The Father
The Father is one of the three divine persons, the source of the Son by eternal begetting and of the Spirit by eternal procession. Father, Son, and Spirit share the one divine nature.
Key points
- Father names a personal relation, not a separate kind of divinity.
- Begetting and procession are eternal relations, not events in time.
Scripture
- Matthew 28:19 — The three are named in baptism.
- John 17:5 — The Son speaks of glory with the Father before the world existed.
- 1 Corinthians 8:6 — Paul names one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, in the setting of creation and worship.
Primary sources
John of Damascus writes:
John of Damascus distinguishes the Father's unbegotten personal property without making it a difference of divine essence or dignity.
all the qualities the Father has are the Son's, save that the Father is unbegotten, and this exception involves no difference in essence nor dignity, but only a different mode of coming into existence.
Passage context and translation
John says that the Father's being unbegotten distinguishes the mode of personal existence without introducing a difference of divine essence or dignity between Father and Son.
Before the excerpt
the term 'Only-begotten' because He alone was begotten alone of the Father alone
After the excerpt
These do not differ from each other in nature ... but they differ in the mode of coming into existence.