Guilty Expression :: Rants and raves inspired by a passionate, frustrated love for God.

Re: Virgin birth. (Score: 1)
by m (-) on Dec 30, 2004 - 05:08 PM

Have been thinking about this for a while over Christmas - not something I'd thought about before! And here are my thoughts in no particular order...

It says in Matthew 1: "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." (NIV) So unless I've misunderstood or there is stuff lost in translation that I'm not aware of, this is the Bible saying that Mary hadn't had sex with Joseph and that it was the Holy Spirit that caused her to be pregnant. If that's so, then Mary not being a virgin would mean the Bible wasn't telling the truth and then I think I'd have a bit of a problem with that.

I don't think calling Joseph his father in that context means he was necessarily his biological father - adopted children or those with step-parents often use 'mum' and 'dad' even though they know that they have another biological parent. And Jesus' reply states that he had to be in his Father's house - I believe meaning God and not Joseph.

I don't understand the significance of Jesus' ancestors if they're not related to him though - in Matthew it does say that it's Joseph not Mary who is related back to all those other people. Anyone know anything about that?