“Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
The virgin birth can be a problem for a seeker. My former boss once asked me if I “seriously believed” that Mary was a virgin when she became pregnant with Jesus. When I replied yes, she coughed ‘a-hem’ to herself and shrugged me off for a fool. Back then, I didn’t have an answer; I just had faith. The subject never came up again.
Years later, after I had moved on, I heard my former boss was dying from cancer. I sent her an email saying that I was praying for her. My prayers (which I kept to myself at the time) were that she would believe, despite her mental stumbling block of the virgin birth issue. Her worldview was biased against believing in anything supernatural. Sadly, she passed away, but my hope is that she came to faith in those final moments of life.
Philosophical Naturalism is the undercurrent belief of many today in secular society. It states that nothing outside of the natural is possible; in other words, miracles don’t happen. But Philosophical Naturalism can’t be entirely true because it doesn’t explain ALL of the things that do exist which are immaterial, such as: morality, memory, mathematical principles… just to name a few. (For a more complete list of immaterial realities, see my blog on Naturalism.)
Since immaterial things do exist, it is plausible that at certain times, when God chooses, He can suspend the natural laws to create a supernatural event. That’s easier for a Christian to believe, but for the doubter, it’s more difficult. Yet, once naturalism is shown to be unreliable, often the skeptic will turn to a conspiracy story that the virgin birth was borrowed from pagan myths. But many pagan mythologies describe the gods having sex with mortal women. This was not the case in the Biblical narrative! Instead, second century historians record that the pagans tended to adopt (a.k.a. “borrow”) elements of Judaism/Christianity into their religious beliefs, not the other way around.[i]
Each Christmas, the truth claims of Christianity become targets of skepticism, some of it rather harshly. But honest scrutiny can be a good thing. It forces Christians to grapple with these truth claims, to know what they believe and why it’s true.
One thing I have learned in my years of study is that God is good, and we can rest in that knowledge first and foremost. Knowing God is good, then it follows that we should give God the benefit of the doubt, recognizing that if we don’t have an answer yet, God can show us the way to finding the truth. He is “The Truth,” after all. (John 14:6.)
Give God the benefit of the doubt in times of uncertainity; we do that for people in a court of law, and we should do no less for the Creator of it all.
Think Divinely: If God can create the universe out of nothing, He certainly can create the miraculous conception of the virgin Mary.
[i]J. Warner Wallace, “Was the Virgin Conception Borrowed from Prior Mythologies?”, ColdCaseChristianity.com, accessed Dec. 2018.
Excellent post! Thank you for walking through this scriptural truth that poses a stumbling block to nonbelievers at Christmas. I appreciate your informative explanations and heartfelt prayers for others. “Give God the benefit of the doubt in times of uncertainity; we do that for people in a court of law, and we should do no less for the Creator of it all.” This conclusion is so simple yet profound. God bless you and your ministry!
Thanks, Melissa, for your comments. What I find the most difficult (in my apologetics ministry) is the fact that those who raise doubts against God never give Him the benefit of their doubts, as they might a simple stranger walking down the street. They assume the worst and chalk it up to myth or whatever. But if God can create the ENTIRE KNOWN UNIVERSE out of nothing, my goodness, a virgin birth for Him is so doable!
It is the mind-set of naturalism that has overtaken the thoughts and worldview of many today. They believe nothing supernatural can happen, but they’d be wrong in that assumption. Blessings to you and your in this CHRISTmas season! Lisa Q
There will always be people who question the birth of Jesus. I am thankful to have faith and hope in Him. I don’t question. I am blessed to be His. Merry Christmas!
Hey Melissa. Thank you for your comment and your faith. You are a rare one, these days, to have such a faith. Skepticism is on the rise, and so, I feel called by God to help answer tough questions and to show that there are, indeed, reasonable answers and inferences we can make on why things are the way they are. We have plenty of good evidence to make reasoned decisions and to show that faith in Christianity does not mean a leap into never-never land. We have good reasons to believe its true, and miracles are possible!
Merry Christas to you, too! Lisa Q
Lisa, my grandmother in-law said to me a few years ago, “Do you REALLY believe that Mary was a virgin?” That was in the 80’s. She died shortly thereafter. She was a devout Catholic, which was strange, seeing how the Catholic faith centers on Mary, even exalts Mary to the same level as Jesus. I’ve never forgotten that moment in time when she said this at one of our Christmas gatherings. I suppose it has remained in my consciousness all these years because it came as a realization that many Christians have no faith in the wonder-working power of God.
Hi Debra! Thanks for your comment. Bummer about your Grandma-inlaw, but you are SO right. We’ve allowed that worldview of Naturalism to affect our thinking and our faith. One of the arguments I hear regularly is that believers always resort to a “God-of-the-Gaps” mentality towards the unknown, as if we don’t want to try and find a scientific reason for why things are the way they are. This is not true! Many of the great scientists of the past were Christians, and they used science to only uncover the wonders of the Creator, to unveil, so to speak, the intricate designs of a great Intelligent Designer. So, if the world is full of intricate designs, made by an Intelligence that far outweigh them all, is it SO hard to believe that God can manipulate those designs as He wills, and create a miracle, or miraculous conception? Absolutely not.
Bless you,
Lisa Q
I love this: “One thing I have learned in all my years of study and faith is that God is good, and we can rest in that knowledge first and foremost. Knowing God is good, then it follows that we should give God the benefit of the doubt, recognizing that if we don’t have an answer yet, God can show us the way to finding the truth. He is “The Truth,” after all. (John 14:6.)”
