The Virgin Birth

#6 - You LAUGH at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life 

and then ascended into the sky. Whoa, that’s a run on sentence if I’ve ever seen one!! Grammar aside, let’s try to tackle this tough one head on. You will notice I’ve capitalized “laugh”; please don’t. I’ve known Hindu people, and am fascinated to learn about their religion. While I don’t buy into it, I would never make fun of it either. Show me in scripture where Jesus laughed at anyone’s beliefs. OK, that said, I’d like to examine why God chose to “impregnate” Mary , and why the rest of His plan was so essential. In the major religions of the day, any god worth his salt, would never think of lowering himself to become a man. To the Jews, the basic idea of God was his holiness in the sense of being different. No way could he ever share in our human experience, because he was God. The Stoic Greeks took this line of thought to a higher level, they said that the primary attribute of God was “apatheia”, an inability to feel anything at all. If a person could feel the sorrow or joy of another, that meant that they would be able to influence him. If so, that person would be greater than he, at least for a moment. No one, therefore, must be able in any sense, to affect God for that would mean he would be greater than God…hence, God had to be completely beyond all feeling. Another Greek group, the Epicureans held that the gods lived in perfect happiness in what they called “intermundia”, a space between the worlds; and they were not even aware of the other world or beings. Enter Christianity with the brand new concept of an understanding, loving and empathetic God. A deity who not only could relate to us, but was one of us. So, back to the virgin birth. While other, randy gods, may have trolled earth looking for “hook ups”, God sent his Holy Spirit to chastely implant that perfect manifestation of himself into a willing young woman. Remember, Mary was chosen, but she could have refused. Read her Magnificat, in Luke 1:47-55, and share her joy. Unbelievers choose to view this scenario from the outside looking in, missing the marvelous details entirely. We, to whom the fullness of the plan has been revealed, see the whole tapestry up close, in all it’s beauty. Seeing is believing, and unfortunately, explaining will always fall short of understanding. Don’t push the issue, but stand firm, always prepared to give an answer. Some day they may get it, or, sadly, God may tell you to move on.