Comments on: Was Jesus Virgin Born?

By: bob

bob — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:14:44 +0000

I am sorry this comment is so very late. You may be right that part of the motivation for the virgin birth story might have been ‘evangelistic.’ To compare Jesus to Caesar Augustus was, no doubt, confrontational and would get a person in that day thinking, or angry. However, the basic cause for the virgin birth language is, I believe, the need to express meanings in the language and images of the day. To speak of a person’s conversion from atheism to becoming a follower of Jesus as a ‘quantum leap,’ is using a contemporary image. Virgin birth, like ‘quantum leap’ today, communicated something in the time of the writing of Matthew and Luke. However, if virgin birth was used of someone today, the claim would be greated with great skepticism. To communicate, we need to speak in words and the images understood by both parties.

By: bob

bob — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:56:46 +0000

The simple meaning of the statement, “A man had two sons,” in the parable of the Prodigal Son could be taken literally, as in an actual family, however, being a parable, we know it is a story. The incidents around the birth stories of Jesus are also stories and not literal facts. This was the point of my blog.

By: susan reeves

susan reeves — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:17:29 +0000

I have to teach this concept of virgin birth this Sunday in Birmingham, Alabama. Class is diverse so don’t leap to the conclusion that we are a fundamentalist, flag waving, football fans born of a mobile home. But this is hard to understand for me and your article made it a little easier. I wonder if the concession to paganism and others born of “virgins” (Ceasar Augustus) was like Paul’s permission to adult men to be followers of Christ without circumcision–it just made it easier to join the movement. Is this reasonable or does it fall into the category of persuasion that allows one to say anything to get elected. (No pun intended).

By: bob

bob — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:58:37 +0000

possible addition in future development of the idea

By: ira kaufman

ira kaufman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:12:49 +0000

Bob:Enjoy your days away. I thought of “extra virgin” olive oil as another use of the metaphor alluding to something/one special.