Christ

Virgin Birth

20 passages, 5 quoted here · Broad agreement in this library

Mary conceived Jesus as a virgin, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Where they stood

Each row is one claim. Each name is a writer, placed at the date of the passage. Select a name to read what they said.

2 of the 3 writers here teach: “Christ was born of a virgin, as Isaiah said.” They answer a rival view: “He was born by ordinary human generation.”

teaches it partly rejects it later writer, summary only

Christ was born of a virgin, as Isaiah said2 teach

He was born by ordinary human generation1 reject

What each writer said, earliest first

Ignatius of Antioch Teaches: Christ was born of a virgin, as Isaiah said

d. c. 110 AD · Epistle to the Ephesians 1.19

The virginity of Mary, her giving birth, and the death of the Lord escaped the notice of the ruler of this age. These are three mysteries proclaimed aloud, yet accomplished in the silence of God. How then was he revealed to the ages?

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Greek

Καὶ ἔλαθεν τὸν ἄρχοντα τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἡ παρθενία Μαρίας καὶ ὁ τοκετὸς αὐτῆς, ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ θάνατος τοῦ κυρίου: τρία μυστήρια κραυγῆς, ἅτινα ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ θεοῦ ἐπράχθη.

Ignatius of Antioch Teaches: Christ was born of a virgin, as Isaiah said

d. c. 110 AD · Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6.1

You are fully assured about our Lord, who is truly of the family of David according to the flesh, Son of God by the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin, baptized by John so that all righteousness might be fulfilled by him. He was truly nailed in the flesh for us under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch.

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Greek

Δοξάζω Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν θεὸν τὸν οὕτως ὑμᾶς σοφίσαντα: ἐνόησα γὰρ ὑμᾶς κατηρτισμένους ἐν ἀκινήτῳ πίστει, ὥσπερ καθηλωμένους ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ σαρκί τε καὶ πνεύματι καὶ ἡδρασμένους ἐν ἀγάπῃ ἐν τῷ αἵματι Χριστοῦ, πεπληροφορημένους εἰς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν, ἀληθῶς…

Ignatius of Antioch Teaches: Christ was born of a virgin, as Isaiah said

d. c. 110 AD · Epistle to the Trallians 3.9

So make yourselves deaf whenever anyone speaks to you apart from Jesus Christ. He was of the family of David and of Mary. He truly was born, and he ate and drank.

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Greek

Κωφώθητε οὖν, ὅταν ὑμῖν χωρὶς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ λαλῇ τις, τοῦ ἐκ γένους Δαυείδ, τοῦ ἐκ Μαρίας, ὃς ἀληθῶς ἐγεννήθη, ἔφαγέν τε καὶ ἔπιεν, ἀληθῶς ἐδιώχθη ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτον, ἀληθῶς ἐσταυρώθη καὶ ἀπέθανεν, βλεπόντων τῶν ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ ὑποχθονίων.

Justin Martyr Teaches: Christ was born of a virgin, as Isaiah said

c. 100–c. 165 AD · First Apology 33

Once again, just as it was spoken by himself, it was foretold through Isaiah that he would be born through a virgin; listen. It was spoken in this way: "Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel," which means "God with us" (Isaiah 7:14).

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Greek

Καὶ πάλιν ὡς αὐτολεξεὶ διὰ παρθένου μὲν τεχθησόμενος διὰ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου προεφητεύθη, ἀκούσατε. Ἐλέχθη δὲ οὕτως· „Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ ἐροῦσιν ἐπὶ τᾷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ Μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν ὁ θεός“.

Origen of Alexandria Rejects: He was born by ordinary human generation

c. 185–c. 254 AD · Against Celsus 1.32

Let us see whether those who fabricated the story of the virgin’s adultery with Panthera and the carpenter’s rejection of her did so blindly, inventing all these details for the purpose of abolishing the paradox of a conception from the Holy Spirit.

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Greek

Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐπανέλθωμεν εἰς τὴν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου προσωποποιΐαν, ἐν ᾗ ἀναγέγραπται ἡ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μήτηρ ὡς ἐξωσθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ μνηστευσαμένου αὐτὴν τέκτονος, ἐλεγχθεῖσα ἐπὶ μοιχείᾳ καὶ τίκτουσα ἀπό τινος στρατιώτου Πανθήρα τοὔνομα· καὶ ἴδωμεν εἰ μὴ τυφλῶς οἱ μυθοποιήσαντες τὴν μοιχείαν τῆς…

Other passages filed here (15)