What Does "Begotten" Mean?

Are you someone who joins in the recitation of the Nicene Creed at Holy Mass or at a Protestant service and have only a vague idea of what the word “begotten” means?  That is what I am thinking about today.  We find the word twice in the following excerpt:

“I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.  God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.  For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”

Here is my humble explanation of what I think are the facts about the Nicene Creed.  Like the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed is a statement of our Christian Faith.  It was written back in the fourth century at the Council of Nicea in response to the Arian Heresy, a heresy that denied the divinity of Jesus Christ.  The Arians promoted the belief that Jesus had a human nature and not a divine nature, that He was a human being, but not God.  The Christian belief is that Jesus had both a divine nature and a human nature, that He is God, but also a human being.  So there was a serious conflict of ideas that needed to be resolved.  Thus, the wording of the Nicene Creed.

“Begotten” is the past tense of the verb “beget.”  To “beget” means to procreate by the usual means, ie., to have a father, a mother, to be formed inside the mother’s womb, and to be born.  We have all been begotten by our father and mother.  To say that Jesus is the “Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages” means that God the Father, who has a divine nature, was the Father of Jesus and that Jesus always existed.  Jesus was begotten from God, from light, from the true God and therefore He was “of the same spiritual substance” as God the Father.  Hence, he indeed has a divine nature, being “consubstantial” with the father.  Furthermore, He became “incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man,” meaning he was formed inside the womb of the Virgin Mary and thus took on a human nature.  So He has both a divine nature and a human nature.  This, then, refutes the Arian heresy.

Why use the word “only”, in saying that Jesus was the “Only Begotten Son of God?”  All other human beings were not begotten by God.  We were “made” by God, but not “begotten” by Him, hence the qualification “… begotten, not made …” in explaining the uniqueness of Jesus as a Son of God and not merely a human being like the rest of us.  While it is correct that the rest of us are sons and daughters of God, the difference is that we are His “adopted” sons and daughters and not his “begotten” sons and daughters.  But as adopted sons and daughters, we are set to inherit God’s kingdom, which is the reason for our striving here on earth.

One remaining question might be the reference to God (and Jesus) as light … “light from light …,”  ie., light begotten from light.  Jesus is referred to as light in John 1:4 and He refers to Himself as light in John 8:12:  “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Thus, God (Jesus) is light, and as such, we do not exist in darkness.  We see a reason and purpose for our existence.  Good Stuff!  Amen!

The Mind of a Conservative Person

What goes on in the mind of a person of liberal persuasion that makes him/her be so tolerant of change?  And, what goes on in the mind of a conservative person that makes him/her so resistant to change?  A liberal-minded person might answer that new ideas and new facts have come to light that make change desirable and warranted.  A conservative-minded person might answer that it was proven long ago that what we have is the truth and that change would be fallacious and disastrous.  Who is right?  This question is on my mind this morning.

Now I would describe myself as generally conservative in my thinking, especially where matters of religion and social behavior are concerned.  I would have to look long and hard at a doctrine that was established as truth a long time ago, especially if this truth was given to us by God himself, before I would be inclined to change.  After all, truth is truth and cannot suddenly become false due to a new way of thinking.  I’m thinking especially of the idea that the Catholic Church is the duly-established earthly guardian of truth as dictated by Jesus Christ himself.  As such, there is no acceptable means or reason for change.  It’s like saying that a mother gave birth to her son/daughter and therefore she is the biological mother of the son/daughter.  That is something that is truth and can never change.

This brings the Reformation to mind.  Christ established his Church and promised to be with us to the end of time.  (See Matt 28:20, John 14:16-17, and John 14:25-26).  Everyone accepted the Catholic Church to be that Church for some 1500 years.  And now (in the 1500s) we have people coming forward to say that this Church got off-track, that Christ broke his promise, and that this new world order is what he really intended.  It seems to me that people began to think that the “rules” that the Catholic Church dictated were too strict and that personal salvation should be considered to be more easily achieved.  Scripture Alone and Faith Alone became the hallmarks of this formal movement of protest, Protestantism.  They said that confessing sins to a priest is not the repentance model intended by Christ.  They said that each individual is free to interpret Sacred Scripture to suit himself/herself.  Yes, they said, eternal salvation is much easier to achieve than has been taught for the past 1500 years.  People fell for it.

