><>...THE VIRGIN BIRTH...><>
For informational purpose only. Take from it what you wish.
The theological doctrine that Jesus was miraculously begotten by God and born of Mary, who was a virgin. The term virgin birth explains the way in which the Son of God entered human existence; it means that Mary had not had sexual relations with any man when she conceived Jesus.
This unparalleled act of God is described beautifully in <Luke 1:26-38>. The angel of God appeared to a virgin who was engaged to Joseph. In those days engagement was a legal arrangement in which a woman was betrothed, or pledged, to a man. But engagement did not permit sexual relations.
Since Mary had not "known" Joseph sexually, she wondered how she could bear a child. The angel explained that this would be encouraged by "the power of the Highest" as the Holy Spirit would "overshadow her." There was nothing physical about this divine act; this is emphasized by the statement that the chiid would be the "Holy One" <Luke 1:35>.
The angel also declared that the child would be called "the Son of God." This clearly teaches that it was only through the virgin birth that Jesus, a human being, could also be properly identified as the Son of God. The one person, Jesus, has two natures-- divine and human. The eternal, divine nature of the Son of God was joined, in Mary's womb, with a human nature by the direct act of God.
The parallel account in <Matthew 1:18-25> views the virgin birth from Joseph's perspective. Because of the legal nature of engagement, a man who found his fiancee pregnant would normally divorce her. Because Joseph was a fair and just man, he did not want to shame Mary by divorcing her publicly; so he decided to do so privately. But the angel prevented this by assuring him that Mary was still a virgin. Her child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, as predicted in <Isaiah 7:14>.
After this revelation, Joseph took Mary as his wife, and raised Jesus as his son.
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
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