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found in man’s thinking and speaking, and the Bible itself seems to point to this, when it speaks
of the Son as the Logos. (5) The following definition may be given of the generation of the Son:
It is that eternal and necessary act of the first person in the Trinity, whereby He, within the
divine Being, is the ground of a second personal subsistence like His own, and puts this second
person in possession of the whole divine essence, without any division, alienation, or change.
d. The deity of the Son.
The deity of the Son was denied in the early Church by the Ebionites
and the Alogi, and also by the dynamic Monarchians and the Arians. In the days of the
Reformation the Socinians followed their example, and spoke of Jesus as a mere man. The same
position is taken by Schleiermacher and Ritschl, by a host of liberal scholars, particularly in
Germany, by the Unitarians, and by the Modernists and Humanists of the present day. This
denial is possible only for those who disregard the teachings of Scripture, for the Bible contains
an abundance of evidence for the deity of Christ.[This is very ably summed up in such works as
Liddon’s The Divinity of Our Lord, Warfield’s The Lord of Glory, and Wm. C. Robinson’s Our
Lord.] We find that Scripture (1) explicitly asserts the deity of the Son in such passages as John
1:1; 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Phil. 2:6; Tit. 2:13; I John 5:20; (2) applies divine names to Him, Isa. 9:6;
40:3; Jer. 23:5,6; Joel 2:32 (comp. Acts 2:21); I Tim. 3:16; (3) ascribes to Him divine attributes,
such as eternal existence, Isa. 9:6; John 1:1,2; Rev. 1:8; 22:13, omnipresence, Matt. 18:20;
28:20; John 3:13, omniscience, John 2:24,25; 21:17; Rev. 2:23, omnipotence. Isa. 9:6; Phil. 3:21;
Rev. 1:8, immutability, Heb. 1:10-12; 13:8, and in general every attribute belonging to the
Father, Col. 2:9; (4) speaks of Him as doing divine works, as creation, John 1:3,10; Col. 1:16;
Heb. 1:2,10, providence, Luke 10:22; John 3:35; 17:2; Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3, the
forgiveness of sins, Matt. 9:2-7; Mark 2:7-10; Col. 3:13, resurrection and judgment, Matt.
25:31,32; John 5:19-29; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Phil. 3:21; II Tim. 4:1, the final dissolution and
renewal of all things, Heb. 1:10-12; Phil. 3:21; Rev. 21:5, and (5) accords Him divine honour,
John 5:22,23; 14:1; I Cor. 15:19; II Cor. 13:13; Heb. 1:6; Matt. 28:19.
e. The place of the Son in the economic Trinity.
It should be noted that the order of existence
in the essential or ontological Trinity is reflected in the economic Trinity. The Son occupies the
second place in the opera ad extra. If all things are out of the Father, they are through the Son, I
Cor. 8:6. If the former is represented as the absolute cause of all things, the latter stands out
clearly as the mediating cause. This applies in the natural sphere, where all things are created
and maintained through the Son, John 1:3,10; Heb. 1:2,3. He is the light that lighteth every man
that cometh into the world, John 1:9. It applies also to the work of redemption. In the Counsel
of Redemption He takes upon Himself to be Surety for His people, and to execute the Father’s
plan of redemption, Ps. 40:7,8. He works this out more particularly in His incarnation,
sufferings, and death, Eph. 1:3-14. In connection with His function the attributes of wisdom and