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Dear Father Angelo,

we know that Jesus Christ is the Word of the Father, the logos, the word of the Father who was begotten of God the Father.

Now I wonder: since Jesus was begotten of the Father, did he come forth a moment later?

Did Jesus, who is the Word of God the Father, come forth a moment later as it happens in human nature when parents beget a child?

In short, I would like to know, has Jesus existed with God the Father for all eternity, forever?

What does it mean that Jesus is coeternal with God the Father?

Thank you, Father Angelo

Answer from the priest

Dear Son,

1. Jesus is the wisdom of God, the thought of God, who became flesh in the womb of the virgin Mary.

Therefore, in Jesus we must differentiate his divine nature from his human nature.

Insofar as he is the thought of God, he is as eternal as God the Father is eternal.

2. He is called Son because he is begotten in the mind of God.

Just as our each and every thought is conceived (that is, begotten) in our mind, so too God’s thought is begotten in his mind.

3. There is this difference, however: that the thought of God is as great as God is. There is nothing in God that is not known by him.

That is why he is God.

More precisely, we say that he is the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the one God.

4. Since he is God, he is begotten, not made.

If he had come forth a moment later, he would be made and would not be God.

5. Coming to your next question “I would like to know, has Jesus existed with God the Father for all eternity, forever ???” it is necessary to differentiate: insofar as he is God, he is eternal.

In his human nature, however, he has a date, because he took that nature 2022 years ago, according to our calendar.

6. Coeternal with God the Father means indeed that he did not come forth a moment later.

This is why in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed that we recite in the Mass we speak of the thought of God, that is, of the Son of God: begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father.

God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.

7. Exactly because he is the thought of God and is at the source of creation, we follow in the Creed by saying:

Through him all things were made.

8. Memorializing his incarnation over time, we carry on in the Creed saying:

for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

This happened in fact 2022 years ago.

I wish you a merry Holy Christmas, which is coming soon, and a peaceful new year.

I bless you and remember you in prayer.

Father Angelo