Relationship between Father and Son

[LadyCalvinist]

I am struggling through Letham's book on the Trinity and I have some questions. How did the Father begat the Son and the Holy Spirit? I understand that they are co-equal and co-eternal and of the same substance.

Also one person who reviewed for Amazon did not understand who Jesus was praying to and why he needed to pray since Jesus is God.

I confess a good part of this book goes over my head although I find some gems in it as well.

 

[hLuke]

Hi sister,

I'm not sure about the specifics of the question relating to the book, but the following ancient church creeds concisely answer questions about the Trinity and The Incarnation of Christ our God:

Apostles Creed

Apostles' Creed

www.crcna.org

Nicene Creed

Nicene Creed

www.crcna.org

Chalcedon Definition

The Definition of the Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D) | Monergism

The Chalcedonian Creed was adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 in Asia Minor as a response to certain heretical views concerning the nature of Christ.

www.monergism.com

Here's an extract from the Nicene Creed:
We believe...

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,...

And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,

The Trinity and The Incarnation cannot be grasped by a mere mortal. The best we can do, and what the church has done, is define what is outlined in scripture.

 

[arapahoepark]

Would love for someone else to comment @BayouHuguenot
I too do not quite have the knowledge but am ever learning. And this is what I get out of it. So do correct me if I am off.
Begat refers to a likeness. Think Genesis 5-6. The Son and the Father's essence is the same so obviously there is a likeness. It's how they are differentiated. One is 'generated' eternally. In the absence of time however that is where we cannot comprehend. He is generated but, there is never a time where He and the Spirit was not.

 

[py3ak]

Letham may well not be your best source on something like this. If you have access to Herman Witsius, Sacred Dissertations on the Apostle's Creed, he has a very good and readable account of the doctrine of the Trinity in some of its more intricate details.

As to the question: that the Father eternally begets the Son indicates the distinction as well as the connection between them. Of course it isn't a matter of one coming first in time, because we are speaking of eternal persons. But the relationship between Father and Son is the archetype which the relation between a human father and son vaguely and imperfectly reflects. The Spirit is not begotten, however, but He does proceed. I don't know that it's possible to be very dogmatic on the difference between begetting and proceeding. It's safe to say that begetting implies a very high decree of personal similarity. We can add that the two are different, we can say that begetting is from one and proceeding is from two; and others have made suggestions as to what might distinguish them further.

 

[Charles Johnson]

I am struggling through Letham's book on the Trinity and I have some questions. How did the Father begat the Son and the Holy Spirit? I understand that they are co-equal and co-eternal and of the same substance.

Also one person who reviewed for Amazon did not understand who Jesus was praying to and why he needed to pray since Jesus is God.

I confess a good part of this book goes over my head although I find some gems in it as well.

The Father begets the Son and breathes the Spirit. The Son is only-begotten of the Father; the Spirit procedes from the Father and the Son. The manner in which this occurs is a mystery beyond our comprehension. But we can say that it is eternal, without beginning or end, and that the Son is begotten in the whole divine nature. For that reason, the Father is sometimes called the "fons divinitatis", the fount or source of the godhead, by theologians.

 

[Charles Johnson]

Would love for someone else to comment @BayouHuguenot
I too do not quite have the knowledge but am ever learning. And this is what I get out of it. So do correct me if I am off.
Begat refers to a likeness. Think Genesis 5-6. The Son and the Father's essence is the same so obviously there is a likeness. It's how they are differentiated. One is 'generated' eternally. In the absence of time however that is where we cannot comprehend. He is generated but, there is never a time where He and the Spirit was not.

Begetting refers to the action of producing offspring I believe.

 

[RamistThomist]

Eternal generation means from all eternity “God communicates the one simple, undivided essence to the Son.” This is a spiritual, not physical generation. Barrett lists how John Gill identified the marks of a wrong type of generation: