Topic and textual points

The lecture addresses the phrase of Scripture “You are my son and I have begotten you today” and presents its recurrence in the Holy Scripture (Psalm 2:7, Acts 13, and New Testament epistles especially Hebrews) as evidence of the Son’s uniqueness, not as a phrase about any ordinary son.

Repetition of “the only begotten son” and its distinction

The speaker shows that the phrase “the only begotten son” repeats in many texts (John 3:16 and 18, John 1, and John’s epistles) and indicates the Son’s distinction from every other son; it is a title of his reality who is in the bosom of the Father and the source of eternal life.

“I have begotten you today” and its theological understanding

He clarifies that the Father’s phrase “I have begotten you today” does not mean a confined temporal birth but refers to an eternal ongoing begetting (continuous generation of the Son) — likened to rays issuing from the sun — and that this expresses the Son’s hypostatic begetting before times.

Theological names and attributes of the Son

He points to the gathered titles about the Son: the Word (Logos), the image of the invisible God, the wisdom of God, God’s power and hand in creation, the way and the truth and the life, and that he shares in creation and has an active role in forming and making the world according to the Fathers’ statements.

Critique of translations and some textual readings

He warns against errors in local translations (the Beirut translation) in readings such as Daniel 3:25 and the psalm “from the womb before the morning star” and asks for correction because the Fathers’ sayings and the manuscripts support other readings that are clearer logically and theologically.

Fathers’ references and interpretation of the vision and the royal title

He cites the Fathers (Athanasius, Ambrose and others) and Athanasius’s interpretation of the morning star linking it to the Revelation of the last book (Revelation 22) where “the morning star” is taken as an image of Christ the illuminer, while affirming that the Father’s word about the Son requires speaking of Father and Son together, not one without the other.

Call to contemplation and distinction

He urges students and interested persons to read Scripture texts and the Fathers’ resources carefully, and to distinguish between sonship by nature and sonship by adoption or grace, and to avoid confusion that leads to distorting the understanding of the Son’s theology.

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