No doctrine is more fundamental to true Christianity than that of the divine sonship of Christ. Nor has any doctrine been subject to more perversion and sophistry in the creeds of men than the relationship of the Son to the Father. On this matter the Old Testament is virtually silent, and the New Testament, without the aid of modern revelation, may be confusing.
In the Old Testament there are many references to Christ’s birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, but few plain statements that he would be begotten of the Eternal Father and thus be his literal offspring. In the midst of a passage that is clearly Messianic, the Lord says of the seed of David: “I will be his father, and he shall be my son” (2 Samuel 7:14). In the second Psalm we read of the Lord attesting: “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (Psalms 2:7). It is, however, to the Book of Mormon that we turn to be taught this doctrine in plainness. In the present instance Alma quotes both Zenos and Zenock as teaching that the mercy of God is to be manifest through his Son.