In the Christmas carol “Silent Night”, we sing about the virgin birth of Jesus. We read about it in the BIble, too. If you have questions about the virgin birth, read my new post titled “Why do Christians make such a big deal about the virgin birth?”
And, please do have a merry Christmas!
Walking Together on Holy Ground 
I think some of the questions about this come from our modern biological understanding. Are Christians saying that Jesus had half-divine DNA? Was he in effect a male clone of Mary by starting cell division in an egg? Was this parentage necessary for Jesus to be without sin or to somehow be exempt from original sin? What does that mean about the biology? Is it a matter of DNA without fault? In what sense is his righteousness a credit to him, then?
Regarding the miracles, there are plenty of miracles ascribed to fully human protagonists in the bible.
Personally, this is one of the places I recognize the limits of my understanding. Fully human and fully divine is a paradox. Duality thinking that is outside our normal perception of reality. That we get to participate in that experience as fellow children of God is beyond expectation.
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Interesting article on the subject being discussed:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/biblicallyliterate/2017/12/was-jesus-really-born-of-virgin/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_campaign=Best+of+Patheos&utm_content=57
Thought you might like it!
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Thanks, that’s fascinating. Good mix of academia and a position of faith, and an account that’s new-to-me to boot!
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You raise some interesting questions! Scientists and theologians have raised and discussed them, but it doesn’t seem there is a way to come to definitive answers without actually testing Jesus’ DNA and, without a body, that’s pretty hard to do! The theological question about original sin has been debated specifically with regard to Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Could he have sinned? Or was it simply a test without the possibility of him falling for Satan’s wiles? The Bible doesn’t tell us and there are good minds on both sides of that question.
Different, but similar, biological questions (in terms of type) could be asked about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. How could a body, dead for days, come back to life? How do the organs regenerate? How does the brain re-engage? etc. We simply don’t have that information. Yet no one in Jesus’ day (including his opponents) seemed to doubt that Lazarus really came back to life after being dead for four days. Maybe both Jesus’ incarnation and Lazarus’ death have to be seen as miraculous and, if so, then will fall into the beautiful statement in your last paragraph.
It seems that the Eastern mind is more accepting of paradox and duality thinking than our Western minds tend to be. We have much to learn about being comfortable with mystery. Your last sentence is my favorite, “That we get to participate in that experience as fellow children of God is beyond expectation.” The experience of thinking, pondering, trying to understand is joy in itself!
As for miracles attesting to the uniqueness of Jesus, you are certainly correct. Others (esp. Moses, Elijah, Elisha, et. al) worked miracles throughout biblical history. Jesus did refer people to his miracles as evidence of his divinity, but we are better served by looking at his entire life, not just his miracles – particularly his teaching with authority, his exemplary life, and supernatural happenings surrounding him (e.g. earthquake, three-hours of darkness, torn Temple veil at his crucifixion). All these things taken together make a pretty compelling case for his uniqueness. Even the Roman Centurion, observing things things at the crucifixion site, said, “Surely he was the son of God.” Not a customary statement for most Romans of that time!
Thanks for your interaction, John. You always make me think a little longer and a little deeper about these things!
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