The Virgin Birth of Jesus: Is it a Reasonable Belief? ( Part I )

Christians believe Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. The two gospels explicitly proclaiming the virgin birth of Jesus is Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-45. The most succinct statement of the Christian confession is the Apostle’s Creed, which is the oldest version of Christian confession. The Apostle's Creed is as follows:

I believe in God the Father Almighty. And in Jesus Christ His only (begotten) Son our Lord, who was born of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary; crucified under Pontius Pilate, and buried; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost; the holy Church; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; the life everlasting. (see article by James Orr, “The Apostle’s Creed,” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Vol. 1, at www.reformed.org/documents/apostles_creed.html )

The Apostle’s Creed originates in apostolic times and was a baptismal formula. As such, new followers of Christ confessed this creed to confirm their faith in the essential message of the gospels and of the church. The Apostle’s Creed is the foundation of all other confessions including the Nicene, Chalcedon, Westminster, and other creeds. It is venerated by the Roman Catholic Church and by most Protestant Churches.

The clause of importance here is “Jesus Christ His only (begotten) Son our Lord, who was born of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary.” Liberal scholars and their followers deny the possibility of the virgin birth. Because other ancient religions claimed their saviors were virgin born or otherwise supernaturally born, liberals believe the early church adopted the myth probably to make the gospel more attractive to superstitious ancient people. This skeptical view might be true. However, what is often behind liberal skepticism is their outright rejection of the supernatural. Liberals tend to deny all of the miracles mentioned in the Bible, not just the virgin birth. The Christian confession would be meaningless if the supernatural was not an experienced reality. As the Apostle Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14) The faith was not an exercise in philosophy or superstition to allay fear of death. Faith is (was) based on seeing, hearing, feeling the resurrection of Jesus and of others. Therefore, healing and resurrection from the dead was an experienced reality during the apostolic era that continued well beyond the apostles’ witness of Jesus’ resurrection and heavenly ascent. In fact, miraculous healings and resurrections continue in our own time.

The virgin birth of Jesus cannot be proved, nor can it be disproved either. An appropriate question requiring a logical answer is whether it is reasonable to believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. Merely dismissing the possibility because one does not believe in miracles or the supernatural is as meaningless as blindly confessing the virgin birth is true. To answer the question, one must consider whether any historical evidence exists that would support or refute the possibility of virgin birth. Is there any scientific evidence for virgin birth? If so, does the evidence prove the virgin birth? In addition, a search for evidence to support the reasonableness of Jesus’ virgin birth must consider any rational argument that might exist.

Skeptics readily supply a logical argument. However, from the outset, the argument by David Hume against testimonials for miracles must be discarded because medical testing confirms healing miracles based on religious faith do occur. We can also eliminate arguments against resurrection because many have occurred. More importantly, they are being medically and empirical verified. Consequently, by eliminating those two arguments that confirm the reality of God and the supernatural, much time will be saved in order to focus on the primary argument: is belief in the virgin birth of Jesus a reasonable belief?

In a future posting, I will begin to present an answer. Until then, a few observations from my past studies may be instructive. A number of years ago, I began searching for proof of the virgin birth of Jesus. I reviewed medical and scientific research on oocytology, regenerative medicine, genetics, reproductive behavior of animals and insects, neurology, paranormal science, and the like. Based on my less than fallible memory, I discovered research claiming virgin births do occur in nature. Men can have female type (XX) chromosomes of the 23rd pair just as women can have male type (xy) 23rd chromosomes. Women have a biological residue of male hormones that could be used in imprinting the genetic material of an egg. Imprinting is a hormonal process by which certain genes are turned on and off during various stages of cell development. These were some of my findings.

When considering people with terminal cancer and 6 month to live, my theory about people who have been miraculously healed because of religious faith is this: God answered their faith and prayers for deliverance. They were healed because the master geneticist forced aberrant cells to conform to His plan. The genetic information of cancer cells was changed to conform to normal cells. God spoke His word so that from quantum particles to individual genes all material aligned with God’s word. As it were, the blueprint of cancer cells was replaced by the blueprint of normal cells.

That is one reasonable possibility. It also gives an idea how I will approach my answer to the question: is the virgin birth of Jesus a reasonable belief?

It’s Been Two Days Since the Messiah—Are You Ready?

Two days ago, Jesus of Nazareth was born. Only a few moments ago his holy and short-lived life was snuffed out. He was crucified based on false charges at 30 years old. This was truly an astonishing tragedy!

