Why a Virgin Birth?

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At this time of year you think about the birth of Jesus Christ as a wonderful thing. Folks get out the nativity scene and sometimes even perform a live nativity scene. Complete with smiling shepherds, giggling Mary and Joseph and perhaps even real animals. 

World by wisdom knew not God

• Typical higher education and intellectual unbelievers concocted the lie that the virgin birth is one in a hundred virgin birth stories that have been retold with different names all through time. Bill Maher made a “documentary” movie called “Religulous”.
• When I read history, I try to read journals and entries by people who wrote about things at the time they are happening. Not history books written by folks giving me an interpretation of history. Especially if they have no original sources referenced. But that’s the case with this piece of baseless history. It’s said there were many virgin birth stories before Christ and the Bible just borrowed from the old archetypes.
• The Egyptian mythology theory
  • In the accounts from Egyptian mythology there is no virgin birth.
  • Osiris was the son of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut. (No virgin birth there.) He married Isis. As the folklore goes he either has a son named Horus with his wife Isis and then gets killed. Or he gets killed by Set, then pieced back together, and then he (or part of him) conceived a son with Isis. (No virgin birth there, either.) That son was Horus.
  • An Ancient pyramid text dated 2450-2140 B.C.
  • The Narrative of Isis
  • Hymn to Osiris (on the stela Louvre C 286)
  • Pyramid Texts (Spell 366:632a-633b/T 198)
  • Coffin Text (Spell 148)
  • Legend of the Origin of Horus (1593-1293 B.C.)
• The Greek mythology
  • In one version, Dionysus was conceived by Zeus and the mortal Semele.
  • In the other version, Dionysus was conceived by Zeus and Persephone.
• The Zoroastrian mythology
  • The only source for Zarathustra’s teachings is the Avesta, and the oldest copies we have of the Avesta date from the 13th century AD, thirteen hundred years after Jesus Christ.
  • Establishing when Zarathustra lived is only the first step. Next, we have to establish what he actually taught (as opposed to what modern Zoroastrianism claims he taught). 
• Scholars have been making up histories of other mythological virgin births for a long time. They’ve been claiming Christianity just used old virgin birth myths from Egypt and Greece, etc., for a long time.
• It’s insanity that people who believe the universe originated from nothing would have trouble believing a virgin birth. Or people that believe life came from inanimate objects would mock life coming from a woman without a man involved.

Argument that the church made up the virgin birth

• It’s not mentioned by Paul, Peter, Mark, Jude, John, and the list goes on. It’s really only mentioned by 3 preachers and hinted at by Moses in Genesis. Some say because of the lack of discussion about it then it didn’t happen.
• It’s mentioned enough to say it did happen. The lack of discussion about it in the New Testament just means it’s not something you have to understand for salvation and it’s not going to affect your behavior as a Christian any. Essentially, it’s not a pillar of the faith so to speak like the Roman Catholics made it. The prophecy was not made so that people would believe it for salvation. The prophecy was made to deal with a king’s disobedience.
• Some critics say it’s not mentioned enough times to be important.
• But you can’t have it both ways. It can’t be made up by the church as a fundamental of the faith, but not really discussed in the Bible that much.

The prophecy (Isaiah 7)

• The LORD is looking for faith (vss 1-9)
  • Rebellious king Ahaz of Judah is being threatened by Syria and the northern tribes of Israel in war.
  • Isaiah tells Ahaz, Fear not, neither be fainthearted… 
  • Isaiah further says what these men plan to do to you, Ahaz, and Jerualem will not happen (verse 7).
  • Isaiah further encourages Ahaz that Ephraim will only stumble around for another 65 years before being broken apart (verse 8).
  • Then Isaiah gives the invitation that every sinner gets, believe God and be established or don’t believe God and watch whatever you’re building get destroyed.
• Sign against unbelief (vss 10-16)
  • Then Isaiah presents Ahaz with a blank check. Ahaz rejects the offer. And like everything else Ahaz has done in his life, this is just another time where he’s disobeyed and ignored God.
  • Isaiah’s prophecy is God’s frustration with Jerusalem’s king. The sign is for the house of David according to Isaiah 7:14, and says both kings Judah and Israel, will be removed and the land desolate before the virgin born child is born.
• The mistranslation accusation says “virgin” should be “young woman”. This is said by scholars who don’t want to believe in a virgin birth. This dumb translation creates two problems.
  • A young woman having a child isn’t a sign.
  • Second, it completely misses the context and why the prophecy is spoken by Isaiah to the king.

Now, if you’re trying to make up a story about Jesus so you can get him on the throne, you don’t throw away his royal lineage. You would do everything you can to preserve it and prove it. You make sure there is no question he’s royalty from the king.