THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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Wh$ I Believe in the Virgin Birth and in the Resurrection Robert E. Speer Editor of The Missionary Review of the World, New York City
of statement of the popular view which John quotes, and in Luke 3:23, where Luke calls Jesus “the son (as was sup posed) of Joseph,” and again in Luke 4:22, where he quotes the popular word “Is not this Joseph’s son?” Obviously the quotation of 'such a popular notion of Luke does not mean that he knew nothing of the Virgin Birth. Equally it does not mean so in the case of John, who when he speaks for himself, constantly reports words of Jesus as to His unique origin. “Ye know not whence I come,” John says He told the Jews. And the reason the Jews sought to kill Him, John adds, was that He “called God His own Father.” And no language could be plainer than that used by Paul in asserting God’s unique Fatherhood of Jesus. He quotes at Antioch the Second Psalm; “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee,” and immediately connects His unique origin with His unique end in the Resurrec tion. (Acts .13:33, 34) And both John and Paul,— the former in the Prologue of his Gospel and the latter in the first chapter of , Colossians.^deal with the pre-existence of Jesus in a way that makes it utterly impossible to think of Him as originating and entering the world as an or dinary human child. In one word, the New Testament in certain books asserts unequivocally the Virgin Birth of Our Lord and in its other books either assumes it or im plies it or says nothing inconsistent with it. If the New Testament representations of Jesus, accordingly, are trust worthy, the Virgin Birth must be accepted as a fact as reliable as any other fact of the life or character of the Saviour. Faith of the Church from the Outset In the second place I believe in the Virgin Birth because it has been the Faith of the Church from the Outset. Ig natius, Bishop of Antioch early in the second century, in his epistles speaks emphatically of the Virgin Birth. In his epistle to the Ephesians he writes: “Hidden from the prince of this world were the Virginity of Mary and her child-bearing, and likewise also the death of our Lord— three mysteries of open proclamation, the which were wrought in the silence of God.” In his epistle to the Sy- mareans, he says: “I give glory to Jesus Christ, the God who bestowed such wisdom upon you; for I have perceived that ye are established in faith immovable.............. firmly persuaded as touching our Lord, that He is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, but Son of God by the Divine will and power, truly born of a Virgin, and baptized by John . . . . truly nailed up for our sakes in the flesh, under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch.” Aristides of Athens in his Apology, written about the year 130, writes: “The Christians trace their descent from the Lord Jesus Christ; now He is confessed by the Holy Ghost to be the Son of the Most High God, having come down from heaven for the •salvation of men, and having been born of a holy Virgin..............He took flesh and ap peared to men.” Justin Martyr in his First Apology, writ ten between 140 and 150, says: “We find it foretold in the Books of the Prophets that Jesus our Christ should come born of a Virgin. . . . be crucified and should die and rise again, and go up to Heaven, and should both be and be called the ‘Son of God.’ ” And so we might quote Irenaeus, (190 ), Tertullian, (200) Clement, (190 ), Origen, (230 ).
the dead. BELIEVE in the Virgin Birth and in the Resur rection because I believe that the Gospels are true and that they teach unmistakably that our Lord was born of a virgin and that He rose from It is sometimes said that the story of the. Virgin Birth is in only two of the Gospels. But I do not see that that makes any difference. It is in both the Gospels which deal at all with Jesus’ earthly life. The Gospels of Mark and John, after the Prologue, only begin with Jesus’ public ministry as an adult man. Instead of saying, “The story is found in only two Gospels,” it would be more fitting to say that “All the Gospels which deal with Jesus’ childhood tell of the Virgin Birth.” Furthermore, no one raises questions about teachings of Jesus because they are not found in all the Gospels. The full Sermon on the Mount is in only one Gospel. The stories of the Prodigal Son and of the Good Samaritan are in only one. And as to,the Gospel of Mark something more is to be said. It does not contain the story of the Virgin Birth. But note how it begins: “The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” followed by the voice from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son.” There is nowhere in the Gos pel any mention of Joseph. It is the only Gospel which en tirely omits him. And its omission is made very significant. Mark never refers to any popular notion of Jesus as Jo seph’s son. He speaks of Him only as Mary’s son; “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?” He quotes the peo ple’s question about his brothers and sisters but not about His father. (Mark 6 :3 ). The Silence of John and Paul “But,” it is said, “neither John nor Paul refer to the Virgin Birth. It cannot, therefore, be fundamental.” But the present question is not how fundamental a truth it is but whether it is a truth. The fact that John and Paul did not refer to it, if this were the fact, would not prove that it was not true. Neither one of them refers to the Sermon on the Mount nor to most of the events or sayings of Jesus’ life. Their silence would not disprove the declara tions of Matthew and Luke. But are we sure that they dre silent? John’s Gospel begins with the loftiest asser tion of the preexistence of Jesus as the Eternal Word. He never mentions the name of Mary, but his frequent refer ences to her are characterized by a deep and peculiar rev erence. On the other hand, he never mentions Joseph save twice in quoting references to him by others such as would have been the common usage. But in each of these cases John at once supplies a complete corrective of the natural popu lar supposition. In the first case, Philip says to Nathanael: “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.” But notice what follows, when Nathanael comes to Jesus. “Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God.” In the second case, the Jews said: “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” Again, note what follows. John proceeds to quote some of Jesus’ plainest words about the Divine Sonship, begin ning at once with the reference to “the Father that sent me.” (John 6:42-65) Furthermore, in the Gospel of Luke where there i s the full story of Jesus’ Virgin Birth, occurs just the same kind
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