Born Of The Virgin Mary...Continued from page 3

Both Matthew and Luke go on record to declare that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
Why believe in the virgin birth? Because the Bible teaches it. That's what it says about the parentage of Jesus. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was born of the Virgin Mary.
Do I personally understand how this can happen? No! It goes beyond my human understanding.
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.