Eternal Generation

In the 1833 New Hampshire Confession of Faith, in the article discussing “the true God,” the text says: “in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct and harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.”

Discussion

“While some may claim that eternal generation is an extra-biblical doctrine without scriptural warrant, Charles Lee Irons and Matthew Barrett demonstrate that the concept is seen throughout Scripture through familial imagery and other significant metaphors.” - Credo

Discussion

I’ve been reading Leonardo Boff’s work Trinity and Society. Boff is a Roman Catholic liberation theologian who may or may not be a Marxist. This is perhaps the most thought-provoking book on the Trinity I’ve yet read; right up there with Jurgen Moltmann’s Trinity and the Kingdom. Both these gentlemen are social trinitarians. They had a formative influence on Millard Erickson’s own monograph on the Trinity, which is excellent.

Discussion

The doctrine of eternal generation is not useless undue speculation but a careful articulation of Biblical truth that protects us from grave errors of denying the deity of the Son on the one hand and on the other hand seeing the Father and Son as mere interchangeable entities in the godhead.

Discussion

Tom Nettles: The Son of God has consciousness that he is the one sent by the Father, that he has a task assigned by the Father, a people given to him by the Father, and that he is fully capable, as of the essence of the Father, of executing all of this. His submission in every case is at the same time a confession of his consciousness of equality of essence and unity of will.

Is Eternal Generation a Necessary Doctrine?

Discussion

Is Eternal Generation Essential to the Gospel? Charles Lee Irons and Matthew Barrett

Discussion

Redefining the Faith? Leonardo Boff on Eternal Generation and Procession

Discussion