Christ: Begotten Not Made

The Lord has said to Me, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You.” Ps. 2:7.

My heart has uttered a good matter. Ps. 45:1 (LXX).

The Lord made me the beginning of his ways for his works. . . . Before the mountains were settled, and before all hills, he begets me. . . . When he prepared the heaven, I was present with him. . . . I was by him, suiting myself to him, I was that wherein he took delight. Prov. 8:22, 23 (LXX).

The Word . . . after God, who begat Him. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.166.

We assert that the Word of God was born of God in a peculiar manner, different from ordinary generation. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.170.

Jesus Christ is the only proper Son who has been begotten by God, being His Word, His First-Begotten, and His Power. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.170.

[Christians] call Him the Word, because He carries tidings from the Father to men. But they maintain that this Power is indivisible and inseparable from the Father, just as they say that the light of the sun on earth is indivisible and inseparable from the sun in the heavens. . . . They say that the Father, when He chooses, causes His Power to spring forth. And when He chooses, He makes it return to Himself. . . . This power, which the prophetic word calls God . . . is indeed something numerically distinct [from the Father]. . . . This Power was begotten from the Father by His power and will, but not by division, as if the essence of the Father were divided. For all other things that are partitioned and divided are not the same after the partition as they were before they were divided. And, for the sake of example, I took the case of fires kindled from a fire, which we see to be distinct from the original fire. Yet, the fire from which many fires can be kindled is by no means made less, but remains the same. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.264.

God, then, having His own Word internal within His own bowels, begat Him, emitting Him along with His own Wisdom before all things. Theophilus (c. 180, E), 2.98.

When God wished to make all that He determined on, He begot this Word. He uttered the First-Born of all creation. However, He Himself was not emptied of the Word, but having begotten the Word, and always conversing with His Word. And hence the holy writings, and all the Spirit-bearing men, teach us this. One of these men, John, says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,” showing that at first God was alone, and the Word was in Him. Theophilus (c. 180, E), 2.103.

If anyone, therefore, says to us, “How then was the Son produced by the Father?” we reply to him, that no man understands that production, or generation, or calling, or revelation—or by whatever other name one may describe His generation. For it is in fact altogether indescribable. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.401.

The Son reveals the Father, who begat the Son. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.469.

As He was born of Mary in the last days, so did He also proceed from God as the First-Begotten of every creature. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/ W), 1.576.

The perfect Word born of the perfect Father was begotten in perfection. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.215.

The Father, by loving, became “feminine.” The great proof of this is He whom He begot of Himself. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.601.

The Father begat the Word as the Author, Fellow-Counselor, and Framer of the things that have been created. He uttered the first Voice, begetting Him as Light of Light. And He sent Him forth to the world as its Lord. Hippolytus (c. 205, W), 5.227.

You will say to me, “How is He begotten?” . . . You cannot explain with accuracy the economy in His case. For you do not have it in your power to acquaint yourself with the skilful and indescribable art of the Maker, but only to see, understand, and believe that man is God’s work. Moreover, you are asking an account of the generation of the Word, whom God the Father begat as He willed, in His good pleasure. . . . Is it not enough for you to learn that the Son of God has been manifested to you for salvation (if you believe)—but do you also inquire curiously how He was begotten after the spirit [i.e., His heavenly birth]? . . . Are you then so bold as to seek the account after the spirit, which the Father keeps with Himself, intending to reveal it then to the holy ones and those worthy of seeing His face? . . . For He speaks in this manner: “From the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten you.” Hippolytus (c. 205, W), 5.229.

This solitary and supreme Deity, by an exercise of reflection, brought forth the Logos first. . . . Him alone did [the Father] produce from existing things. For the Father Himself constituted existence, and the Being born from him was the cause of all things that are produced. The Logos was in [the Father] Himself, bearing the will of His Begetter and not being unacquainted with the mind of the Father. Hippolytus (c. 225, W), 5.150, 151.

Now, we believe that Christ did ever act in the name of God the Father. . . . We believe that He was the Son of the Creator and that He was His Word. God made Him His Son by emitting Him from Himself. He thereafter set the Son over every dispensation of His will. Tertullian (c. 207, W), 3.318.

