Eternal generation of the Son

The eternal generation of the Son is a Trinitarian doctrine, which is defined as a necessary and eternal act of God the Father, in which he generates (or begets) God the Son through communicating the whole divine essence to the Son. Generation is not defined as an act of the will, but is by necessity of nature. To avoid anthropomorphistic understandings of the doctrine, theologians have defined it as timeless, non-bodily, incomprehensible and not as a communication without but within the Godhead. The view is affirmed by the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism as is evident in the Westminster Confession the London Baptist Confession and by Lutheran confessions among others.

The doctrine has been an important part of Nicene Trinitarianism, however some modern theologians have proposed different models of the Trinity, wherein eternal generation is no longer seen as necessary and thus rejected. This is associated with the belief doctrine of the temporal Sonship of Christ, instead of being eternally the Son of God.