Thoughts for the Day

DETOUR Ponderings on theVirgin Birth 

In producing these ‘Thoughts for the Day’ I’ve done the odd bit of web-research, including looking at different perspectives on the Virgin Birth.  For a matter that appears to be pretty much universally affirmed in every Creed or other denominational statement of Christian belief, it is amazing how quickly one finds oneself in a minefield! At the liberal end some note that the virgin birth is only mentioned in the New Testament by Matthew and Luke and only in the Christmas story, concluding that it is a fabrication, simply a device to highlight the importance of Jesus, drawing on similar Old Testament stories of miracle births (presumably likewise considered fabricated).  At the Catholic end Mary is attributed with characteristics that extend beyond anything I find in the Bible, notably that she was sinless (Immaculate conception) and perpetually virgin.  One extreme seems to struggle with the notion of Jesus’s birth being anything other than “normal” and wants to remove any vestige of the miraculous.  The other extreme seems to struggle with the idea that Jesus’s birth could be in any way “normal” at all and seemingly adds to the miraculous to reduce the possibility.  How do we navigate this?  Applying our minds to understand scripture and being careful neither to add to nor subtract from it in matters of substance is a starting point.  But in applying our minds, we must leave room for God’s revelation of His ways that are not our ways, His thoughts that are not our thoughts and the actions of one for whom nothing is impossible. No wonder we also need the Holy Spirit to “lead us into all truth”!