I am therefore of the opinion that the will of the Father should be sufficient by itself for the existence of whatever He wishes to exist. . . . And thus also the existence of the Son is generated by Him. For this point must above all others be maintained by those who allow nothing to be unbegotten—unborn—except God the Father only. And we must be careful not to fall into the absurdities of those who picture to themselves certain emanations, so as to divide the divine nature into parts. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.248.

There is a meaning of “beginning” [Gr. arche] referring to a matter of origin, as might appear in the saying: “In the beginning, God made the heaven and the earth.” . . . This meaning of the word “beginning” in the sense of “origin” will serve us also in the passage in which Wisdom speaks in the Proverbs. We read, “God created me the beginning of His ways, for His works.” Here the term could be interpreted as in the first application we spoke of—that of a way. It says, “The Lord created me the beginning of His ways.” One might assert with good reason that God Himself is the beginning of all things. And one could go on to say—as is plain—that the Father is the origin [arche] of the Son. The Creator is the beginning of the works of the Creator. In a word, God is the beginning of all that exists. This view is supported by “In the beginning, was the Word.” In the Word, one may see the Son. And because He is in the Father, He may be said to be in the beginning. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.306.

No one can worthily know the One without genealogy, the First-Born of all created nature, who is like the Father who begat Him. Nor can anyone know the Father as does the living Word, His Wisdom, and Truth. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.581.

The same rule of truth teaches us to believe, after the Father, also on the Son of God—Christ Jesus. He is the Lord our God, but He is the Son of God, out of that God who is both one and alone. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.618.

God the Father is the Founder and Creator of all things. He alone knows no origin [arche]. He is invisible, infinite, immortal, eternal, and is one God. To his greatness, majesty, or power, not only can nothing be preferred, nothing can be compared. The Son, the Word, was born of Him, when He [the Father] willed it. The Word is not received in the sound of the stricken air, or in the tone of voice forced from the lungs. Rather, He is acknowledged in the substance of the power put forth by God. The mysteries of His sacred and divine nativity have not been learned by any apostle, nor discovered by any prophet, nor known by any angel, nor comprehended by any creature. They are known to the Son alone, who has known the secrets of the Father. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.643.

Thus, He could not make two Gods, because He did not make two beginnings. For from Him who has no beginning [arche], the Son received the source of His nativity before all time. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.644.

Christ is the First-Born. He is the Wisdom of God, by whom all things were made. Solomon says in the Proverbs: “The Lord made me in the beginning of His ways, into His works. He founded me before the world. In the beginning, . . . the Lord begot me. . . . When He prepared the heaven, I was present with Him.” . . . Also, in the same, in Ecclesiasticus: “I went forth out of the mouth of the Most High, First-Born before every creature.” Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.515.

I said that the plant . . . is different from the [seed or root] from which it sprouted. Yet, it is absolutely of the same nature. Similarly, a river flowing from a spring takes another form and name. For neither is the spring called the river, nor the river the spring. . . . The spring is the father, so to speak, and the river is the water from the spring. . . . God is the spring of all good things, but the Son is called the river flowing from Him. Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 262, E), 6.92, 93, as quoted by Athanasius.

I do not think that the Word was a thing made. Therefore, I do not say that God was His Maker, but rather his Father. Nevertheless, if at any time, in speaking about the Son, I may have casually said that God was His Maker, even this manner of speaking would not be without defense. For the wise men among the Greeks call themselves the “makers” of their books, although the same are “fathers” of their books. Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 262, E), 6.93, as quoted by Athanasius.

God was possessed of the greatest foresight for planning. . . . So before He commenced this business of the world, . . . He produced a Spirit like Himself, who could be endowed with the perfection of God the Father. God did this in order that goodness might spring as a stream from Him and might flow forth afar. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.52.

In the thirty-second Psalm: “By the word of God were the heavens made firm. And all their power by the breath of His mouth.” And also again in the forty-fourth Psalm: “My heart has given utterance to a good word.” . . . Solomon also shows that it is the Word of God, and no other, by whose hands these works of the world were made. He says, “I came forth out of the mouth of the Most High before all creatures. I caused the light that does not fail to arise in the heavens” [Sir. 24:3]. John also taught in this manner: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.107.

