Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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GENERATION, DIVINE

The procession of the Second Person of the Trinity from the First, i.e., the generation of the Son by the Father. As explained by the Church, this generation is eternal and takes place in a manner similar to the intellectual activity of the human soul. "Just as our spirit knowing itself, produces an image of itself, which theologians call a 'word,' so God also, insofar as human can be compared to Divine, knowing Himself, generates the Eternal Word" (Roman Catechism, III, 9). Thus the generation of the Son from the Father is to be conceived purely as an intellectual generation or as an act of the Divine Intellect.