The case against a virgin birth.?

Question

"The virgin birth story was an honest mistake. Most liberal theologians believe that the author of the Gospel of Matthew (or someone who supplied the writer with source material) scanned an unknown ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. He found what he believed to be a refrence to Jesus' birth. It was in Isaiah 7:14. This has since become a famous passage often recited at Christmas time. He simply copied it into Matthew (1:23) as a method of showing that prophecies in the Hebrew Testament were fulfilled in Jesus' life. As it happens, the Greek translators had made a mistake. When they were translating the Hebrew writings into Greek 'Septuagint' and similar translations, they converted the Hebrew word 'almah' as the Greek equivalent of our English word for virgin. "Almah" appears 9 other times in Hebrew Scriptures. In eache case it means 'young woman'. When the scriptures refered to a virgin they always used the Hebrew word 'betulah'. So Isaiah appears to have referred to.

a young woman becomming pregnant (a rather ordinary event).

- Culver "Bill" Nelson

Also, if Jesus was born of a virgin (which would be a fairly significant detail), why did the main supporters/spreaders of Christianity (John and Paul) never comment on it?

Answer 1

You are correct regarding the translation of the terms virgin ,and also betulah. Scholars with open minds and without ulterior motives for keeping the old interpretations alive and kicking know this, and realise that there is a realistic answer for a very unreal situation.
In this age, anyone with any interest in seeking truth can research information,weigh both sides and make their own informed decision bases on fact not theories..
I believe that Jesus the man, would encourage this.
From my interpretation of the scriptures, he appeared to be a man who believed in truth at any cost.Very much against the" thought control " practise's of the priests in his time.
Initially, it may have been an innocent mistake in the copying, by a scribe or monk of the time. Some of the early monks who copied of the scriptures, were doing just that,copying.
Many were illiterate ,but had an impressive style in their ability to do what we would now term graphics or drafting.
It is very similar situation with the information left for us in hieroglyphs carved and painted on temples,tombs and other monuments in Egypt. Mistakes from the distant past are still there for us to see and compare when studying in 2006.
They, the Ancient Egyptians, also had an effective way of ensuring that the ruling Pharaoh would be thought of as a God on Earth,.
An example ,among others,is that of the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut.
A woman assuming power was certainly not the normal course of events. She and the priests of Amun ,had to do a lot of propaganda.The result was depictions of and stories told to the people, how her mother was visited by the God,Amun and how his visit to the Queens chamber resulted in the birth of Hatshepsut.
In those times who was going to argue with the power of the priests, or indeed the Pharaoh herself?.
Perhaps, after the mistake had been made in copying, the early hierarchy of the newly form Christian church thought it would not be expedient to change the story. Then, they realised its value,for many others early religions had used the immaculate conception theory with success.
Personally I find it unfortunate that the Christian church continues to act so patronising towards an educated, literate society .It seems that as we dare to question more, the church remains more silent. It can only be presumed then that the silence equates to only, to an unbased fear that real answers and clarification will lead to its demise.
When in fact it is the silence, and refusal to update its dogma to a level modern civilisation can relate to and utilise in their lives, that is the reason so many are turning from the churches..
When we question, it usually means we do so because we have an interest in the subject.
Therefore I see it as only a positive thing that we continue to question,research and formulate our own opinions.
We no longer a society that needs information related to us.

Answer 2

I do not believe the Pope is in a position to forbid contraception. He can say what he thinks but individuals can look inside themselves and see what is better for them. After all to procreate willy nilly so to speak is what provided a lot of cannon fodder for the clergy in the past. How many children ended up in a home run by the church and were robbed of childhood as a result?

Answer 3

I've read about this too. I don't know why there hasn't been more open or public discussion on it. I think maybe it is just too controversial to consider changing such a huge tenet of the faith and it might call other events into question.

Answer 4

I love it. What is the case against a virgin birth. The case is stated in one word - impossible. The word rubbish also works nicely.

Answer 5

It should not be news that a "virgin birth" is impossible, particularly to produce a male child. The phrasing of "young woman" is correctl.

Answer 6

So many questions...so much is ignored. No wonder some of us start to pull it apart when all they do is quote scripture to try and force belief on a questionable document.

Answer 7

Well, you said it right up front-"most LIBERAL theologians". What is a liberal theologian???-a person who does not believe the Bible that they claim to have studied. These guys think this is all a fairy tale.

Did you check this story out against the "Dead Sea Scrolls"? They are probably the oldest, most complete documents.

Take your argument to some place like Dallas T.S., and see what they can tell you-since you want to get into lexicological arguments.

Answer 8

Why question, it s matter of believing or not, it's called faith.

Jesus is the truth, the way and the life!

"Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One"

(Shema Yisrael Adonai eloheinu Adonai ehad)

Answer 9

Interesting....

Answer 10

Yes, I've read that before. Not sure if it's truly accurate or not. But one thing we can be sure of... "Mary" was not a virgin, regardless of how she came to be known as one.