It’s so sad that the answer to life’s troubles–the true answer–requires faith in Jesus. The virgin-born Son of God. Great post! Merry Christmas! God bless!
Thank you, Nancy. Merry Christmas to you, too!
God is good. Give God the benefit of the doubt. This is a huge point. I love what Chuck Missler used to say. He said, “when you find an apparent contradiction, rejoice! Because you are about to discover something amazing.” God will lead us to truth.
I love that statement from Chuck Missler! Thanks for sharing it and for your comment, Stephanie. Bless you! Lisa Q
Thanks Lisa, and like the movie Miracle on 34th Street, I believe. God did perform miracles and still does today. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this Christmas
Thanks, Yvonne!
When I’ve had this conversation with skeptics, they point to the Hebrew word ‘almah. It doesn’t necessitate virginity, though I think the translation “young maiden” implies it. I don’t think there is another word in Hebrew to describe a young woman who is either promiscuous or married.
In any case, it’s a shame so many people get hung up on this. It seems like a real design of the enemy to distract people. Mary isn’t the focus. Jesus is. Good post, Lisa!
Thanks, Chip, for your comments. You’re right – so many people get hung up on the miracles in the Bible. Our culture has been indocrinated into this mind-set — miracles are not scientific, so they cannot happen. So, anyone who thinks miracles happen are considered fools. Yep. I have heard it all. “Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools,…” (1 Cor. 4:10). Bless you, Lisa Q
Hi Lisa. I had a boss that would sometimes preface his comments with, “depending on your beliefs,” then would go into something like origins of life or some other topic that offers different outcomes for differing perspectives. One day I finally commented, “No, what you believe doesn’t change the truth. Truth is always truth. Whether we choose to believe it is up to us.” He didn’t really respond with anything other than a smile. I also never heard him use that phrase after that. The virgin birth is true and it happened supernaturally. Amen.
Hey Stephen – thanks for your comments. Truth itself is most definitely being questioned today. Some claim we are living in a “Post-Truth” culture, where non-empirical issues cannot be defined as true or untrue. So, that is a whole other discussion to have. Yeah. Fun times in which we live! We most certainly have our work cut out for us! Bless you, Lisa Q
“Philosophical Naturalism can’t be entirely true because it doesn’t explain ALL of the things that do exist which are immaterial…”
This is an argument from ignorance. A fallacy. You cannot conclude that philosophical naturalism is false because it doesn’t CURRENTLY explain certain things. It could very well be entirely true and the naturalistic explanations just haven’t been uncovered.
This is not to say that philosophical naturalism is true. Just that one cannot claim it is not “entirely true” BECAUSE we don’t know certain things. (Hence, “argument from ignorance.”)
Hello “Free Thought.” Thanks for your comments. Here is how I came to my conclusion logically:
P1: If philosophical naturalism is true, then immaterial things do not exist.
P2: immaterial things do exist.
P3: Therefore, philosophical naturalism is false.
This is a logically airtight argument. There is no fallacy in reaching the conclusion given the premises.
I realize that you challenge the premises themselves, but that requires a separate discussion.
The formal argument you are presenting now is different than saying that philosophical naturalism can’t be true “because it doesn’t explain ALL of the things that do exist which are immaterial.” I repeat: this is an argument from ignorance. If you disagree, I’d be interested in your explanation.
And, yes, I do challenge the premises of your argument. Does “immaterial” mean “supernatural”? It must, I suppose, otherwise things “immaterial things” are still, somehow, natural. Furthermore, it’s not even clear that any of your immaterial things are, in fact, immaterial.
For example, morality may be no more and no less than the hard-wired biological urge to behave in ways that are beneficial to one’s self and one’s tribe. In this way, morality is entirely natural. It is up to you to show that morality exists outside the natural. Then, and only then, can you call it “immaterial”.
An argument from ignorance starts from a negative premise, ie, “X has not been found, therefore [Conclusion]”; however my premise is a positive one: “X exists, therefore [Conclusion]”. So far as I can tell, that exempts my premise as falling under an argument from ignorance.
If immaterial things exist, then it is plausible that supernatural things exist. We can’t measure immaterial things empirically; thus we cannot measure the supernatural, either, since it is “above” the natural realm.
Wonderful post, Lisa. I’m not familiar with Naturalism. Thank you for your information and teaching. And I like how you note that pagans borrowed biblical accounts and not the other way around.
Yes, skeptics should drive us to search for truth and learn how to answer their doubting questions! But most of all, I love this:
“Think Divinely: If God can create the universe out of nothing, He certainly can create the miraculous conception of the virgin Mary.”
Thank you, Karen, for your comments. Yes, Naturalism has seeped into many people’s worldviews simply because of the public school science teachings that do not acknowledge anything existing outside of the material realm. This has been taught since the time I was born (over 50 years now!), and it’s deeply ingrained in our cultural. Even many Christians have been affected by that mind-set. We need to be aware of its influence. Blessings, Lisa Q
Wonderful truth here! I have to remind myself of the verse that says God’s ways are not my ways, His thoughts are not my thoughts. And the verse that tells us God is not man that He lies. If I believe those verses, then I must also believe everything in the Bible, no matter how impossible it sounds to my human ears, is true.
The idea of giving God the benefit of the doubt is such a powerful thing! In recent years I’ve been convicted that I am too quick to think the worst in others. I’ve never considered how I likely do the same to God. I can think of specific examples, so certainly, there are more. Thank you for this perspective!
Thank you, Elaine, for stopping by. God bless you! Lisa Q