Why do you believe in the virgin birth?

Question

In the original Hebrew, the word used for virgin is "almah", which means "young woman", not "virgin".

Matthew 1:22-23
And this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin is with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel-which means 'God is with us'".

libsr4kids: You are wrong. The Greeks mistranslated "almah" in Isaiah 7:14 as "parthenos" which means virgin, but almah does not mean virgin. They mistranlsated. Furthermore it is clear in the OT that almah does not mean virgin by the context in which it's used. It is used to refer to member os harems who are not virgins.

Answer 1

Actually, you are quite wrong.

First, the New Testament was written in Greek (which would include the Book of Matthew), not Hebrew.

Secondly, the Greek transliteration for virgin is "parthenos", meaning: a marriageable maiden, a woman who has never had sexual intercourse with a man, or one's marriageable daughter.

You might want to get your facts straight before you attempt to "debunk" Christianity.

Meat Machine® XXL - The verse in question is Matthew 1:22-23 not Isaiah 7:14. You asked about Matthew 1:22-23 and I gave you the Greek transliteration for virgin in this verse. Perhaps you should post a separate question inquiring about Isaiah 7:14 instead. Only then will it truly look like you know what you're talking about. Keep trying.

Answer 2

I don't believe in it.

I do believe that it was meant to be understood NOT as factual, but the way that older stories used that literary convention.

"Virgin birth" was a literary short-hand in that time, in much the same way that 'Stepford Wife" is now.

No one who calls a woman a "Stepford Wife" is saying that she's actually a manufactured automaton.

No one attributing a "virgin birth" to the story of Jesus at the time was saying that he was actually born of a virgin. It was literary shorthand to indicate that he was destined for greatness.

There were a LOT of virgin births, of heroes, of god-kings, of demi-gods, etc. What "virgin birth" meant, at the time, was that the person was special, was marked for greatness, etc. And people of the time knew that, just like we know what "Stepford Wife" means. The Gods of various Pagan religions often had offspring with virgin human women, and the offspring were half-god, half-men. Does that sound familiar?

The interesting thing about this is that in Christianity, the sex has been removed. Yes, a Deity and a virgin human woman have a child, and yes, that child is special, marked for greatness, a half-man, half-god.

But in Christian mythology, there's no sex involved in getting the virgin human woman pregnant with the Deity.

Here's a few examples of other "virgin births":

http://englishatheist.org/indexd.shtml...

Answer 3

an 'almah' is inherently a virgin as an unwed woman who is not a woman of ill repute. The word is used frequently and by context it always refers to an unmarried woman.

This was fulfilment of prophecy. It was a sign given by God. for a young woman to give birth is not a prophetic sign! Isaiah 7:14

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

'almah' is used her for 'virgin', but again, what sort of prophecy is it for a young woman to give birth? None at all. Immanuel, of course, means God with us.

Answer 4

If someone will believe in a virgin bith how can you possibly expect them to understand pure simple logic... the alleged prophecy doesn't even refer to Jeebus...

Isaish 7:14-16 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

What does the "butter and honey" refer to?

Why is Jesus, who was sinless from birth in the traditional Christian understanding, described as having to learn to refuse the evil and choose the good?

This passage within the latter translations states clearly that the "young woman" within this prophecy is already pregnant with a child.

Read your bible, silly xians.....

Answer 5

i don't believe in the virgin rebirth + you're right..in the original hebrew the word used for VIRGIN is "betula"... even in the tanah (torah/old testement)... which was written more than 3000 years ago (before the new testement)... the authors used "betula"... "va tehie nahara betula"=and the girl was a virgin... almah is just as you said...it means a young girl..

Answer 6

Matthew 1:18 says "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit."

Answer 7

God used the Holy Spirit.

Answer 8

Silly you, because of another part of the bible in which Mary herself asked how can she have a baby when she does not even have a husband.

Virgin..Well that's common sense of course, too bad you don't have it.

Answer 9

Virgin Birth is nothing........ if The Almighty can
create man (ie Adam) from nothing ie NO parents
then for Him to create a man (Jesus) from just ONE parent
is no problem.......

Answer 10

AND IF YOU CARED TO DO A LITTLE MORE RESEARCH
you would find
virgin= young woman.

Understand the language and the society in which it is written.