In the 109th Psalm, David teaches the same, saying, “Before the morning star, I begot you.” Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.113.

Not that the Word is unbegotten. For the Father alone is unbegotten. Rather, the unexplainable subsistence of the Only-Begotten Son is beyond the understanding of the evangelists and perhaps also of the angels. For that reason, I do not think that he is to be considered pious who presumes to inquire into anything beyond these things. . . . To the Father alone belonged the knowledge of this most divine mystery. He says, “For no man knows the Son, but the Father.” Alexander of Alexandria (c. 324, E), 6.292, 293.

Concerning Him we believe in this manner, even as the apostolic church believes: In one Father, unbegotten, who has the cause of His being from no one, who is unchangeable and immutable. . . . And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God. He is not begotten of things that are not, but of Him who is the Father. He is not begotten in a physical manner, nor by excision or division (as Sabellius and Valentinus thought), but in a certain unexplainable and unspeakable manner. In the words of the prophet cited above: “Who will declare His generation?” Because of His subsistence, no begotten nature can investigate Him—just as no one can investigate the Father. The nature of rational beings cannot comprehend the knowledge of His divine generation by the Father. Alexander of Alexandria (c. 324, E), 6.295.

We believe . . . in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only begotten, that is, of the substance of the Father; God of God; Light of Light; very God of very God; begotten, not made; being of one substance with the Father. Nicene Creed (A.D. 325), 7.524; extended discussion: 4.2454.251. (Pp. 215-221)

Out of you shall come forth to me the One to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Mic. 5:2.

Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” John 8:58.

Jesus Christ was with the Father before the ages, and in the end, He was revealed. Ignatius (c. 105, E), 1.61.

The Son of God is older than all His creatures, so that He was a Fellow-Counselor with the Father in His work of creation. Hermas (c. 150, W), 2.47.

His Son . . . also was with Him and was begotten before the works, when at first He created and arranged all things by Him. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.190.

And Trypho [a Jew] said, “For some of it appears to me to be paradoxical, and wholly incapable of proof. For example, you say that this Christ existed as God before the ages.” Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.219.

This is He who existed before all, who is the eternal Priest of God, and King, and Christ. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.247.

We know Him to be the First-Begotten of God, and to be before all creatures. . . . Since we call Him the Son, we have understood that, before all creatures, He proceeded from the Father by His power and will. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.249.

“The Lord created me the beginning of His ways for His works. From everlasting He established me in the beginning, before He formed the earth.” . . . You perceive . . . that the Scripture has declared that this Offspring was begotten by the Father before all things created. Now, everyone will admit that He who is begotten is numerically distinct from Him who begets. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.264.

This Being is perfect Reason, the Word of God. He was begotten before the light. He is Creator, together with the Father. He is the Fashioner of man. . . . He is God who is from God. He is the Son who is from the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the King for evermore. . . . This was the First-Born of God, who was begotten before the sun. Melito (c. 170, E), 8.756, 757.

Moreover, we are worshippers of His Christ, who is truly God the Word, existing before all time. Melito (c. 170, E), 8.759.

Being at once both God and perfect man, He gave us sure indications of His two natures. . . . He concealed the signs of His Deity, although he was the true God existing before all ages. Melito (c. 170, E), 8.760.

What is meant by the Son? I will state briefly that He is the first product of the Father. I do not mean that He was brought into existence. For, from the beginning, God, who is the eternal Mind, had the Logos in Himself. From eternity, He is instinct with Logos. However, [the Son is begotten] inasmuch as He came forth to be the Idea and energizing Power of all material things, which lay like a nature without attributes. . . . The prophetic Spirit also agrees with our statements. “The Lord,” it says, “made me the beginning of His ways to His works.” Athenagoras (c. 175, E), 2.133.

Each of those things to which divinity is ascribed is conceived of as having existed from the first. Athenagoras (c. 175, E), 2.137.

But what else is this voice but the Word of God, who is also His Son? Not as the poets and writers of myths talk of the sons of gods begotten from intercourse, but as truth expounds, the Word who always exists, residing within the heart of God. For before anything came into being, He had Him as a counsellor, being His own mind and thought. Theophilus (c. 180, E), 2.103.

