Is the Son Created?
It has always amazed me how Trinitarians continue to say, 'You believe God's Son was created?' 'Noooooooooooo, I don't. He was begotten.'
It was hard to imagine why. The current writer had an experience with a friend who said this to me, and I responded as I always do, 'No, He was begotten.' About ten minutes later, she said, 'You believe God's Son was created.' ???
Why was this happening?
It was only after I studied the writings of Trinitarians and the history of Arius that I understood --- To believe God's Son had a beginning meant He was not God, but a created being. This is the bottom line for all Trinitarians regarding the Son of God, and it is impossible for them to see that although the Son had a beginning, He was still divine.
I use the word 'impossible' purposely, because Jesus told Peter when he said 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God', "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Matthew 16:17.
Unless the Spirit of God enlightens the mind, the divinity of Jesus cannot be seen.
In 1888, Brother Waggoner dealt with this problem. Perhaps there were some among the leadership who believed this, although it may have come from outside the church. There must have been enough agitation for him to include it in his Minneapolis sermons.
He said, "No one who holds this view can possibly have any just conception of the exalted position which Christ really occupies...The Scriptures declare that Christ is 'the only-begotten Son of God'. He is begotten, not created.
As to when He was begotten, it is not for us to inquire, nor could our minds grasp it if we were told... The point is that Christ is a begotten Son, and not a created subject. He has by inheritance a more excellent Name than the angels: He is 'a Son over His own house'." Christ and His Righteousness p27.29.
The question was asked by a reader of the Review & Herald in 1883.
Question: Will you please favour me with those Scriptures which plainly say that Christ is a created being?
Answer: You are mistaken in supposing that S. D. Adventists teach that Christ was ever created. They believe, on the contrary, that he was ‘begotten’ of the Father, and that he can properly be called God and worshiped as such. They believe, also, that the worlds, and everything which is, was created by Christ in conjunction with the Father. They believe, however, that somewhere in the eternal ages of the past there was a point at which Christ came into existence. They think that it is necessary that God should have antedated Christ in his being, in order that Christ could have been begotten of him, and sustain to him the relation of son. They hold to the distinct personality of the Father and Son, rejecting as absurd that feature of Trinitarianism which insists that God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit are three persons, and yet but one person. S. D. Adventists hold that God and Christ are one in the sense that Christ prayed that his disciples might be one; i.e., one in spirit, purpose, and labor." Review & Herald. Vol 60. No.16. p250. Apr 17. 1883.
www.adventistarchives.org/docs/RH/RH18830417-V60-16__B.pdf
Today Seventh-day Adventists believe Jesus became God's Son when He was born of Mary in His incarnation, so there is really no need to suggest that God's Son may be created. In fact, the question does not come up among Trinitarians; it is only conversations with those who believe Christ was begotten at some point in eternity.
If you have thought non-Trinitarians believe God's Son was created, please put it aside.
And if you believe having a beginning means He was created, please reconsider. Our pioneers were not Trinitarians, but they believed without a doubt that God's Son was absolute deity.
The subject certainly needs to be studied.
If you are willing to be taught of God's Spirit, do true exegesis study, and believe the Spirit of Prophecy writings were given by the SPIRIT of prophecy, God will show you the truth.