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Q: One translation of John 1:18 says that Jesus is the only-begotten god;
while another translation says Jesus is the only begotten son. Which
translation is correct?
A: Either translation will do because, biologically speaking, they're both
saying the very same thing.
Depending upon one's translation of choice; Jesus Christ is described in John
1:14, John 1:18, John 3:16, and John 3:18, as the only-begotten god and/or
the only-begotten son of God. All four passages are translated from the
Greek word monogenes (mon-og-en-ace') which is 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 a parent's sole
biological child in the New Testament. If a parent has 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. Obviously then, an
adopted child can never be monogenes in the home because it wouldn't be
the home's biological 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 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)
Q: God literally fathered a child?
A: I think it's probably a bit more accurate to say that God literally
co-fathered a child.
Q: 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 curious combination of human and divine.
David contributed the human element. (Luke 1:32, Acts 13:22-23, Rom 1:1-
3, and 2Tim 2:8)
God contributed the divine element. (Luke 1:35 and 1John 3:9)
Jesus then, is just as much God's offspring as he is David's; and just as
much David's offspring as he is God's.
To say that this is 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 a meerkat with an apricot to
produce a mammalian fruit tree. But; the circumstances of Christ's
conception are in the Bible, so those of us who call ourselves Christians have
got to accept it.
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