But the Son has been eternally co-existing with the Father. From of old, yes, from the beginning, He always reveals the Father. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/ W), 1.406.

For not only before Adam, but also before all creation, the Word glorified His Father, remaining in Him. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.478.

For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things. He speaks to this one, saying, “Let Us make man after Our image and likeness.” . . . I have also largely demonstrated that the Word, namely the Son, was always with the Father. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.487, 488.

He was with the Father from the beginning. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.489.

He is prior to all creation. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/ W), 1.526.

Solomon also says that before heaven, earth, and all existences, Wisdom had arisen in the Almighty. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.512.

The timeless and unoriginated First Principle and Beginning of existences the Son—from whom we are to learn the remoter Cause of the universe, the Father, the most ancient and the most beneficent of all. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.523.

The presbyter explained what is meant by “from the beginning,” to this effect: That the beginning of generation is not separated from the beginning of the Creator. For when he says, “That which was from the beginning,” he refers to the generation of the Son, that is without beginning, for He is co-existent with the Father. There was, then, a Word signifying an unbeginning eternity. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.574, excerpted from a post-Nicene translation made by Cassiodorus.

He signifies by the title of Father, that the Son also existed always, without beginning. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.574, excerpted from a post-Nicene translation made by Cassiodorus.

He who was co-existent with His Father before all time, and before the foundation of the world, always had the glory proper to Divinity. Hippolytus (c. 205, W), 5.167.

He was born the Word, of the heart of the Father, before all. Hippolytus (c. 205, W), 5.189.

They killed the Son of their Benefactor, for He is co-eternal with the Father. Hippolytus (c. 205, W), 5.220.

We have always held that God is the Father of His Only-Begotten Son, who was born indeed of Him, and derives from Him what He is, but without any beginning—not only such as may be measured by any divisions of time, but even that which the mind alone can contemplate within itself. . . . And therefore we must believe that Wisdom was generated before any beginning that can either be comprehended or expressed. And since all the creative power of the coming creation was included in this very existence of Wisdom . . . does Wisdom say, in the words of Solomon, that she was “created the beginning of the ways of God.” For she contained within herself either the beginnings, forms, or species of all creation. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.246.

Let him, then, who assigns a beginning to the Word or Wisdom of God take care that he is not guilty of impiety against the unbegotten Father himself. For he denies that He had always been a Father, or had always generated the Word, or had possessed Wisdom in all preceding periods, whether they be called times or ages. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.246, 247.

The Father generates an uncreated Son and brings forth a Holy Spirit—not as if He had no previous existence, but because the Father is the origin and source of the Son or Holy Spirit. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.270.

John also indicates that “God is Light.” . . . Since light could never exist without splendor, so neither can the Son be understood to exist without the Father. For He is called the “express image of His person” and the Word and Wisdom. How, then, can it be declared that there was once a time when He was not the Son? For that is nothing else than to say that there was once a time when he was not the Truth, nor the Wisdom, nor the Life. . . . Now, this expression that we use—“that there never was a time when He did not exist” is to be understood with an allowance. For these very words—“when” and “never”—have a meaning that relates to time. However, the statements made regarding Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are to be understood as transcending all times, all ages, and all eternity. Origen (c. 225, E), 4.377.

It is not only the Greeks who consider the word “beginning” [Gr. arche] to have many meanings. Let anyone collect the Scripture passages in which the word occurs and . . . note what it stands for in each passage. He will find that the word has many meanings in sacred discourse, as well. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.305.

“You are My Son. This day have I begotten You.” This is spoken to Him by God, with whom all time is today. For there is no evening with God . . . and there is no morning. There is nothing but time that stretches out, along with His unbeginning and unseen life. The day is today with Him in which the Son was begotten. Accordingly, the beginning of His birth is not found, nor is the day of it. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.314.

The Word was always with the Father. And so it is said, “And the Word was with God.” . . . He was in the beginning at the same time when He was with God—neither being separated from the beginning, nor being bereft of His Father. And again, neither did He come to be in the beginning after He had not been in it. Nor did He come to be with God after not having been with him. For before all time and the remotest age, the Word was in the beginning, and the Word was with God. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.322.