God pronounced one and only penalty for ‘sin’, which is death. For individuals to be acquitted of past and present moral crimes, each person must meet God requirements. Like Jesus, we all must die. Ultimately, we will all suffer the eternal consequences of separation from God, but there is hope. In fact, the good news is that God regards Jesus’ death as having satisfied divine justice against all moral crimes of humanity. Thank God, Jesus paid the price. The catch is we must appropriate God’s gracious provision for the forgiveness of our legal and moral debt.

It is like being cited for breaking some law but not showing up in court. An unknown benefactor paid the fine, but before that payment can be applied to your crime; you have to appear in court and acknowledge the citation is valid. On then will the court apply acquit you of the crime by applying the payment, and by the grace of law expunge your crimes all court and police records.

So it is with God’s law.

More amazing than Jesus being raised from the dead--people are still being raised from the dead in his name--is eye witnesses reports of seeing Jesus carried into heaven like the prophet Elijah of old. Skeptics may doubt this. Paul, however, encountered the risen and glorified Jesus and so has many others since then. In fact, many people have encountered this same Jesus within the last 20 years. For example, a man crashed his plane; the fuselage exploded which caused the plane to burn. The fire raged all the way to the cockpit. Then, Jesus and an angel showed. Jesus assured the pilot that he was going to make it, after which Jesus blew on the cockpit until help arrived. Although I cannot recall his name, I did see photos of the pilot while he was still in the hospital. He bruise and swollen, but he was not burned. Another example of a modern visited by Jesus is an Egyptian government official who was angry that his daughter has converted to Christianity and was now in a European hospital dying, He had drawn up a legal plan to punish local Coptic Christians for some supposed crime. The night before his plan was to be implemented Jesus visited him. Thus changing his mind about Christians and their religion, he rescinded his previous orders and then left for Europe to be with his daughter. His daughter did not die. Instead, Jesus healed her; thus confirming his promise made during the visitation. A former Israeli officer crippled for life because of an accident also experienced healing by Jesus. So did a young Muslim Egyptian who was dying of a rare but severe form of shingles of the face, which was affecting his brain as well. He said he saw Jesus come into his hospital room and heal him.

Within the past 10 years, a number of well-documented resurrections have also occurred. An African pastor died and was three days later; he rose to life again. An Indonesian Buddhist monk died and was about to be cremated when he came back to life. While dead those 3 days, he saw Buddha while standing at the gate to hell. Later, he met by a man named Peter who told him about Jesus. After he came back to life, he told the crowd at his funeral that the Christian were right about Jesus being the only way to eternal life in heaven. Both of these resurrections have been investigated, collaborated, and found to be true.

What seems too incredible to be real is the fact that since Jesus' ascension until the present time all of these miraculous events have occurred in just two days. This may seem beyond belief to mere mortals but not to God. “For a thousands years is as one day, and a day as a thousand years” to the Creator. (Ps. 90:4; 2 Pe. 3:8)

This brings me to a problem requiring an explanation. We often hear prophecy teachers talk about the end time and the imminent return of the Messiah, about a millennial reign, and about a coming global peace. After thousands of years, these doctrines strike many as a lot of wishful thinking. Skeptics often scoff at such beliefs as myths or worse at childish make-believe. Yet, the warnings of prophets and apostles about such criticism must be heeded. Seemingly unfilled prophecy—hope against hope—is better understood in light of divine time rather than based on human conception of time. Based on God’s timetable, Rabbinical and Christian scholars believe that messianic end time prophecies will be fulfilled at the beginning of the seventh millennium or the seventh day of the creation of the habitable earth. Depending on the calendar followed, the seventh millennium should begin in either the next 50 to 1233 years. To the spiritual enemies of God, the time is short. To followers of Jesus the Messiah, it is not of utmost importance. What is crucial is being alert to what God is doing and aware of the progress of history towards the fulfillment of God’s promises. Jesus said, it is not for you to know times and seasons, but to be watching and always prepared for his coming, whether at death or at the rapture.

In the glorious realm of spiritual reality, time is short. Two days has passed, those beings who rule evil in darkness fearfully anticipate the dawning of the third day. While fear and anger grips the forces of God’s enemies, saints and angels both revel with joy in anticipation of that holy day when God shall rise from his throne to execute final justice. At God's right hand, Messiah Jesus also comes to administrate the eternal reign of God’s kingdom on earth. Vanquished to the abysmal prisons are the forces of violence and darkness, and filling their place will be the peace and righteousness that attends the presence of God. Amen.