Dr. Craig, many evangelicals seem to believe that to deny Jesus as being passed eternally

the sun is to somehow deny his

pre-existence as a person of the Trinity. Yet, I know of no clear biblical or philosophical support

for the pre-human person of the Trinity we know as Jesus being a son before he was born a

son when taking on human likeness, Philippians 2.7.

Unless we equivocate on the meaning of sonship, which humans only know in terms of the male

offspring of creatures, is there any reason to believe Jesus was a son before he was born a

son of God and man, Mary.

I would appreciate knowing your position on this biblically and philosophically.

Mark from the United States.

Your question is a subtle one, Mark, which may be easily misunderstood by our listeners.

You are not calling into question the existence of the second person of the Trinity,

the Logos or Word of John 1-1,

prior to his incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth.

The pre-existence of the Logos is widely attested in the New Testament.

Rather, your question is whether the Logos had the status of being a son prior to his incarnation. One's answer to this question will depend

in an important measure on whether you think that the Logos' being the only begotten God,

monogenes Theos, John 118, is a status that belongs to his very being,

or is a status that he takes on in the plan of salvation. If the former, then the sunship of the

Logos belongs to the ontological Trinity,

that is the Trinity as it exists, essentially.

Whereas if it is the latter, then the Lagos' sonship belongs to the economic trinity,

...