The Only Begotten Son of God 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

The Nicene Creed 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.

Athanasian Creed Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Substance [Essence] of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the Substance [Essence] of his Mother, born in the world; Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting; Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood.

The Biology of Life Organisms are Similar because of their Common Ancestry For millennia it has been appreciated that organisms give rise to new individuals of the same kind (i.e., same species). Thus, humans give rise to more humans, dandelions give rise to more dandelions, Escherichia coli gives rise to more E. coli, and so forth. In essence, like begets like begets like begets like etc. ad nauseam. The continuity of a species is a consequence of the genes passed from each generation to the next. This is a static view of the biological world; without other processes, life could not change. -

Only Begotten? 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 monogenes from 3441 and 1096 AV - only begotten 6, only 2, only child 1; 9

monogenes ‘mono’ – from ‘monos’ only ‘genes’ – from ‘gennao’ beget or? – from ‘ginomai’ be

John 3:16 – other translations ‘one and only Son’ – NIV, The Message ‘only begotten ([a]unique) Son’ – Amplifieda ‘only son’ – NLT, ESV, CEV

monogenes – its meaning BEGOTTEN (BEGETTING) […] Christ, by contrast is, "son" of God, to John, but this verb is not used in the NT to describe God's relationship to Him. "Only-begotten" (1:14, etc.) is a mistranslation in older VSS of "only," "unique" prob. corresponding to Heb., of which "beloved" is another NT tr. See also SON OF GOD. BIBLIOGRAPHY. G. Abbot-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT (1937); W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich, Greek-English Lexicon of the NT (1957). [R. A. COLE] - The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia in Five Volumes, 1975, Vol A-C, p. 510

monogenes – NT occurrences And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) 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) He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18) In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)

monogenes – NT occurrences Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. (Luke 7:12) For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him. (Luke 8:42) And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. (Luke 9:38) By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, (Hebrews 11:17)

This day have I begotten thee God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. (Acts 13:33) For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? (Hebrews 1:5) So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. (Hebrews 5:5)

Incarnation? He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. John 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

Pre-existing in Heaven? Jesus is “from/of Heaven” Others are “from/of Earth”

Born from above Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (verse 3) 1080 gennao AV-begat 49, be born 39, bear 2, gender 2, bring forth 1, be delivered 1, misc 3; 97 1) of men who fathered children 1a) to be born 1b) to be begotten 1b1) of women giving birth to children

Isaac – begotten from above Sarah was infertile (Genesis 11:30) Sarah had gone through menopause (Genesis 18:11) Abraham and Sarah were very old (Genesis 18:11) Abraham’s body was as good as dead (Romans 4:19)

John 1 – The Message 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Biology, Chemistry and Physics? “the Word was made flesh” “born again… by the word of God” “begat he us with the word of truth” “children of the promise” “born… of promise”