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God the Son (Greek:Θεὸς ὁ Υἱός,Latin:Deus Filius) orGod the Word (Greek:Θεὸς ὁ Λόγος,Latin:Deus Verbum) is the secondPerson of theTrinity inChristian theology.[1] According to mainstream Christiandoctrine, God the Son, in the form ofJesus Christ, is theincarnation of theeternal,pre-existent divineLogos (Koine Greek for "word") through whom all things were created.[2] Although the precise term "God the Son" does not appear in theBible, it serves as a theological designation expressing the understanding of Jesus as a part of the Trinity, distinct yetunited in essence withGod the Father andGod the Holy Spirit (the first and third Persons of the Trinity respectively).
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
The phrase "God the Son" does not appear in the Bible[3][4] but is found in later Christian writings.[5] It mistakenly appears in a medieval manuscript, MS No.1985, where Galatians 2:20 has "Son of God" changed to "God the Son".[6]
In English, this term comes from Latin usage, as seen in theAthanasian Creed and other early church texts. In Greek, "God the Son" is written asho Theos ho huios (ὁΘεός ὁυἱός), which is different fromho huios tou Theou (ὁ υἱός τοῦ Θεοῦ), meaning "Son of God". In Latin, "God the Son" isDeusFilius. This term appears in the Athanasian Creed:Et tamen non tres omnipotentes, sed unus omnipotens. Ita Deus Pater, Deus Filius, Deus [et] Spiritus Sanctus, which means "So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God", distinguishing it fromfilius Dei, meaning "son of God".[7]
The termdeus filius is used in theAthanasian Creed and formulas such asDeus Pater, Deus Filius, Deus Spiritus Sanctus: Et non tres Dii, sed unus est Deus.[8]
The term is used byAugustine of Hippo in hisOn the Trinity, for example in discussion of the Son's obedience to God the Father:deo patri deus filius obediens;[9] and inSermon 90 on the New Testament: "2. For hold this fast as a firm and settled truth, if you would continue Catholics, that God the Father begot God the Son without time, and made Him of a Virgin in time."[10]
TheAugsburg Confession (1530) adopted the phrase asGott der Sohn.[11]
Jacques Forget (1910) in theCatholic Encyclopedia article "Holy Ghost" notes that "Among the apologists,Athenagoras mentions the Holy Ghost along with, and on the same plane as, the Father and the Son. 'Who would not be astonished', says he (A Plea for the Christians 10), 'to hear us called atheists, us who confess God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Ghost, and hold them one in power and distinct in order.' "[12]
"Son of God" is used to refer toJesus in theGospel of Mark at the beginning in verse 1:1 and at its end in chapter 15 verse 39. Max Botner wrote, "Indeed, if Mark 1:1 presents the "normative understanding" of Jesus' identity, then it makes a significant difference what the text includes".[13]
TheLogos or Word inJohn 1:1 ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God), is often interpreted, especially by Trinitarians, to identify thepre-existent Jesus with this Word.[citation needed]
The disputedComma Johanneum (1 John 5:7) includes the Son in the formula "For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one."[14]
Christians believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16).[15] Jesus identified himself in New Testament canonical writings. "Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was,I AM.'" (John 8:58),[16] which some Trinitarians believe is a reference to Moses in his interaction with preincarnate God in the Old Testament: "And God said to Moses, 'I am who I am.' And he said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:14)[17]
A manuscript variant in John 1:18 (Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακεν πώποτε· μονογενὴς Θεὸς ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο) has led to translations including "God the One and Only" (NIV, 1984) referring to the Son.[18]
Later theological use of this expression (compare Latin:Deus Filius) reflects what came to be the standard interpretation of New Testament references, understood to imply Jesus' divinity, but with the distinction of his person from another person of the Trinity called the Father. As such, the title is associated more with the development of the doctrine of the Trinity. Trinitarians believe that a clear reference to the Trinity occurs inMatthew 28:19, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
Groups of both trinitarian andnontrinitarian Christians reject the term "God the Son" to describe Jesus Christ. For example,Jehovah's Witnessesreject the concept along with the wordTrinity as extrabiblical terminology.[19]
Oneness Pentecostals, who affirm his divinity, object to the term as an unauthorized reversal of the language of Scripture which describes him 40 times as the "Son of God."[20][21] The New Philadelphia Church of Christ, which accepts both the Deity of Christ and the trinity doctrine, also avoids the term because they stress the importance to 'Call Bible things by Bible names, and talk about Bible things in Bible ways.'[22]
While mostmainstream Christian denominations hold God the Son to be "begotten of [...] the substance of" God the Father, and therefore one part of a single whole,[23]the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are in fact three separate beings.[24] This is not to be confused with theReorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which does maintain the one-ness of the trinity.[25]
There is no such phrase in the Bible, as 'God the Son,' or 'God the Holy Ghost.'
Oneness Pentecostals argue that Scripture never indicates that Jesus' sonship is an eternal sonship. The term 'eternal Son' is never found in the Bible. Nor is the term 'God the Son' in the Bible.
One notes that it does not aspire beyond the pre-trinitarian notion of 'Son of God' to the properly trinitarian idea of 'God the Son.'
... by adding precisely the words that had earlier been omitted, tov viov, but in the wrong place, making the text now read 'faith in God the Son ...' neither of the other expressions ('God even Christ,' 'God the Son') occurs in this way in Paul.
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