J. R. Longsdorf

The Virgin Birth: Mystery or Myth? J. R. Longsdorf

At the time of Christ's birth there were several virgin birth stories circulating around the Mediterranean, such as Mithra and Asclepius, who boasted virgin birth stories of their own God-saviors. Christianity was not the first religion to hold such a doctrine. The virgin birth story appears only in the first two chapters of Matthew and Luke, and in contradicting style and content. Most biblical scholars agree that these two chapters were added in later, around 80 CE. Both narratives have genealogies, but extremely different from one to another. Matthew includes four women in his genealogy in a day when women were rarely included in genealogies. Why? What did these four women have in common? The answers might shock you. Why didn't the other apostles and early Christian leaders ever mention the virgin birth, when to do so would have certainly been to their advantage. And what about myth vs. mystery. Are their no truths in myth that cause us to discover meanings deeper than empirical fact? These and many more questions are uncovered in insightful and persuasive ways that give the reader a deeper sense of value in the virgin birth story, albeit... mystery or myth.