John 1:18 - The Only Begotten God

John 1:18

No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. — World English.

No one has seen God at any time ; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. — New American Standard.

theon oudeis hewraken pwpote monogenees theos
GOD NO ONE HAS SEEN AT ANY TIME; ONLY BEGOTTEN GOD
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ho wn eis ton kolpon tou patros ekeinos
THE (ONE) BEING INTO THE BOSOM OF THE FATHER THAT (ONE)
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exeegeesato
EXPLAINED.
1834
Westcott & Hort Interlinear, as obtained from the Bible Students Library DVD:

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, that One declares Him. — Green’s Literal Translation.

When the scripture says no one has seen God, who is this “God”? Who is “him” that Jesus makes known or explains? Does the first instance “God” here mean three persons, or one person? It should be obvious that it is “God” whom no man has seen that is being made known by another, that is, Jesus. So does the word “God”, whom no man has seen, refer to one person, or to three persons? Again, it should evident that the word “God” is being used of one person, not three persons, and that it is only one person that Jesus came to make known, not a triune God.

The word begotten is usually transliterated as “monogenes”. Many translations seem to ignore the “genes” part of the word monogenes and seem to focus on the “mono” part, rendering it “The only one.” Others would render the “genes” as “kind”, making it “one of a kind.”

The Textus Receptus, representing the later “majority” text has “only-begotten son,” while the earlier manuscripts usually have “only-begotten god.” Some trinitarians prefer the Textus Receptus rendering, since they would maintain that “God” was never begotten. Others like to point to John 1:18 as an instance where Jesus is called “God”, and claim that it means that Jesus is a person of the Almighty God.

It should be apparent that if John did refer to the Jesus as theos in this verse, it is not the same sense as “Theos” that no man has seen. Also, does “God” in reference to Jesus, speak of Jesus as a man, or as his allegedly being God Most High? Applying the assumed “dual nature” theory to this verse ends up with an apparent self-contradiction, for it would end up having Jesus as being allegedly God Most High making known the Most High God, not the human Jesus making known the Most High God. To illustrate this, let us replace the references to God with “the Most High” in various translations:

New American Standard: No one has seen [the Most High] at any time; the only begotten [Most High] who is in R33 the bosom of the [Most High], He has explained [the Most High].

English Standard Version: No one has ever seen [the Most High]; the only [Most High], who is at the [Most High]’s side, he has made [the Most High] known.

New Revised Standard Version: No one has ever seen [the Most High]. It is [the Most High] the only Son, who is close to the [Most High]’s heart, who has made [the Most High] known.

NET Version: “No one has ever seen [the Most High]. The only one, himself [the Most High], who is in closest fellowship with the [the Most High], has made the Most High known.”

In effect, this would have, not the human Jesus making known the Most High, but would mean that the alleged Jesus Most High was making known the Most High; further, it would have the humanity of Jesus to be “God”, since it was the human Jesus who made God known.

The trinitarian is forced to do is split the sentence up so as to make mean appear to be saying something different than John actually recorded, like: “”No one has ever seen the God [The trinitarian has to imagine and assume that "God" here means, not all three persons of the alleged trinity, but rather the alleged "first person" of the alleged trinity, since "God" is here equated with the Father of Jesus]. The only one, himself God [not the human Jesus, but the alleged trinitarian idea of "God Nature" of Jesus; the trinitarian has to imagine and assume that "God" here means the alleged second person of the alleged triune God, but would evidently require it to not mean the "human nature" as that term is applied to the imagined "dual nature" of jesus], who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has [the trinitarian, in applyng his dual nature to Jesus, has to switch as this point from the alleged trinitarian "God nature" of Jesus to the alleged human nature of the alleged dual nature of Jesus] made God known.” Thus, in mid-sentence, and then out of context of, and even in contradiction to, what John actually wrote, the alleged “dual nature” would change in order to satisfy the added-on trinity dogma. In reality, Jesus, even the days of his flesh, could be referred to as theos in the sense of having received power from the only true Power in the universe, his Father. (John 17:3) Jesus was the prophet like Moses (Acts 3:13-26), who also, being a man, was made “a god” — one of might — to Pharoah. — Exodus 7:1.

Monogenes

Regardless of all the arguments against the idea, genes (presumed to be a form of genos or genea) in monogenes does indicate a beginning, or being brought forth. Some say it simply means “one of a kind,” and yet, genos/genea means “kind” in reference a race or people who share a common origin or development, which does go back to the idea of being brought forth into existence. The Greek words are never used of people or a kind that was never brought forth into existence, as is claimed for the Son of God. An examination of the usage of genos, as well as genea, all through the New Testament will demonstrate this.
http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=1085
http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=1074

However, since Jesus was with the only true God before the world of mankind was made (John 17:3,5), having descended from heaven (John 3:13), he could tell of heavenly things (John 3:12), thus he came to tell about the invisible unipersonal God. (Colossians 1:15) He did NOT explain a three-personed God; having been with the unipersonal God, and learned from the unipersonal God, he explained about one person, his Father, his one-personed God. — Matthew 11:27; 8:28; John 7:16; 8:14,28,29,38; 12:49 (Deuteronomy 18:15-19); 14:24; 1 John 5:20.

As we have stated many times elsewhere, the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is revealed as one person from Genesis to Revelation. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is always distinguished from His Son throughout the Bible. — Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Isaiah 61:1,2; John 17:3; Acts 3:13-26; Hebrews 1:1,2; Revelation 1:1.

The Greek word translated as “God” in reference to Jesus is “Theos.” Forms of “theos” are used in the New Testament to translate forms of the Hebrew word for “God”, that is, “el”. However, these words can be used in a more general way, when used of persons or things other than Yahweh, denote a special mightiness or power. Thus, Moses was made a god — a mighty one — to Pharaoh. (Exodus 7:1) The angels are mighty ones, not just in authority, but in their being, and thus are referred to as “elohim” (a plural form of “el”). (Psalm 8:5; Hebrews 2:7) The sons of the Most High whom to the Logos came are referred to elohim — gods, mighty ones. — Psalm 82:6; John 1:10; 10:34,35.

See the following studies:
Psalm 82:6 – Who Are the Gods?

Of course, Jesus is the only-begotten mighty one, as Moses was made a mighty one to Pharoah. Jesus was a mighty one with the only true God before the world of mankind was made. — John 1:1,2,10; 17:3,5. See:

Studies on John 1:1