Two Old Testament passages are relevant to today's discussion. The first is from Isaiah:
"Therefore the Lord [YHWH] Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel [God-with-us]." -Isaiah 7:14, NASB
The second is from the Psalms:
"I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord [YHWH]: He said to me, "You are My Son, today I have begotten you." -Psalm 2:7, NASB
Both of these passages use the Hebrew word yalad, used 492 times in the Old Testament. It means both to bear and to beget--most precisely, to bring forth a child from one's own pedigree. It is associated with the ideas of "seed" or sperm, as well as with labor, childbirth, siring, the generation of life from conception, family line, geneology, and one's birthday. It is used twice in simile, such as "to bring forth" wicked behavior from wickedness within. It is NEVER associated with creation ex nihilo or spontaneous generation. God did not "beget" the creation, according to the Hebrew Old Testament.
In American culture, where marriage is soluble, conception has its alternatives such as in-vitro and cloning, and we have dulled the appreciation for that mystery by which a person becomes a son or a daughter by mingling the substance of two persons to form a person.
In Luke 1:35, the angel Gabriel tells Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason, the Holy Child will be called the Son of God."
In Matthew 1:18, the story is narrated that "before [Mary and Joseph] came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit," and again in verse 20, the angel confirms to Joseph that "the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit."
There are two potential interpretations. If the Holy Spirit is a force, then God's power caused her to conceive a child which, according to John, was a pre-existent god in the body of a human being (but not God). If we can demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is a Person, and that He is in fact YHWH God, then we can certainly understand this passage to mean that the child she bore was of the seed of God Himself. [This is a topic for another, more thorough, post, so bear with me.] However, if we break down the reasoning used to come to the first conclusion, we may realize that the figures don't add up.
First: Like begets like. Unaided by divine miracle, a human cannot give birth to a donkey, a cat, a cherub, or even a "god". A human can only give birth to a human being.
Second: In order to beget a child, a woman needs the seed of another. In rare cases, a woman's internal cells may malfunction. It is possible in the realm of miracles that, with a little help from "holy spirit", two eggs might join to form a zygote on their own, and that their DNA might recombine that she should give birth to a unique human being.
But even if God's "active force" or power performed such a miracle, that human being would still be a human being, not a "god." It would have to be infused with the seed of something else, a divine substance. Okay, that is possible. God had the λογος, the living Word that was with Him from the beginning.
But, if the λογος was not God, then by no miracle would Jesus ever have been "begotten," "yalid," of God.
Yalid implies the act of bearing, siring, bringing forth. Even if God created Jesus by joining eggs or generating sperm ex nihilo, or even by infusing this human body with a preexistent spiritual being known as the λογος, He Himself would not have begotten Jesus. And the Old Testament is very clear on this point: the Son was "begotten" - "yalid" - of YHWH. Furthermore, the New Testament is clear that the Holy Spirit was involved in Jesus' conception. Specifically, εκ πνευματος αγιου.
The preposition "εκ" is used both in verse 18 and 20, and is translated "by" and "of". It carries the meaning "out of," "from," "by means of." It is the same word used in Jesus' geneology.
"Judah begat Perez and Zerah by Tamar."
"Salmon begat Boaz by Rahab."
"Boaz begat Obed by Ruth."
All these verses use "εκ" where "by" is bolded.
Mary begat Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
To be with child "by" or "εκ" someone does not mean they helped you make the baby. It means they shared in siring the child. The phrase "εκ πνευματος αγιου" is only used in the Bible to describe Jesus' conception by the Holy Spirit and Mary. The Holy Spirit was involved in Jesus' conception in a way He was never involved in any other act in history. Only once did the Holy Spirit beget.
This is why John refers to Jesus as the μονογενης υιος, the only-begotten Son. God made us His children through reconciliation and adoption; however, only once in history did YHWH beget.
So... I'm looking forward to posting some stronger evidence for the Divinity and Personhood of the Holy Spirit.
Estimada Pinguino.
ReplyDeleteEl análisis del texto respecto al hijo unigénito de Dios. O el "Dios unigénito", como lo dice Juan, es interesante.
No obstante debo decirte esto:
El engendrar, concebir, producir, generar un hijo, es un acto en el cual una parte de un ser forma a una criatura que nunca antes había existido.
Ese es el sentido que las escrituras tienen en este caso, y se refieren a la acción humana de generar, producir, concebir, o engendrar a un hijo o hija por medio del aporte de la semilla de vida humana.
Si se entiende así.
Hay dos problemas.
El primero es relacionado a la prexistencia de Dios.
Si Jesús en verdad era un ser que existió antes, la palabra hebrea Yalid no puede aplicar a una creación- No obstante. (No deseo sacar de contexto el tema) pero al menos sí hacer mención que la biblia si puede referirse a nueva creaciones...en el sentido de generar "algo que no había existido antes".
Si Jesús existió antes...entonces no hubo tal creación.
Sin embargo el sí fué concebido por espíritu santo.
No veo en el Antiguo Testamento ninguna referencia a un Dios Hijo. Lo que veo a es a un Dios singular que hace su voluntad.
En el Nuevo Testamento Jesús es el Hijo de Dios.
No veo que se rompa una regla si suponemos la doctrina de los testigos...(y de los arrianos) se cumpla.
Si Jesús es una criatura inferior al Padre, pero lo suficientemente noble, santo y puro, puede ser transferido a una mujer usando la fuerza o el poder de Dios.
La biblia dice que el espiritu santo "cubrio a Maria"...Dios pudo sin problemas haber transferido a su hijo.
Si Jesús es el Dios.
En verdad la palabra engendrado, producido, concebido etc...no tiene sentido.
Dios, un Dios existe por si mismo...no necesita ser concebido, generado, producido, procreado, ni engendrado.
Un Dios es eterno e inmortal.
Por lo mismo...
Si tu dices "He Himself would not have begotten Jesus. And the Old Testament is very clear on this point: the Son was "begotten" - "yalid" - of YHWH. Furthermore, the New Testament is clear that the Holy Spirit was involved in Jesus' conception. Specifically, εκ πνευματος αγιου. " estás asumiendo una "imposibilidad" que yo veo clara.
Para mí el milagro es que Jesús llego a ser un ser humano siendo el mismo alguien que vino desde el cielo.
Hay mas para hablar, pero podemos verlo más tarde.