Creed rooted in specific meaning

by Michael Shackleton · January 28, 2009

In the past Nicene Creed form, we used the words begotten of the Father. In the new form we say born of the Father. The two words have totally conflicting implications. Please elucidate.
Both words, begotten and born, appear in the original Latin text of the Nicene Creed from which we get our English versions. The words are to be found in the New Testament: for example, in John 1:13-14.

The salient phrase, accepted at the Council of Nicea in 325, expresses belief in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God (Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei Unigenitum) and born of the Father before all ages (ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula).

Any creed is always an inadequate description of the infinite mystery of the three distinct divine Persons in one divine essence. The declaration of Christ as only-begotten and born of the Father before all ages, emphasises that the Son is generated from the Father alone, and this puts him in a distinct relationship with the Father.

Incidentally, the Holy Spirit, you will notice, is not begotten or born of the Father but proceeds from the Father and the Son.

The relationship between Father and Son was not disputed until the Arian heresy arose in the fourth century. The Arians claimed that if the Son is generated and born of the Father, he is a creature of God, albeit a divine creature, but not equal to the Father.

The Council of Nicea was assembled to condemn the Arian heresy. By introducing the words consubstantial with the Father into the creed, the Council of Nicea strongly affirmed that the Son was indeed himself God.

Bearing in mind the original text mentioned above, look again at the 1975 English version that you refer to: [We believe in] one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father. Although this is a fairly good representation of the original words, it is not a sufficiently precise way of expressing that the Son is also born of the Father before all ages, that is, he is clearly a Person always distinct from the Father.

It is because of this lack of precision in the Creed and other sections of the Mass, that the Congregation for Divine Worship has given us the 2008 English version, regarding it as an acceptable translation of the Latin of the Roman Rite.