Here's the Scoop On the Virgin Birth of a Boy God

See what YOU think! First read Part 1 then read Part 2. For the best book-length analysis of the virgin birth see Robert Miller, Born Divine: The Birth of Jesus and Other Sons of God. Miller wrote the chapter on Jesus fulfilling prophecy for my anthology, The Case against Miracles. See also Jonathan Pearce's book The Nativity: A Critical Examination.

Apologists and theologians focus their efforts on the resurrection of Jesus primarily because they have studied it so much more than the virgin birth narratives. They now use the minimal facts approach of Gary Habermas, Mike Licona, and William Lane Craig, who want to sweep off the table a great deal of what atheists all agree on, especially their unanimous agreement that a virgin named Mary did not give birth to an incarnate god.

The reason this unanimous atheist agreement about the virgin birth tales should stay on the table, is because it speaks directly to the credibility of the gospel narratives as a whole. Since there's no good reason to believe the virgin birth myth, there's no good reason to believe the resurrection myth either. This is despite any agreements atheist scholars and Christian apologists have about the resurrection narratives. After all, the virgin birth narratives are in the same gospels that contain the resurrection narratives (Matthew & Luke anyway). If the narratives about the virgin-born incarnate god can be shown to be non-historical, then so too are the narratives about the resurrection of this same virgin-born incarnate god. The virgin myth began as a concocted explanation for how an incarnate god came into human existence. So now without a credible virgin birth story, Christians are left with no explanation for how an incarnate god came into human existence!

"Mere Christianity" by the way, was the theological position embraced as a direct result of the Thirty Years War by Richard Baxter. That war was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648, where up to 8 million Christians slaughtered each other over doctrinal differences. The doctrines that were included in "mere Christianity" have evolved over time, then solidified by C.S. Lewis's book, "Mere Christianity."

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John W. Loftus is a philosopher and counter-apologist credited with 12 critically acclaimed books, including The Case against Miracles, God and Horrendous Suffering, and Varieties of Jesus Mythicism. Please support DC by sharing our posts, or by subscribing, donating, or buying our books at Amazon. As an Amazon Associate John earns a small amount of money from purchases made from Amazon. Buying anything through them helps fund my work here, and is greatly appreciated!

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