 9: John and Acts (F. E. Gaebelein, Ed.) (33). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

About The Author
James Rochford

James earned a Master’s degree in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, graduating magna cum laude. He is the founder of Evidence Unseen and the author of several books. James enjoys serving as a pastor at Dwell Community Church in Columbus, Ohio, where he lives with his wife and their two sons.