"Betrothed" means ENGAGED to be married, so Mary was unmarried when she conceived Jesus, right?

Answer 1

Yes, he was born out of wedlock. Something that is apparently only okay for Jesus and Mary to do. If you are a good practicing Christian then births out of wedlock, and "virgin" births are condemned. Kinda backwards, eh?

Answer 2

In Jesus' time people would marry, but did not live together right away. There was a period of time (I'm not sure how long) after the marriage that the wife stayed with her family before going to live with her husband. Mary and Joseph were married but didn't live together yet.

God bless,
Stanbo

Answer 3

That is correct. I have to tell you that I don't buy it. A baby doesn't just get magically planted. We all know how that works. Mary and Joseph would have had to be intimate in order for her to get pregnant. We're smarter than that. If Mary was born with the Immaculate Conception, (which was her birth) then wouldn't her mother and her mother, and so on, have to be born that way too? What they did was found a way to explain away an unmarried pregnant teenager.

The virgin birth may have been copied from another religion. History records that:

Buddha was born of the virgin Maya after the Holy Ghost descended upon her.
The Egyptian God Horus was born of the virgin Isis; as an infant, he was visited by three kings.
In Phrygia, Attis was born of the virgin Nama.
A Roman savior Quirrnus was born of a virgin.
In Tibet, Indra was born of a virgin. He ascended into heaven after death.
The Greek deity Adonis was born of the virgin Myrrha, many centuries before the birth of Jesus. He was born "at Bethlehem, in the same sacred cave that Christians later claimed as the birthplace of Jesus."
In Persia, the god Mithra was born of a virgin on DEC-25. An alternative myth is that he emerged from a rock.
Also in Persia, Zoroaster was also born of a virgin.
In India, there are two main stories of the birth of Krishna, one of the incarnations of Vishnu, and the second person within the Hindu Trinity. In one story, Krishna was said to have been born to his mother Devaki while she was still a virgin. In the other, he had a normal conception and birth.
Virgin births were claimed for many Egyptian pharaohs, Greek emperors and for Alexander the Great of Greece.
One source is quoted as saying that there were many mythological figures: Hercules, Osiris, Bacchus, Mithra, Hermes, Prometheus, Perseus and Horus who share a number of factors. All were believed to have:

been male.
lived in pre-Christian times.
had a god for a father.
human virgin for a mother.
had their birth announced by a heavenly display.
had their birth announced by celestial music.
been born about DEC-25.
had an attempt on their life by a tyrant while they were still an infant
met with a violent death.
rose again from the dead.

Almost all were believed to have:
been visited by "wise men" during infancy.
fasted for 40 days as an adult.

Answer 4

Yes. She was pledged to Joseph, but they were not married. Hence her status as a virgin. She and Joseph were unmarried. Angels came to them both seperately to make sure that they stayed together and understood what was going on.

Answer 5

Correct. Remember, Joseph broke off the engagement when he learned she was pregnant [Logically, if they were married at the time, she would not be a virgin], but put it back up, when the angel told him.

Personally, I see that as a half-assed excuse, "It's okay, she still loves me, though she slept with someone else... GOD TOLD ME! It's okay... it's all okay..."

Answer 6

Aye, if she had already been married, she wouldn't have been a virgin when the angle spoke to her.

In those days, she is fortunate she was espoused to Joseph, as according to Jewish law then, he had every right to have her stoned to death. He was going to put her away privately, but the angel told Joseph what was happening and he didnt.

Answer 7

exactly. Brush up on the story, bub, you're missing even the critical points.
Not that I'm a Christian. I'm an atheist, but I used to be a fervent christian. Mary just wins the award for sticking to her story.

Answer 8

Correct. Thats why an angel had to come to Joseph to let him know Mary wasnt a whore. She was pregnant, and not married.

Answer 9

yes, unmarried and a virgin.

Joseph could've had her stoned. But he was just and compassionate man and decided to end the engagement secretly until the angel Gabriel visited him.

Answer 10

yes but she also got married within days especially after the Angel appeared to Joesph, and what differences does it make....she was still a virgin til after giving birth to Jesus...