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gospel of John against the later bulk of manuscripts. Without going
into a lot of detail,2 there is every reason to accept the reading of the
earliest manuscripts, and to see the later emendation as a natural mistake made by scribes who were accustomed to the phraseology "only
begotten son."
    But even once we have established the proper reading of the text,
how do we translate it? The phrase in question is tovoy£viig Oc6;
(monogenes theos). The renderings given above provide a wide range
of translation, from the very literal "the only begotten God" (NASB)
through the NIV's "God the One and Only" to the NRSV's "God the
only Son." There are excellent summaries of the issue available,25 so
we won't go into the technicalities here. Suffice it to say that I find the
NRSV's translation to be the best, "God the only Son." If we wanted
something a little more literal, I would suggest, "the only Son, who is
God." This preserves the word order that John uses, placing monogenes
as a title immediately preceding theos (God).
    What is John telling us by using such an unusual phrase? One thing
is for certain: he is not telling us that Jesus Christ was "created" at some time in the past. He is not denying everything he said in the previous
seventeen verses and turning Jesus into a creation! Such ideas flow
from wrong thinking about what monogenes means. Remember that
the term means "unique" or "one of a kind." In light of this, John's
meaning is clear. In fact, I would submit that outside of a Trinitarian
understanding of this passage, John is making no sense at all! What do
I mean?

    John tells us that no one has seen God at any time. Is this true? Are
there not many instances of men seeing God in the Old Testament?
Did not Isaiah say that he saw the Lord sitting upon His throne in the
temple (Isaiah 6:1-3)? So what is John saying? How can we understand
his words?
    The key is found in the final phrases of verse 18, specifically, "who
is at the Father's side." When John says "no one has seen God at any
time," he is referring to the Father. No man has seen the Father at any
time. So how do we have knowledge of the Father? The µovoyevi has
"made Him known" or "explained Him."26 The unique One has made
the Father known. Or, in light of the use of the term Father, the Only
Son has revealed the Father. But this is not merely a dim reflection, a
partial revelation, provided by the Only Son. This is the monogenes
theos, the Only Son who is God. The divine nature of the tovoyevij
is again plainly asserted, just as it was in verse 1. This is what forms
the "bookend," the assertion in verse 1 that the Logos is divine, repeated and reaffirmed here in verse 18 with the statement that the Only
Son is God. 27
    Another important fact to note from this verse is that if indeed no
one has seen the Father, then what does this tell us of the Son? Who
did Isaiah see in Isaiah 6? Who walked with Abraham by the oaks of
Mamre (Genesis 18:1)? None other than the preincarnate Jesus Christ,
the eternal Logos. John will develop this thought later in his Gospel, as
we shall see when we examine those passages that identify Jesus as Yahweh.
    With the great truths proclaimed in the prologue in mind, I would
strongly encourage you to take the time to read the entire gospel of John.
It's barely an evening's reading, and with the prologue acting as a "lens," giving you the proper perspective of who Jesus Christ truly is,
you will find passages leaping from the page, all of which confirm and
substantiate the proclamation of John 1:1-18: Jesus Christ is God in
human flesh, the eternal Creator of all things, "the Only Son, who is
God!"

     



There is a particular group of passages in the Holy scriptures
that uses the word "God" of the Lord Jesus. While we could wish this
would be enough to banish all doubt, obviously it is not. The deity of
Christ is the constant object of attack and denial, and the verses that
bear testimony