A Closer Look At Christianity

Was Jesus the only begotten son of God?

In the book of Psalms 2:7 we find “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” David, in this verse, is saying that God had told him he was the son of God and God has begotten him. Clearly Jesus is not the only begotten son of God.

Of course, one could say that although Jesus was not the only begotten son of God, he had no human father in contrast to David who had a human father. That is true! Since Jesus had no human father it makes the relationship between him and God a closer one. The question is what about Adam? Adam had no human father nor a human mother, and according to the Bible he too was the son of God.

The Bible says,“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.” (Luke3:23) The Bible goes on to mention the supposed genealogy of Jesus Christ. At the end of this genealogy the Bible comes to Adam, and it says,“Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.” (Luke 3:38).

So Adam is also the son of God. According to the assumption:“because Jesus had no human father then he is closer to God than David who had a human father,” we can safely conclude that Adam is better than Jesus because he did not have a human father or mother.

The truth is Jesus and Adam do not differ in God’s sight. They were a mere creation of God. The Holy Quran says in clear terms,

“Verily, similitude of Jesus with God is as the similitude of Adam; He created him out of dust then said He unto him BE, and he became.” (Ch 3: Vr 59).

Was Jesus the only born son of God or the only son of God?

The verse in I John 5:1 says,“...Jesus is the Christ is born of God....” This indicates that Jesus was born of God, but was Jesus the only born son of God? Let us look at what the Bible says:

God talking to Moses:

Exodus 4:22And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

Exodus 4:23And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

Also, God talking about David:

Psalms 89:27Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

In both Exodus 4:22-23 and Psalms 89:27 Israel and David, respectively, were regarded as the first born sons of God. This means that Jesus was not the only born son of God. This means that the word***“born”*** does not mean conception. It’s just a form of expression God used to show the closeness of people to Him.

Finally, there were many other people mentioned in the bible as sons of God, and one of them was Solomon:

I Chronicles 22:9Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for

his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

I Chronicles 22:10He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

Also, remember that some of these verses are taken from the Old Testament, and that this book was originally written in Hebrew. Had the word born or son meant born or son in a literal sense then the Jews would have been ahead of everyone else in claiming their literal sonship to God, or in claiming the literal sonship of Solomon to God. The Jews know their language, and they know what son means. They know that the word “son” should not be taken literally.

The Quran says in chapter 112***“In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful. Say: ‘He, God, is ONE (alone). God, the Absolute, He begetteth not, nor is He Begotten, And there is none like unto Him.’”*** God does not beget, and does not need to beget. He is ONE and only ONE, and nothing is equal to Him.