14
THE KING’S BUSINESS
able age, not necessarily a virgin; that another word ( bethulah ) is used for a real virgin. It is a remarkable fact, however, that this word bethulah, which the critics claim is used only o f a real virgin, is actu ally used in Joel 1 :8 o f a bride weeping for her husband, while the word almah, which it is claimed does not mean an actual vir gin, is used in this and six other places ( Genesis 24:43; Exodus 2 :8 ; Psalm 68:26; Proverbs 13:19; Song o f Solomon 1:3; 6:8) and never once in any other sense than as an unmarried maiden. Luther’s challenge: “ I f a Jew or Christian can prove to me that in any other passage of scripture ‘almah’ means ‘a married woman,’ I will give him one hundred florins, although God alone knows where I may find them.” Dr. Willis Beecher says that there is' no trace o f the use o f this word to denote any other than a virgin. S. That Joseph and Mary are called the father and mother of Jesus. This statement is true, but it is o f inter est to ascertain by whom they were thus called. Was it not by the people o f Naza reth, Bethsaida and Capernaum? How could they speak otherwise, unless they had been let into the secret o f the miraculous birth o f Christ? Four times Joseph and Mary are called the father'and mother o f Jesus or the parents o f Jesus by others, but only once by Mary herself. In the visit to the temple, Mary, in addressing Christ, says: “ Thy father and I have sought thee.” But how could Mary speak otherwise o f Joseph, seeing he was her husband? Then again Christ was born in Joseph’s house; Jesus stood in the legal relation to Joseph as son and was under his protection. Joseph in marrying Mary under the circumstances had assumed full parental responsibility for the Child. It was natural, therefore, that Mary should speak o,f him as the father. It should not be overlooked, however, even in this connection that .Christ apparently cor rected any such misunderstanding when He replied: “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” implying that God, not Joseph, was His Father. Note that while in the case o f John the
Baptist, the announcement o f his birth is made to Zacharias, the father, yet in the case o f Jesus, the announcement is made to Mary, the mother, and not to Joseph. Again, the joy o f Zacharias is so great at the birth o f his son that he breaks out into glad-song, but nothing o f such a nature is recorded of Joseph. Why not, if Joseph was the father o f Christ? Note also in the gospel narratives how that Mary and not Joseph is in the fore ground. It is to Mary the angelic message is delivered; the prophecy o f Zecharias has to do with Mary, as has also the declara tion o f Simeon. It is Mary who speaks to the Child found in the temple, Joseph says nothing but keeps in the background. 6. That the early Church did not accept the Virgin Birth. This statement is clearly untrue, for with the exception o f some very minor sects like the Ebionites and Gnostics, the early Church did accept, and the Church for 1S00 years continued to accept, the doctrine of the Virgin Birth. The Apostle’s Creed is witness to this fact. As early .as 140, A. D., we have the words in the old Roman form o f the creed, “Who was born o f the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary.” The writings o f Ignatius, and Justin Martyr in his Apology and his Dialogue with Trypho, the Jew, defend the doctrine o f the Virgin Birth. It was not until the 18th century that the real conflict concerning the Virgin Birth arose, and then it had its birth with Voltaire and Tom Paine; the noted infidels. In the 19th century it was again reviyed by Strauss and Renan, the famous skeptics. In the 20th century we find it again revived by the professed friends o f Christ. 7. The scholarship o f the day is said to be against it. This would not prove anything, even if it were true. Scholarship has not saved and it cannot save the world. The world by wisdom knows not God. On one occa sion Jesus said: “I thank thee, O Father, Lord o f heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and under standing, and didst reveal them- unto babes” (Matthew 11:25 R. V .).
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online