John 1:1 and the Jehovah’s Witnesses – Episode 15, Jesus Is the Only Begotten

If we would understand how John intended us to understand John 1:1c, “and the Word was God,” we need to see John’s representation of Jesus in places outside of John 1:1, that is, in the remainder of his Gospel.

The Only Begotten

John further describes Jesus in his Gospel in some pretty stunning ways. In verse 14 of chapter one he says,

And the Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us, and we saw his glory, glory as the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And just a few verses later he says,

Because from his fullness we have received even grace after grace. Because though the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has explained Him. (John 1:16-18)

To be sure, the description “only begotten God” is not in all Greek manuscripts of the Gospel of John. Some read “the only begotten Son,” some “the only begotten Son of God,” and some simply “the only begotten.” But remember, begotten does not equal created. If we call it a creation at all it is not to be considered a making of something different than me, but rather making someone just like me, someone of the same stuff, and so we call this generating rather than creating.

If Jesus is, as John says, the only begotten from the Father, he would have to be of the same stuff as the Father. Is the Father eternal? Then the Son would have to be eternal, as well. Is the Father omnipotent (all powerful)? Then so is the Son. Omnipresent (everywhere present)? So is the Son. So there could not be a time when the Son did not exist, else he would not be eternal. And so there would be no reason not to consider him God, and it would be defamatory to consider him ‘a’ god.