For Jesus Time today I wanted to start the children off on a direction I introduced yesterday: digging a little deeper into one particular doctrine in order to bring truth to people in other religions / cults.
We watched some witnessing clips with some particular cults and I explained that I would let the children choose one topic or doctrine to research and learn – like a debating exercise.
While I have read lots of different material on various cults, false doctrines and methods to bring truth, I find it great advice to use this one point, ‘dam crack’ method…
This ‘dam-crack’ method has a simple premise – create a case on one topic or doctrine so that the person you are talking to is forced to see they have believed error from the said organisation / cult. This small crack will often be enough to motivate them to do their own research and will hence find truth.
As these people are often sincere, just deceived, this will lead to them searching for themselves.
If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me
Jeremiah 29:13 (NLT)
People caught in religious / cult mentalities are tight that their organisation is without fault and that all others are apostates – and they are taught to not do their own honest research, though believe they do.
So, as a start on this journey I asked everyone to recite John 3:16. There were a few slight variations depending on translation, however the oldest person in the room added a foreign term : ‘begotten’.
Next I got them all to read Gideon Bibles and King James Version Bibles (which we normally don’t use).
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life
John 3:16 (KJV)
Why is this word begotten in there? And what does it mean?
Begotten in English means:
“brought into existence by or as if by a parent” (Miriam-Webster)
Was Jesus ‘brought into existence’?
The children know clearly that the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Creator (Col 1:16) and is pre-existant ie has no beginning (Ps 102:25-27, Heb 1:10-12, John 12:39-41, Isaiah 6:1-10)
So what is going on? Next we turned to John 1:18:
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
John 1:18 (KJV)
Next I asked them – if we relied on just the English translation of these two verses, what would we believe about Jesus?
Then I read to them from the French version (!) asking them if they recognised any words:
Car Dieu a tant aimé le monde qu’il a donné son Fils unique, afin que quiconque croit en lui ne périsse point, mais qu’il ait la vie éternelle. (LSG)
We recognise two words: Eternal and Unique. Eternal is easy, but where does the word ‘unique’ fit into the verse?
It could only be describing Jesus, but why was it there?
Fils unique = only son.
Interestingly, if you put into Google Translate the above verse it will add begotten. But if you take out the last part of the verse it will translate without the word ‘begotten’.
But the Bible wasn’t written in French or English. What was the New Testament written in?
What is the word for begotten in Greek?
Monogenes
Now does this word mean “brought into existence by” or “only son” like the English or French translations?
The notes in the study Bible state this:
monogenēs (3439): unique, one and only. This word indicates something that is the only representative of its kind, with the implication that it is special or extraordinary in some way. It can refer to a unique child, special to the parents, whether or not the child is an only child.
(New Living Translation (NLT) Study Bible Notes)
Far from this verse saying that Jesus was ‘brought into existence’ it shows that Jesus was (and is) unique and the only representative of God. Far from the cults that try to use this verse who believe Jesus was one of ‘many faithful witnesses’, was ‘created by Jehovah’ and was not co-equal with the Father.
Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons both use this verse to support their doctrine that Jesus had a beginning and is a son (though both mean vastly different things by ’son’).
But a very little knowledge of the original languages clears up the verses seeming contradiction with many other places that declare clearly that Jesus is God, while seperate from the Father.
His is something the Anglicans repeat regularly from the Nicene Creed (see notes):
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
While the English version at first glance may seem to support some cults doctrines, it only does so if you don’t know the meaning of the verse and throw out or re-interpret many, many others.
So this is a first step to opening up a debate that could help someone find the life giving and freeing truth of who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
We will dig deeper on this journey – creating a case, anticipating the responses, formulating responses to that and so on – for the topics the children choose.
The identify of Jesus will be a big one, though the reliability of the Bible, the inconsistencies and problems with other doctrines will also be on the list to choose from. We will try to post updates as we go on.
The Bible is consistent and gives doctrinal truth
Lord, teach us to know who You are more and more. May we engage with the depths of Your love and truth and enable us to share with others along the way. Give us compassion and love as we gently share with those You love and show us any error in our ways or believes. Be glorified
Notes:
NICENE CREED
WE BELIEVE in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
(Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary) monogenes (μονογενής, 3439) is used five times, all in the writings of the apostle John, of Christ as the Son of God; it is translated “only begotten” in Heb. 11:17 of the relationship of Isaac to Abraham.
With reference to Christ, the phrase “the only begotten from the Father,” John 1:14, rv(see also the marg.), indicates that as the Son of God He was the sole representative of the Being and character of the One who sent Him. In the original the definite article is omitted both before “only begotten” and before “Father,” and its absence in each case serves to lay stress upon the characteristics referred to in the terms used. The apostle’s object is to demonstrate what sort of glory it was that he and his fellow apostles had seen. That he is not merely making a comparison with earthly relationships is indicated by para, “from.” The glory was that of a unique relationship and the word “begotten” does not imply a beginning of His Sonship. It suggests relationship indeed, but must be distinguished from generation as applied to man.
We can only rightly understand the term “the only begotten” when used of the Son, in the sense of unoriginated relationship. “The begetting is not an event of time, however remote, but a fact irrespective of time. The Christ did not become, but necessarily and eternally is the Son. He, a Person, possesses every attribute of pure Godhood. This necessitates eternity, absolute being; in this respect He is not ‘after’ the Father” (Moule). The expression also suggests the thought of the deepest affection, as in the case of the OT word yachid, variously rendered, “only one,” Gen. 22:2, 12; “only son,” Jer. 6:26; Amos 8:10; Zech. 12:10; “only beloved,” Prov. 4:3, and “darling,” Ps. 22:20; 35:17.
In John 1:18 the clause “the only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the Father,” expresses both His eternal union with the Father in the Godhead and the ineffable intimacy and love between them, the Son sharing all the Father’s counsels and enjoying all His affections. Another reading is monogenes Theos, “God only-begotten.” In John 3:16 the statement, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son,” must not be taken to mean that Christ became the only begotten son by incarnation. The value and the greatness of the gift lay in the Sonship of Him who was given. His Sonship was not the effect of His being given. In John 3:18 the phrase “the name of the only begotten son of God” lays stress upon the full revelation of God’s character and will, His love and grace, as conveyed in the name of One who, being in a unique relationship to Him, was provided by Him as the object of faith. In 1 John 4:9 the statement “God hath sent His only begotten son into the world” does not mean that God sent out into the world one who at His birth in Bethlehem had become His Son. Cf. the parallel statement, “God sent forth the Spirit of His Son,” Gal. 4:6, rv, which could not mean that God sent forth One who became His Spirit when He sent Him.