A Misunderstanding of “Only Begotten Son”?

For thousands of years Jesus has been called the “son of man,” the “son of Mary,” the “son of David,” and most frequently the “son of God.”  Probably the most well known verses that call him the son of God can be found in the New Testament book of John. And of those verses probably the most recognizable one is:

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 – King James Version

As I meditated one morning it came to me that perhaps this verse is simply a misreading or misunderstanding of the words interpreted as “only begotten son”.

Many earlier teachings from the Bible identify “sons of God”. Here are two examples from the Old Testament:

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.
Job 1:6 – King James Version

And the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power;

but I will harden his heart,  so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son.”
Exodus 4:21-22 – New Revised Standard Version

Surprisingly there are also at least two examples in the New Testament:

And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi.  ... the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam,  which was the son of God.
Luke 3:23-38 – King James Version

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Romans 8:14 – King James Version

So clearly by both the Old and New Testaments Jesus was not the only “son of God”. This title also applied to the angels, the Messiah, Adam and those led by the “Spirit of God”.

When one thinks about what it actually means for Jesus to be begotten by God,

the only words that can describe it are “obviously blasphemous”. The Quran points this out again and again in such verses as 2:116, 18:4,  23:91, 37:152 and 112:3. But the clearest and most powerful are:

[10:68] They said, “GOD has begotten a son!” Be He glorified. He is the Most Rich. To Him belongs everything in the heavens and everything on earth. You have no proof to support such a blasphemy. Are you saying about GOD what you do not know?

[19:88] They said, “The Most Gracious has begotten a son!”
[19:89] You have uttered a gross blasphemy.
[19:90] The heavens are about to shatter, the earth is about to tear asunder, and the mountains are about to crumble.
[19:91] Because they claim that the Most Gracious has begotten a son.

Truly this whole concept constitutes a horrible blasphemy and yet we know that almost all Christians believe it to be the truth, even though many of them truly do worship God. So how did this blasphemy come into being?

Looking at the phrase “only begotten

Cont'd on page 2