He was in the beginning with God. The term “beginning” may be taken as the beginning of the world, so that we may learn from what is said that the Word was older than the things that were made from the beginning. Origen (c. 228, E), 9.325.

The Word was not made in the beginning. There was no time when the beginning was devoid of the Word. For that reason it is said, “In the beginning was the Word.” Origen (c. 228, E), 9.334.

He is therefore God, because He was before the world, and held His glory before the world. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.626.

Since He was begotten of the Father, He is always in the Father. In saying “always,” I do not mean Him to be unborn, but born. Yet, He who is before all time must be said to have been always in the Father. For no time can be assigned to Him who is before all time. He is always in the Father, unless the Father is not always the Father. Yet, the Father also precedes him in a certain sense. For it is necessary, in some degree, that He should be before He is Father. For it is essential that He who knows no beginning must go before Him who has a beginning. Just as the Son is the less, as knowing that He is in the Father, having an origin because He is born. And He is of like nature with the Father in some measure because of His nativity. He has a beginning in that He is born, inasmuch as He is born of that Father who alone has no beginning. He, then, when the Father willed it, proceeded from the Father. He who was in the Father came forth from the Father. And He who was in the Father because He was of the Father, was subsequently with the Father, because He came forth from the Father. I am speaking of the Divine substance whose name is the Word. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.643.

There certainly was not a time when God was not the Father. . . . Because the Son has existence from the Father, not from Himself, it does not mean that God afterwards begot the Son. . . . Being the brightness of the eternal Light, He Himself also is absolutely eternal. If the light is always in existence, it is manifest that its brightness also exists. . . . God is the eternal Light, which has neither had a beginning, nor will it ever fail. Therefore, the eternal brightness shines forth before Him and coexists with Him. Existing without a beginning, and always begotten, He always shines before Him. He is that Wisdom that says, “I was that in which He delighted, and I was daily his delight before his face at all times.” Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 262, E), 6.92, as quoted by Athanasius.

Now, this word, “I am,” expresses His eternal subsistence. For if he is the reflection of the eternal light, he must also be eternal Himself. For if the light subsists forever, it is evident that the reflection also subsists forever. Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 262, E), 6.120.

Neither are they less to be blamed who think that the Son was a creation, determining that the Lord was made—just as one of those things that really were made. For the divine declarations testify that He was begotten (as is fitting and proper), but not that He was created or made. It is therefore not a trifling thing—but a very great impiety—to say that the Lord was in any way made with hands. For if the Son was made, there was a time when He was not. However, He always was, if (as He Himself declares) He is undoubtedly in the Father. And if Christ is the Word, the Wisdom, and the Power (for the divine writings tell us that Christ is these, as you yourselves know), assuredly these are powers of God. Wherefore, if the Son was made, there was a time when these were not in existence. And thus there was a time when God was without these things, which is utterly absurd. Dionysius of Rome (c. 265, W), 7.365, as quoted by Athanasius.

He had neither recently attained to the relationship of Son, nor again, having begun before, had an end after this. Rather, He had previously been begotten, and He was to be, and was the same. But the expression, “This day I have begotten you,” means that he willed that He who existed before the ages in heaven should be begotten on the earth. Methodius (c. 290, E), 6.338.

Since the Son is always with Him, the Father is always complete, being destitute of nothing as regards good. He has begotten His Only-Begotten Son—not in time, nor after an interval, nor from things that are not. How, then, is it not unholy to say that the Wisdom of God once was not. . . . Or that the Power of God once did not exist? . . . Therefore, one may see that the Sonship of our Savior has nothing at all in common with the sonship of the rest. Alexander of Alexandria (c. 324, E), 6.293.

How can He be made of things that are not, when the Father says, “My heart belched forth a good Word”? And, “From the womb, before the morning, I have begotten you”? Or how can He be unlike the substance of the Father—He who is the perfect image and brightness of the Father and who says, “He that has seen Me has seen the Father”? Furthermore, if the Son is the Word, Wisdom, and Reason of God, how can there be a time when he was not? It is the same as if they said there was a time when God was without reason and wisdom. Alexander of Alexandria (c. 324, E), 6.297. (Pp. 221-226)