Good Genes (Only Begotten)
In reading The Gospel of Judas, one is introduced to two personages—Autogenes and Allogenes. This is an uninspired book which, together with other similar works, are called the pseudepigrapha. This word is from the Greek: ψευδής, pseudḗs, means “false" and ἐπιγραφή, epigraphḗ, refers to a "name" or "inscription." In other words, A Biblical name is chosen to be attached to the writings of an anonymous writer. It is a false gospel in this case, purportedly written by Judas, but this is not the case (see the related articles for 12-10 and 12-17).
However, in this work one finds references to one who is called Autogenes. What does that mean? It is translated as “Self-Generated.” Okay, one can see how this word would apply to God, but in The Gospel of Judas, it is more complicated. We find “a supreme triad of Father, Mother, and Child. The members of this triad are the Invisible Spirit, Barbelo, and the divine Autogenes” (141). Here it gets confusing, but the self-generated one is also the child of the Invisible Spirit, and the mother, Barbelo. “Autogenes is a term commonly used in Sethian texts to characterize the offspring of Barbelo…” (146). One wonders how he can be both a child (one born to a man and woman) and be self-generated at one and the same time. Asserting that the term means he is an independent person and a self-starter is not quite satisfactory.
Allogenes is also mentioned; the term refers to Seth. In Genesis 4:25, Eve said she called her son Seth, because “God has appointed another seed” for her to take the place of Abel, whom Cain killed. Allogenes refers to “one of another kind” or “stranger” (158). One last word needs to be introduced—monogenes, which in the KJV, ASV, NKJ, and even the NIV is translated “only begotten.” The English Standard Versions chose to omit the word begotten, as did its processor, the RSV. One must ask why. The Greek word genes (pronounced guh nace’) is ignored. Mono means “only.” Why wasn’t genes translated? For years, Foy Wallace asked that question, as did Robert R. Taylor, Jr., in their works on translations; has a reasonable answer ever been given?
If autogenes means “self-generated” or “self-begotten,” and allogenes means “one of another kind” or “begotten by another,” then why doesn’t monogenes mean “only begotten”? And why has the English Standard Version ignored genes and translated only half of the word? If the Holy Spirit had intended to say that Jesus was God’s only son, He would not have needed the word genes to convey the idea. Mono would have done the job. Can someone explain the rationale behind this omission? All Christians are sons and daughters of God (1 John 3:1), being born of water and the Spirit, but Jesus is the only Son of God, begotten by the Holy Spirit.