Eternal Generation
The Signs of the Times—February 15,1860.
Sir: —Will you do a reader of the
Signs of the Times
the favor to give your opinion of the doctrine of the eternal generation of the
Son of God?
Reply. —The above note came to us by
mail, precisely as we have copied it above, without place or date, but
post-marked on the envelope by the stamp, Baltimore, Md., February 11, and
directed to us at New Vernon, in this County; thence it was forwarded to us at
this place. Who the querist is, and what is desired, and for what purpose, we do
not fully comprehend, but as we desire always to oblige, as far as we have
ability, the readers of the
Signs,
we will inform the inquirer frankly, that we do not know what the doctrine is,
on which our opinion is requested. We have found no mention made, in our version
of the Scriptures, of the eternal generation of the Son of God, in so many
words, therefore we suppose the inquiry relates to some theory or doctrine so
designated, as held and taught by men. As we do not know what the theory or
doctrine is, we have no other opinion than this, that the Scriptures contain all
that it is essential for the saints to understand in regard to the doctrine of
God our Savior. That he is the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth, and that he was the Son of God before he was sent into the
world, and is the same yesterday, today and forever, and that he who is the Son
of God, is also the eternal, underived, independent God, we also firmly believe.
That in his Mediatorial union with his body, his church, he is the only begotten
of the Father, while in his supreme Godhead, he is the fullness of the Godhead,
underived and unbegotten.
The New Testament begins with the
words, “The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, the Son of David,” (Matt.
1:1). Of his generation in this sense, we are told that he was made of the seed
of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power,
according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, (Rom.
1:3, 4). Of his generation as the seed of David, we find no record of its being
called eternal. The inspired psalmist, in prophesying of him, says: “The kingdom
is the Lord’s, and he is the governor among the nations,” &c. “A seed shall
serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation,” (Ps. 22:28, 30).
This prophetic declaration of the royal prophet, compared with 1 Peter 2:9: “But
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar
people,” &c., very clearly presents to us, the generation of Jesus Christ the
Son of God. The life, that is, the eternal life or immortality of this
generation, was with the Father, (1 John 1:2). “And this is the record, that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the
Son, hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life,” (1 John
5:11,12). This generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as we have proven by
1 Peter 2:9, is a chosen generation, and Paul testifies, (Eph. 1:4) that they
were “chosen in him,” that is, in Jesus Christ the Son of God, “before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in
love.” Thus far we have the testimony that the life which was given to the
generation of Jesus Christ the Son of God, was eternal life, and that it was,
and still is so in Jesus Christ the Son of God, that no man can have the one
without having the other, and no one can be destitute of the one without being
destitute of the other. Such, then, is the seminal union and relationship of
vitality, of immortality, that indissoluble unites the Head and Body of the
The book of the complete generations of the earthly Adam was
given in the day that God created man, (Gen. 5:1) consequently before any of the
children of Adam were born of the flesh. And as the earthly Adam is the figure
of the heavenly Adam, (Rom. 5:14; 1 Cor. 15:47, 48) we infer that the seed or
generation of Jesus Christ the Son of God, is just as ancient as his Sonship.
That is, we cannot from the Scriptures learn that our Lord Jesus Christ held the
office, or occupied the position of Mediator, before the eternal life, which was
with the Father, was given to us in him. That this is what constitutes the
relationship between Christ, the seminal Head, and his seed, the Progenitor and
the chosen generation.
We believe there are some who have held the idea that the
flesh of our Redeemer, in which he was born of the Virgin, which suffered on the
cross, was laid in the tomb, and which was raised from the dead, was begotten
and brought forth by what they call an eternal generation, and so existed a
human body and soul, from the ancients of eternity. If that theory be true, we
have not so learned it, and must wait for clearer light on that subject. If what
is called the humanity of Christ was also generated and did so exist before all
time, then, instead of his assumption of our flesh, instead of his taking on him
the seed of Abraham, or being made of a woman in his advent to this world, the
whole race of mankind must have assumed his human nature when they were born of
the flesh. And furthermore, we see no reason why it was expedient for him to be
made of a woman, in order to be made under that law which the human family were
under, as that law was binding on all human beings, until they are redeemed from
its dominion by his one offering of himself without spot unto God. Until these
difficulties which, to a very little mind like ours, are insuperable, are
obviated, we are unable to endorse this speculation.
Another, to us, equally untenable theory, called eternal
generation of the Son of God, sets forth, that his supreme Godhead is a
derivative Godhead; that it is not original, self-existent, independent and
eternal. This theory, as it appears to us, seems to deny all that is essential
to his Godhead. How a can we conceive of absolute Godhead that has descended by
generation or otherwise from any producing source higher than himself. That
Christ exists in a Sonship which is begotten of the Father, is clearly
demonstrated in the Scriptures, and confirmed by his own declarations, but this
we understand to be in relation to what he is as Head and life of his church.
But that he also is the eternal, self-existent God, the Jehovah, is equally
demonstrated in the Scriptures, and in the personal experience of every saint.
For if he is not God in an absolute and unrestricted sense, he cannot be the
Savior. He says, “I am God, and beside me there is no Savior.” We must,
therefore, be excused from endorsing a doctrine, however popular or plausible,
that would rob us of a Savior, or present him in a character in which we are
forbidden to worship him. This doctrine of a begotten Godhead is, to us,
equivalent to a denial of his Godhead in all but a nominal sense. Nor does the
fine-spun reasoning of his being eternally begotten, remove the difficulty. The
effect would be the same, whether begotten in eternity or in time. A like it
must and would imply a begetting or producing God, anterior to his development
as God; while, to our view, the denial of his self-existence is a denial that he
exists at all, as an absolute, eternal, independent and self-existent God. The
argument, that the son is as old as his father, that a father cannot exist
without a son, is quite too feeble to bring conviction to our mind. Stripped of
all artificial verbiage, the naked question returns; Is Jesus Christ absolutely,
eternally, independently, underivedly, the very supreme and eternal God? To this
question we emphatically answer, Yes! and as such we hope to worship and adore
him when the earth and heavens shall be no more; and even now we have no sweeter
song to sing than,
“Jesus, my God, I know his name,
His name is all my trust;
Nor will he put my soul to shame,
Nor let my hope be lost.”
