Nature shows that any being can only reproduce to the same kind (Genesis 1:11), not of a different type. For example a bitch cannot produce kittens. Therefore, some argue that if Jesus claim to be "the Son of God", he has to be divine like God the Father, especially when we find scriptures like:

... we have seen his glory, glory as of the only (begotten?) Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. -- John 1:14

No man has seen God at any time; the only (begotten?) Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him. -- John 1:18

For God so loved the world, that He gave his only (begotten?) Son... -- John 3:16

For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only (begotten?) Son of God. -- John 3:17-18

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only (begotton?) Son into the world, so that we might live through him. -- 1 John 4:9

All the verses above use the Greek word monogenés:

The HELPS Word-studies state:

monogenḗs is made from:

• misthōtós which means "one-and-only"
• génos which means "offspring"

Therefore, this is a very hotly debated word as it challenge many theological interpretations which lead translators to omit the word "begotten" from popular modern English translations like the CEV, GNT, NASB, NIV, NTL, ESV.

Some other translations include "begotten" is some of the verses listed above like the AMP, ASV, ERV, NASB1995, KJV, NKJV, REV, TS2009, YLT.

These verse are often crossed referenced to the prophecy of Psalm 2:8-12 which also stated the God will have a special "begotten" son.

If Jesus was God's only son

We have problem, because it contradicts many scriptures that state that God have many more sons and it does not fulfill the prophecy of Psalm 2:8-12.

Some explanations that monogenḗs is supposed to mean "one of a kind" or "the only of its kind". This leads to more problems:

• What kind was Jesus then?
• How does that glorify God?
• It still does not solve the problem that Jesus had a human mother if he was a different kind.

Other would argue that this means, Jesus was the only human into which God incarnated, but that is an assumption that is not very clearly supported by any of these scriptures.

If Jesus was the only human born son acceptable by God

"begotten son" simply means a "human born son". Would that not make any believer whom God accept as a "son" also a "begotten son (or daughter) of God"?

Yes it does:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. -- 1 Peter 1:3 (KJV)

The only unique thing about Jesus' birth from ours, is how did his mother got pregnant without a man's intercourse?

If Jesus is the only human born person, without a biological father (like Adam), it would mean that he would be sinless as there would be no bloodline from which he could inherit ancestral sin. This would make him totally acceptable to be God's son even from conception, hence the phrase "the only-begotten Son of God" which means "the only-human-born person, accepted as a Son of God" without the need of anyone's sacrifice.

This is significant, to highlight that Jesus was human-born, because that disqualifies any doctrines that teach that Jesus was some sort of angelic being of God like Gabriel.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way:

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

When Matthew wrote "in this way" it means that is how Jesus was literally born or how he originated (because the Greek word "birth" is also "genesis" which could also mean "originate").

Luke provide a bit more detail:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

And the angel departed from her.

-- Luke 1:26-38 (ESV)

That fact that Gabriel names "David" as one of Jesus' ancestors also means that Mary was not a surrogate mother to a God-sperm, but that Mary was indeed Jesus' natural biological mother.

The almighty Creator, could have literally created, whatever Mary needed to become pregnant (like DNA), directly in Mary just like He created Adam:

The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature -- Genesis 2:7 (ESV)

Jesus said himself:

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all -- John 6:63 (ESV)

and even Job acknowledge that life comes any ways from God's Spirit, because Job's mother was most likely not a virgin like Mary:

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. -- Job 33:4 (ESV)

If Jesus was God's biological son

God is Spirit (John 4:24) and not a human (Numbers 23:19) or part of His own creation (Isaiah 43:10). Therefore, God the Father cannot be Jesus' biological Father.

If "only begotten son" means God's only biological son, we also have to deal with a few problems:

• If you reason Jesus is God, then you need to explain how can God be His own biological son?
• If Jesus was born out of wedlock, it would make all Jesus statements about His Father questionable.

Sadly, some sects belief that God the Father had sexual intercourse with Mary which produced a demi-god-like Jesus, therefore it is understandable that translators choose to remove that word to avoid these kind of confusions.

However, Jesus explains:

I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

They answered him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.”

They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father — even God.”

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but He sent me.

Why do you not understand what I say?

It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?

Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

-- John 8:42-47 (ESV)

Nobody argued that Jesus made a mistake to say that Jews were biological offspring of the devil. If that was the general understanding, then it would have been easy to proof Jesus wrong and to silence him for good, but instead, we read from the next verse (John 8:48) that they debated on a different subject.

From this we can assume that in this context a "father" is the person whose "words" and "works" his "children" copies by acting like their "father".

When Jesus said that "God is my Father", it means he copies God's true words and works and when he said that the Jews' Father is the devil it means they copied the devil's lies and works.

In other words, a father is the one whose image you reflect in your life. This could be either God's image or the devil's image. This is why it is significant that Jesus was considered "the image of God".