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The Nicene creed phrase “God of God” or “God from God” refers to The Word, Jesus.
It seems that being of or from God indicates a beginning. Jesus,The Word,would not thus be eternally existing.
How do Nicene Creed affirming Christians explain this apparent conflict with the co equal co eternal part of the trinity doctrine?
From implies source or origin, not necessarily a temporal change. The phrasing God of God was meant to define the relationship of Son to God the Father; they both are one substance.
Note that the Creed further says "born of the Father before all worlds/ages" which also indicates an eternity to the Son being begotten
The Nicene Creed conveys an eternal begetting - the only begotten Son.
This begetting is not a matter of time, it is a matter of eternity. (Which is not 'a long period of time' it is another state altogether - an eternal state.)
'In the beginning was the Word' conveys that when the beginning began, the Person who incorporates, within himself, the concept of 'Word' (the sum of all that can be intelligently communicated) already was, in existence.
The Son is not 'made'. He is begotten. And he is the only begotten Son of God.
There is a plurality - 'sons of God' - in regard to creation and these we see in Job. They are created beings.
There is also a plurality - 'sons of God' - in regard to redemption, by new birth, in a New Testament and in a New Creation.
But none of the 'sons of God' - by creation or by redemption - is ever referred to as 'the son of God'.
When the singular is used, with an article, it is clear that there is a personal singularity which refers only to one person - the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
His existence did not begin with the beginning. In the beginning was the Word.
The extensive writings of, for example, Athanasius, at the time of the Council of Nicea, clearly indicate the concept of eternal begetting. And also the concept of duality of nature : that Jesus Christ joins in his Person all the attributes of Divine nature and all the attributes of human nature.
These two natures do not converge or mingle or merge : they are two distinct things. They meet in the Person of Jesus Christ.
The creed explicitly denounces “those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made.” In other words, according to the creed, He always existed.
The creed also says that “By whom (Jesus Christ) all things were made both in heaven and on earth.” “All things,” therefore, presumably refers to this entire universe. Space, time and matter defines the universe. By implication, even time was created “by” Jesus Christ, as amazing as that may sound. Again, the conclusion is that He always existed. There was no time that He did not exist.
Θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ (theos from theos or god from god), is an interpretation of the description in the Creed of Christ as “begotten” (born). Since He is metaphysically “born” from God, He came out of the being of God and is in a different category relative to created things.
And, as the creed indicates, He is the “only-begotten.” In other words, He is the only one that was ever came out of the being of God.
But then, your question is, how do we reconcile the fact that He always existed with the fact that He was born of God, which implies a beginning? I propose that we explain this by making a distinction between our universe of time, space and matter, and the True Reality, which exists beyond our universe, but from where the power and intelligence came that produced our universe:
Time exists in our universe and Christ existed for all that time, but that time began 13 billion years ago with the big bang.
But in that True but incomprehensible Reality, arguably, time does not exist. In that reality, the Son was born from the being of God, but since time does not exist, there is no before or after and the word “always” does not apply for the word “always” is only valid where time exists.
