Born of the Virgin Mary...Continued from page 3

Do I believe it. Yes, I do! Why? Because the Bible tells me so and because the Church has affirmed this throughout the ages.

II. Question two: Why is there such controversy about the virgin birth?

Answer: Because there is an ongoing battle between naturalistic skeptics and Bible believers who have faith that God can do what is supernatural.

What we see here are two different approaches to the Bible. Now I would be the first to admit that from what I have observed in life, virgins don't have babies. In all my years of counseling, I have never yet had an unwed, pregnant woman attribute her circumstances to the Holy Spirit's action in her life. Things just don't normally happen that way, do they?

So, I can understand the raised eyebrows of those who might have a problem accepting the notion of the virgin birth. If one is going to view this topic simply through the lens that all things happen naturally, there is no way. There have been many persons who simply dismiss the virgin birth as an impossibility, based on naturalistic presuppositions. Often those same persons also question the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Imagine what they do with the rest of the miracles that are described in the Bible. The whole matter of miracles is a problem to some.

Now before we go too far down this track, let me make a qualifier. There are some sincere Christians who do not believe in the virgin birth but do believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They take the position that belief in the virgin birth is not essential to be a born-again Christian. Their argument is that it is only specifically mentioned by Matthew and Luke. The virgin birth is not even spoken to specifically by the apostles John and Paul. They would say that resurrection is mentioned infrequently throughout the New Testament. Whereas, "Christ is risen" is the most basic affirmation of Christian worship. Therefore, they would not want to spend much time talking about this topic.

I will grant that when you make a public confession of faith in Jesus Christ, we do not ask you to state The Apostles' Creed in full detail. We do not interview you as to whether or not you believe in the virgin birth. We ask you if you have repented of sin and put your trust in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ alone for salvation. We do not give you a doctrinal litmus test.

However, the danger of minimizing biblical doctrinal affirmations such as the virgin birth is what that implies about one's view of Scripture.

Most people I know who deny the virgin birth also deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Recently I read a biography of one of our American presidents who is now deceased. I will not publicly mention his name so as to not distract from the point I am trying to make. The biographer, who had full access to all of his personal papers, came across a term paper written by the president during his university days. In that paper, he declares how, as a young man he was raised in an evangelical Christian family. When he matriculated at college, he had a very basic, orthodox Christian faith. He believed that God, in the miracle of Incarnation, became a man in the person of Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He believed that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead in victory over sin and death. The biographer goes on to quote the very words of that president in that religion term paper. He clearly declares that, as the result of that particular course, he no longer held those beliefs. He wrote how he now believed Jesus was the best man who ever lived, a great example, who died a martyr's death. The resurrection did not happen physically but is simply a spiritual renewal in each of us when we take seriously His teachings and follow them.