The Only Begotten -- Part 1

Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father. Since I have heard this expression so often, I was surprised to see that it is less frequently used in the standard works than I thought. It is only found six times in the entire KJV Bible, all in the New Testament. Since we quote John 3:16 so often ("For God so loved the world, that he sent his only begotten Son..."), we might get the impression that it is more common than that.

In the Book of Mormon, "Only Begotten" is found 9 times. But it is all over the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price. 25 times in total in those 8 chapters. I find that interesting for reasons that I will try to explain in this post.

One obvious point is the mismatch between the Old Testament and the Pearl of Great Price. The Book of Moses is basically a more detailed version of Genesis chapters 1-6. This means that if the Book of Moses is meant to be a restoration of a more ancient version of Genesis, "the only begotten" must have been systematically removed to produce the version of Genesis that we have today. Even in the Book of Moses passages that we have almost verbatim in Genesis, the only begotten comes in addition. 

Compare, for instance, Moses 2:26 with Genesis 1:26

And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness

or Moses 3:18 with Genesis 2:18

And I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten, that it was not good that the man should be alone; wherefore, I will make an help meet for him. 

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

We see the yellow part including "Only Begotten" is an addition in the Book of Moses in a passage that is otherwise almost verbatim the same. Or perhaps it is more correct to say that the yellow parts appear removed in our current version of Genesis.

These examples are preceded by Moses 1 containing a prologue to the creation account that is not found in Genesis at all. In this chapter, Moses speaks with God and asks him about his creations. The "Only Begotten" is mentioned nine times in that chapter. It seems to be the standard name for the Messiah in the revelations to Moses and the creation account. It is striking that all the parts of the Book of Moses containing this name are not found in our current version of Genesis.

But it is not only a name that God used when talking to Moses. It goes all the way back to Adam. 

6 And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.

7 And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth. (Moses 5)

Again, this is a story in the middle of the events we read about in early Genesis, but is not found in our current version, despite its significance. As far as I can tell, this is the first event in the history of mankind where man has been explicitly informed of the coming of Jesus Christ. He is not yet known by that name but is called the Only Begotten of the Father. Later in the history of a covenant people, various names have been used at different times. There are clearly certain trends as shown in this post.

The use of the Only Begotten is another clear trend. It seems to have been one of the preferred names for the future Messiah in the beginning. So why is this not found in the Old Testament? Lord Wilmore made similar observations about references to Adam and Eve and the questions he asks to figure out why these references are practically absent from the Old Testament are valid in this case too: 

Was it because the temple doctrines once had by ancient Israelites ended up suppressed and stripped away?  Was this doctrinal tradition preserved on the brass plates?

A closer look at the use of "Only Begotten" in the Book of Mormon leads me to conclude that this tradition in all likelihood indeed was preserved on the brass plates. Even though the Nephites may have preferred different names, the Only Begotten often comes up when the Nephite writers refer back to the ancient times. Considering its prevalence in the Book of Moses, that only makes sense. We will look at some of these Book of Mormon examples.

Alma 12-13

4 of the 9 uses of "Only Begotten" are found in these chapters. Alma's sermon starts out with a question about the tree of life and "our first parents" (Alma 12:20-21). He explains how God started revealing the plan of salvation after they were cast out from the garden and that his only begotten Son was a central component in that plan. He also explains how God from the beginning called men after "the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father" (Alma 13:9). Reading these two chapters, you don't need much imagination to envision Alma having studied an account similar to what we have in Moses 6

33 But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of redemption which was laid) saying: If ye will repent, and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son (Alma 12)

1 And again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord God gave these commandments unto his children; and I would that ye should remember that the Lord God ordained priests, after his holy order, which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people...

9 Thus they become high priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen. (Alma 13)

51 And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh. 

52 And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth... 

62 And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time...

67 And thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity. (Moses 6)

Jacob 4

This chapter uses "Only Begotten" twice. Just like Alma 12 it is prefaced with a reference to prophets of old.

...not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us. Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son...Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son (Jacob 4:4-5, 11)

Conclusion

I covered 6 out of 9 uses of "Only Begotten" in the Book of Mormon. The remaining 3 do not refer back to ancient times directly, but there are some interesting intertextual connections that we will consider in a second part. The examples should suffice, though. In ancient scriptures covering the beginning of times there was talk of the Only Begotten Son of the Father who would redeem mankind. Its complete absence in our current Old Testament leads me to conclude that it was stripped away by the hands of what Nephi calls the great and abominable church. When the Book of Mormon uses the term, it is often within a context of referring back to those ancient days that the Nephites probably could read about on the brass plates. There are many indications that the brass plates contained a text more similar to our current Book of Moses in tPoGP than the Old Testament.