This post is a sidebar to the lrchouston.com (click here) comment from Saturday, the 26th. Hey, it’s not just attorney’s who can have a sidebar! Let me say upfront that I am not herein trying to debunk the virgin birth of Jesus. I do have serious doubts about the story; however, I’ve not arrived at a permanent conclusion. Bottom line, virgin birth or not, it doesn’t change Jesus’ sinless life for me and here is why.
Why are there so many virgin birth stories throughout antiquity and how does that make a diety sinless? Tell me!
Why did Paul, the earliest writer of any New Testament book, not say anything about a virgin birth? Writing just 15-20 years after the resurrection of Jesus, Paul says not a word about any virgin birth. Why didn’t Mark, the earliest gospel writer say anything about it? Why only two chapter mentions in two books (Matthew and Luke)? There are dozens of other questions I could ask, but that’s not the purpose of this post. I am not trying to DISPROVE a virgin birth. What I am saying is that I understand WHY it might have been needed or used in antiquity- for all the religions that proclaimed a virginal birth.
We can’t fault the writers of the Old Testament or New for what it was that they did not know. They didn’t know the earth was round. They didn’t know the earth evolved around the sun. They had very little of the scientific information that we have today- information I might add, that even right wing fundamentalists accept as fact-truth. It was the SCIENTIFIC understanding 2,000 years ago that all of genetic makeup of a person came through the MALE SEED. They did not comprehend or grasp that the woman had something to do with how the child turned out.
They believed in humuncleos.
Today we KNOW that a child gets his human genome from both the man and the woman. DUH!
Long before the human genome project, I could not get how a virgin birth would make Jesus or any claimed diety sinless. Maybe I am still missing something, but isn’t the woman a part of the human race (though having not always been treated that way) and therefore she carries the sins of Adam as well? Right? I mean many theologians felt the woman carried ALL the bad seeds, but that was 12th century thinking. Amazing how some want it both ways.
Virgin birth or not, I believe Jesus was the only begotten Son of God, sinless, crucified, resurrected, and at the right hand of the Father.
Fascinating. Just the process of asking the questions affirms that I’m not crazy. We are taught to accept what we are told at face value and not ask for clarification (or seek clarification from God and the Word). “Don’t question the president, or you’re not patriotic.” “Don’t question what you’re taught in church or you’re not saved.”
Several years ago I was compelled to write the following. “I recognize that a bigger picture exists. However, I understand that I will never see the picture itself, but, if I’m lucky, a fleeting glimps of it’s shadow.”
I agree that religious institutions and science are similar in that they believe only what is that latest discovery. For much of institutionalized religion, the latest discovery is the King James, while the truth lurks in the darkness of unasked questions, just like the laws of gravity and physics were for Newton in his time; what if Newton had not asked? Even Galileo Galilei was condemed by the church for his scientific discoveries that were in opposition to the church.
Keep it coming.
A virgin birth? Important? A distraction? So long ago this idea was pinned on paper by men of different thinking than myself. At my core I must look at how and if Mary’s virginity affects my relationship with God and Jesus. Hum! No effect so far. It is the DNA of God in Jesus that is important. The fruit of his life calls to me some 2000+ years later. I feel him say forgive and above all else love. I guess if I was a person that thinks every word in the Bible is above question then I wringing my hands at even thinking about this. But, I only worried about the words in red ink. So this is good for a conversation. However, I’m not getting thrown under a bus over the idea.
You are thinking too hard, just accept what God has said
in his Bible as absolute truth, then life will make more sense.
Forgive ME, but more about the subject, please!! You are going away from the topic too frequently, therefore it is uneasy to read your posts.