Christ warned against heretical teachings such as these.  (See Matt 7:15-16 and Matt 24:24).  He said that false prophets would come forward to refute the true doctrines.  He warned us not to be duped.  He told us, in effect, to be conservative in our thinking where religion is concerned. 

So, that is what has gone on in my mind, the mind of a conservative person who is resistant to change.  The Catholic Church is where the deposit of truth is found and that cannot, and will not, change.  Christ promised this.  My prayer for today:  Lord, please re-establish your truth in the minds of your adopted sons and daughters so that your truth will be believed by all.  Amen.

Love and Hate in Scripture

Are you as disgusted as I am with all the vitriol being spread back and forth relative to the President and his supporters these days?  Hateful expressions are rampant on both sides, liberals and conservatives, via social media posts and shares and on news media programs.  Each side is guilty.

Hate is the opposite of love.  Do you know what Scripture says about love and hate?  The answer is:  Plenty!  According to Jesus, there are two “greatest” commandments:  “The first is this:  ‘Hear, O Israel!  The Lord your God is Lord alone!  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’  The second is this:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.”  (Mark 12:29-31).  Love your neighbor as yourself!!!  As I see it, many, many people are disobeying the second greatest commandment!  Jesus’ modern-day statement might begin with “Hear, O liberals and conservatives!”  It is both a truly dreadful and shocking situation. 

I was taught that my “neighbor” refers to everyone else on the earth besides me.  The list indeed includes everyone.  Name one individual, one class of people, one nationality, one ethnic group, a liberal or conservative person, a person with a serious physical or mental illness … anyone at all.  The commandment is to love them.  If an individual is sinning in some way (in our opinion), it doesn’t matter.  We absolutely MUST love them.  Hate the sin, yes, but love the sinner.  It can be hard.  But, in my opinion, what we must absolutely NOT do is publish or share any kind of statement that shows our hatred of them.  It applies to anyone demonstrating hatred of a person of a different race as well as anyone demonstrating hatred of someone with a belief system different from ours.  A person with liberal beliefs must NOT demonstrate any sort of hateful feelings for anyone with conservative beliefs.  A person with conservative beliefs must NOT demonstrate any sort of hateful feelings for anyone with liberal beliefs.  We might not like what they say or do, but we must NOT show any feeling of hatred toward them.  We must love them.  That is the second greatest commandment.  If the feelings are toward a politician and his/her words or actions, the task is to show your opinions by voting. 

I believe that if we love God first, then love of neighbor and hatred of sin will follow.  For Scriptural treatments of love, try reading the first letter of St. John (“God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him”) or the Gospel of John, Chapter 15 (“This is my commandment:  love one another as I love you.”)  How nice it would be if all the vitriol would disappear. That is my prayer for today.  Amen!

It Brings Tears to my Eyes

On Tuesday of this week, the Catholic Church celebrated the feast of St. Thomas, the apostle who privately doubted the resurrection of Christ.  The gospel story at Holy Mass on this day relates the story of his doubt and the dialogue that took place when Thomas and the resurrected Christ encountered each other face to face.  Jesus asked Thomas to come forward and examine the nail marks with his fingers and to put his hand into his side where the Roman soldier thrust his lance at the crucifixion.  With his doubt instantly gone, Thomas responded with the famous words “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

I love to meditate on this touching scene.  I can imagine Thomas’ doubt being instantly erased, his eyes now bulging with awe, and his jaw dropping to the floor.  He scarcely can speak and his voice quivered as he delivered this statement of faith.  I can see him with tears in his eyes, feeling faint, dropping to one knee and kissing Jesus’ hands where the nails were just a few days earlier.

But the best part was yet to come … Jesus’ response to this declaration of faith.  Jesus said: “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.  (John 20:29).  Now Jesus is talking about US … you and me!  We have not seen the resurrected Jesus in the flesh.  We have not seen the nail marks in his hands and feet.  We have not seen the huge gash in his side.  Yet, we truly believe that he rose from the dead and was standing before Thomas, speaking to him and the other apostles face to face at that moment.  My meditation causes my eyes to bulge, my jaw to drop, my voice to quiver and my whole body to feel faint.  With tears welling up in my eyes, I just want to drop to my knees and say: “Thank you, Lord, for thinking about me at that moment and telling me that I am blessed.”  SO awesome!

It reminds me of one of my favorite gospel hymns, “How Great Thou Art” and especially the last verse, which also brings tears to my eyes:

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,

And there proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

My Lord and my God …. How great thou art!  Amen!