Only Begotten Son

Numerous scriptural passages found in all of the standard works refer to Jesus Christ as the “Only Begotten” (Moses 1:6, 33), “only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14; see also 2 Nephi 25:12; Moses 5:7–9) and “only begotten Son” of God (John 3:16; see also 1 John 4:9; Jacob 4:11; Alma 12:33; D&C 29:42; 76:13, 25, 57; 138:14). All of us are “literally the sons and daughters of Deity” who were “begotten and born of heavenly parents” (First Presidency, 78, 80). Yet Christ is the “Only Begotten” son of God in the flesh—meaning mortality, with Mary as his mother (D&C 93:11).

The phrase “Only Begotten Son” refers only to Jesus Christ (John 1:18; 3:16; Jacob 4:5, 11; Alma 12:33–34; D&C 20:21; 29:42; 49:5; 76:13, 25) and is both a description of his lineage as well as a name-title. All individuals who will ever live on this earth are spirit children of our Heavenly Father (Numbers 27:16; Hebrews 12:9), but Jesus is called the Only Begotten of the Father (Moses 5:9), meaning the Only Begotten in the flesh, because God is his physical father. Jesus’ physical body was born into this fallen, mortal world the same way all other human beings come into this world. In making the announcement to Mary, the angel Gabriel said:

“And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: . . . And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:31–32, 35).

Elder James E. Talmage noted: “That Child to be born of Mary was begotten of Elohim, the Eternal Father, not in violation of natural law but in accordance with a higher manifestation thereof; and, the offspring from that association of supreme sanctity, celestial Sireship, and pure though mortal maternity, was of right to be called the ‘Son of the Highest.’ In His nature would be combined the powers of Godhood with the capacity and possibilities of mortality; and this through the ordinary operation of the fundamental law of heredity, declared of God, demonstrated by science, and admitted by philosophy, that living beings shall propagate—after their kind. The Child Jesus was to inherit the physical, mental, and spiritual traits, tendencies, and powers that characterized His parents—one immortal and glorified—God, the other human—woman” (81).

This is a fundamental doctrine of true Christianity. The Jews do not believe God (Elohim) would have a Son; the Muslims do not believe God (Allah) would have a Son in this world; and many Christians these days likewise deny the Savior’s unique birth. Nevertheless, the doctrine of the divine Sonship of Christ is the foundation of our religion. With his unique parentage, Jesus had power over life and death. He said, “I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:17–18). He could, and did, give his life and take it up again—providing the way for all of us to be resurrected.

President Ezra Taft Benson wrote: “A fundamental doctrine of true Christianity is the divine birth of the child Jesus. This doctrine is not generally comprehended by the world. The paternity of Jesus Christ is one of the ‘mysteries of godliness’ comprehended only by the spiritually minded. . . .

“. . . The testimonies of appointed witnesses leave no question as to the paternity of Jesus Christ. God was the Father of Jesus’ mortal tabernacle, and Mary, a mortal woman, was His mother. He is therefore the only person born who rightfully deserved the title ‘the Only Begotten Son of God.’ . . .

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense. The body in which He performed His mission in the flesh was sired by that same Holy Being we worship as God, our Eternal Father. Jesus was not the son of Joseph, nor was He begotten by the Holy Ghost. He is the Son of the Eternal Father. . . .

“He was the Only Begotten Son of our Heavenly Father in the flesh—the only child whose mortal body was begotten by our Heavenly Father. His mortal mother, Mary, was called a virgin, both before and after she gave birth” (6–7).

Symbolically, Paul refers to Abraham’s son Isaac as Abraham’s “only begotten son”: “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son” (Hebrews 11:17). This literary image was drawn as a likeness. The prophet Jacob in the Book of Mormon employed the same concept when he drew a comparison between God and Abraham, who offered up Isaac, “which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son” (Jacob 4:5).

Sources

Benson, Ezra Taft. The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988.

First Presidency. “The Origin of Man.” Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, 75–81; or Ensign, Feb. 2002, 26–30.

Talmage, James E. Jesus the Christ. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1973.

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