Ensign, December 2013, p 7; “As we come to understand more fully what it means for Jesus to be the Only Begotten Son of the Father, our faith in Christ will increase. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “Faith in Jesus Christ is the conviction and assurance of (1) His status as the Only Begotten Son of God, (2) His infinite Atonement, and (3) His literal Resurrection.” 2 Modern prophets have testified: “[Jesus Christ] was … the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.” 3”
Gospel Principles, p 53; “Jesus is the only person on earth to be born of a mortal mother and an immortal Father. That is why He is called the Only Begotten Son. He inherited divine powers from His Father.”
Luke 1:26-35; “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 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: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 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.”
Today we’re obviously looking at the definition of the phrase/words ‘only begotten’.
Now the reason we keep bringing this subject matter up is because of its importance of course, but it also stems from the Church’s insistence upon changing the meaning of words and their continued use of this in their teachings.
Many times we’ll receive e-mails telling us the Church no longer teaches that God had sex with Mary, but as you can see in our LDS examples today, those theories are wrong. The Church still employs this line of teaching and tries to hide it in the depths of other teachings.
Layering one meaning upon another is used to serve several purposes which includes hiding truth, and to numb the thought process and emotions of followers. The teaching from their Ensign magazine is nondescript and doesn’t convey the true meaning behind the words.
When a Christian sees the phrase ‘only begotten’ their minds are automatically thinking upon Christ Jesus. He was/is the only begotten Son of God.
He has this title because He is clearly the only person whom the Bible describes as being both fully God and fully man. Not only was He the only begotten Son from everlasting as it says in Proverbs 8:23, but He is also eternally the begotten Son from the bosom of the Father (Psalm 119:89).
The Hebrew word begotten is ‘monogenēs’, meaning ‘only born’. This word is used for an only child. When the author of Hebrews used ‘monogenēs’ in Heb 11:17-18 he wasn’t trying to imply Isaac was Abraham’s only son, rather, it was in reference to the fact that only through Isaac’s line would the promise of God be found.
Nowhere in the mind of a believer are there any thoughts beyond what is stated in God’s word. We may wonder in awe at the miracle of it, but our minds don’t go beyond that realm.
In Mormon philosophy this isn’t the case. The Mormon Jesus is a created being. You’ll notice the phrase ‘the only begotten Son in the flesh’ which obviously isn’t a biblical term.
The Mormon Jesus became this way through a sexual union between the Mormon god, an exalted man, and his daughter Mary. It’s taught in Mormon doctrines this god came down and impregnated her to provide the earth with a savior.
Mormon Doctrine of Deity, pg. 264; “When the time came that his first-born, the Savior, should come into the world and take a tabernacle, the Father came himself and favored that spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting any other man do it. The Savior was begotten by the Father of his spirit, by the same Being who is the Father of our spirits, and that is all the organic difference between Jesus Christ and you and me.” – BH Roberts
As you might imagine we have a few questions!
How does our faith in Jesus increase by ‘knowing’ the Mormon god had sex with one of his daughters?
Why is this exalted man turned god having a sexual relationship with his daughter?
Why does the Church refer to Mary as a virgin if their teachings clearly show she couldn’t have been?
Why does the Church use biblical people and scenarios in their teachings when they don’t believe in the Bible? Why not use made up names of other gods like the Greeks or Romans have done in the past?
[…] Definition – Only Begotten Ensign, December 2013, p 7 “As we come to understand more fully what it means for Jesus to be the Only Begotten Son of the Father, our faith in Christ will increase. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “Faith in Jesus Christ is the conviction and assurance of (1) His status as the Only Begotten Son of God, (2) His infinite Atonement, and (3) His literal Resurrection.” Modern prophets have testified: “[Jesus Christ] was … the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.” […]
[…] Definition – Only Begotten Ensign, December 2013, p 7 “As we come to understand more fully what it means for Jesus to be the Only Begotten Son of the Father, our faith in Christ will increase. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “Faith in Jesus Christ is the conviction and assurance of (1) His status as the Only Begotten Son of God, (2) His infinite Atonement, and (3) His literal Resurrection.” Modern prophets have testified: “[Jesus Christ] was … the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.” […]