Journal: Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
Volume: DBSJ 30:1 (NA 2025)
Article: Implications Of John 5:16–30 For The Doctrine Of Eternal Generation
Author: Mark A. Snoeberger

DBSJ 30 (2025) p. 167

Implications Of John 5:16–30 For The Doctrine Of Eternal Generation

Mark A. Snoeberger1

The eternal generation of the Son has been a staple element in Christian orthodoxy since Nicaea, and its formulation doubtless occurred earlier:2 it is part of the “ecumenical” tradition.3 I have high regard for creeds, generally speaking, and find the retrieval of Nicene orthodoxy a noble venture, but not one so noble as the Reformational retrieval of sola Scriptura. “Ecumenical” status, while part of an impressive pedigree that is unlikely ever to attach itself again to any creed this side of heaven, is not unassailable.

While the Reformers substantially upheld the ecumenical creeds, they did not do so slavishly. Indeed, the Reformation was rendered necessary precisely because the majority Christian expression was wrong on so many issues, and a return ad fontes was the only valid corrective. The assignment of “orthodoxy” needed to revert to biblical and not to catholic (much less Roman Catholic) standards. Of course, the interpretive grid of the Reformers was such that this assignment was never purely objective. The precursors of enlightenment thought were already in development, and the ideas of mystery and supernatural were already under scrutiny. Seemingly fantastical conceptions of the netherworld

DBSJ 30 (2025) p. 168

rendered the descent into hell suspect; and the paradox of Christ as γεννηθέντα οὐ ποιηθέντα (“begotten, not made”), autothetos but also ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς (and all this by eternal “act”) seemed to some like so much equivocation and special pleading, leading to redefinition.4 I allow the possibility that nascently “modernist” concerns led to the Reformers’ heightened scrutiny of the creeds and of the underlying texts;5 still, their high view of Scripture as the Norma Normans non Normata was commendable, as well their concern for hermeneutical fidelity to the received laws of language.

DBSJ 30 (2025) p. 169

In so opining, I concede to the contemporary evangelical retrieval movement that theologians are vulnerable (as everyone always is) to the dominant philosophical winds of the day—including Modernism. Incessant pressure to contain/expunge the supernatural and the mysterious in the Bible and especially to naturalize the protological/ eschatological booke...