So Why A Virgin?

[Skwim]

Most Christians hold the virgin birth of Jesus was prophesied in the Old Testament

Isaiah 7:14
"Behold, a virgin has conceived and will bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us."
​

And in fulfillment of this prophesy the New Testament says

Matthew 3:18-23
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed" to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”​

Luke 1:27
to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

Luke 1:34
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”​

My question: why was it necessary that Emmanuel (Jesus) be born of a virgin? What's the big deal about being born to a mother who never had sexual intercourse? Is this a message that sexual intercourse is a tainted, dishonorable, disgraceful act?

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​

 

[George-ananda]

My question: why was it necessary that Emmanuel (Jesus) be born of a virgin? What's the big deal about being born to a mother who never had sexual intercourse? Is this a message that sexual intercourse is a tainted, dishonorable, disgraceful act?

I think people had different sexual views a couple thousand years ago, but that should not be an important issue today.

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

What's the big deal? Can you name one other person who was born to a woman who had not had sex? I think that would be on the 6:00 o'clock news if it happened today. And not talking about test tube babies where the mother has an egg artificially placed in her. But a real case where a woman wakes up one day and she is pregnant without having sex. Big deal? I think so.

 

[Skwim]

I think people had different sexual views a couple thousand years ago, but that should not be an important issue today.

I've always been under the impression that this was god's wish/requirement. After all, he's the one setting up the story.

Isaiah 7:14 ESV
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

.​

 

[Kemosloby]

There's probably some meaning having to do with blood lines. Like Jesus was supposed to be from the bloodline of David. There it says Joseph was from the house of David but Joseph was not his blood father. And since everyone are heirs to the promise of God by adoption it probably has some meaning such as showing that Jesus was the bloodline of David by adoption.

 

[socharlie]

Most Christians hold the virgin birth of Jesus was prophesied in the Old Testament

Isaiah 7:14
"Behold, a virgin has conceived and will bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us."
​

And in fulfillment of this prophesy the New Testament says

Matthew 3:18-23
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed" to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”​

Luke 1:27
to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

Luke 1:34
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”​

My question: why was it necessary that Emmanuel (Jesus) be born of a virgin? What's the big deal about being born to a mother who never had sexual intercourse? Is this a message that sexual intercourse is a tainted, dishonorable, disgraceful act?
it is all of the same reference:
.it all the same reference related to

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“OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.”
at that time only one Virgin that was recognized when word "Virgin" was invoked - Virgin Isis.
Egyptian Christology was laid in foundation of Christianity as well as Zoroastrianism.​

 

[sun rise]

It's worthwhile reading the wikipedia discussion including references to other virgin births Virgin birth of Jesus - Wikipedia

 

[Skwim]

What's the big deal? Can you name one other person who was born to a woman who had not had sex?

It’s possible for you to get pregnant without having sexual intercourse if, for example:

• sperm get into your vagina – for example, if you or your partner have semen or pre-ejaculate on your fingers and touch your vagina
• your partner ejaculates near your vagina
• your partner’s erect penis comes into contact with your body near your vagina

The risk of getting pregnant in this way is very low because sperm can only live for a short time outside of the body. However, if you’re not planning a pregnancy, it’s important to know that it’s possible to get pregnant in this way.
source
​

But none of this matters because you still haven't explained the importance of being a virgin.

.

 

[RedDragon94]

What's the big deal about being born to a mother who never had sexual intercourse? Is this a message that sexual intercourse is a tainted, dishonorable, disgraceful act?

No. It just shows a certain amount of self control and spiritual maturity to not go around screwing every Tom, Dick, and Harry on the street. Mary was favored because of precisely her willingness to obey God.

 

[Rough Beast Sloucher]

To justify the title of Son of God as more than honorary which would not necessarily be unique, it was necessary that God be the literal father of Jesus. To safeguard against accusations of hanky-panky by this as yet unmarried girl, she needed to be presented as a virgin.. Matthew just says it as a bald fact. Luke gives Mary's side of the story in which she is surprised to learn she will have a child since she has never had sex. This makes the claim of virginity more secure.

 

[Skwim]

No. It just shows a certain amount of self control and spiritual maturity to not go around screwing every Tom, Dick, and Harry on the street. Mary was favored because of precisely her willingness to obey God.

Chapter and verse please.

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[Grandliseur]

why was it necessary that Emmanuel (Jesus) be born of a virgin? What's the big deal about being born to a mother who never had sexual intercourse? Is this a message that sexual intercourse is a tainted, dishonorable, disgraceful act?

There was no message about sex in this. The reason for the virgin birth was to transfer a being living in heaven into becoming human, not human like by simply clothing itself in something that looked human as angels do.

For the ransom to work, the price Jesus had to pay had to be equal, exactly, to what was lost with Adam. If he had come clothed in human form but not having its substance, the price would not have been equal to a human perfect as Adam was. Thus, he had to be 'son of God', and 'son of man'. By being born human, he could pay the price of a perfect human life; this price would have been without value if he didn't have the right to live as a spirit son of God according him to be resurrected after having been killed as a human, resurrected in a spirit body back to heaven. Only in this manner could he present the value of his human sacrifice to God and pay the price needed for redemption.

Thus, none other than a son of God from heaven could have paid that price for us, but only in human form, as a 'son of man'. For this reason, he could not be born as a true son of a human male, but being born of a woman he became human 100%.
-----------
All the various speculations and claims of unbelievers ignore God, his existence, his purposes, his powers. Some who mock this even succeed in committing the ultimate blasphemy, which is their eternal loss.

 

[columbus]

My question: why was it necessary that Emmanuel (Jesus) be born of a virgin? What's the big deal about being born to a mother who never had sexual intercourse? Is this a message that sexual intercourse is a tainted, dishonorable, disgraceful act?

Because people then didn't really know where babies come from.

They thought that a person (male) planted his seed in a vessel (female). Rather like he might plant a barley seed in a field.

By being born of a virgin, Jesus was unquestionably the Divine Son of God. Gametes and such were beyond their comprehension.
It also fit well with the rest of the developing legend of the Christ, with it's Hellenist underpinnings. By the time the Gospels were taking final form the authors could pretty much include anything that made the story more compelling to the target audiences.
Tom

 

[allfoak]

My question: why was it necessary that Emmanuel (Jesus) be born of a virgin? What's the big deal about being born to a mother who never had sexual intercourse? Is this a message that sexual intercourse is a tainted, dishonorable, disgraceful act?

It has nothing to do with sex but rather, who the sex was with.
It is the influence of a man that is seen as bad, not the sexual act.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

My question: why was it necessary that Emmanuel (Jesus) be born of a virgin? What's the big deal about being born to a mother who never had sexual intercourse? Is this a message that sexual intercourse is a tainted, dishonorable, disgraceful act?

This story is a Spiritual Reality.

It is telling us the Connection that a Messenger has with God. Though in each age each Messenger is born as we are all Born, from the womb of our mother, they are in Reality Born of the Holy Spirit and not the Human Spirit.

They are, one and all, from Birth, a Messenger from God. As such from an early age they will show by way of their life and their actions and Words, that they are indeed not of this world.

Regards Tony

 

[Rival]

The Hebrew text never mentions a virgin; it is correctly translated 'the young woman' and is not a messianic passage.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Jesus had to be born of a virgin because that's how so many of the other "important gods" known previously were supposed to have come. Christianity didn't want to be left out. So many of the important deities all around the Mediterranean world prior to the birth of Jesus were born of virgins, it's quite astonishing that anybody would suppose that Jesus's supposed non-carnal conception should be in any way noteworthy.

Miraculous births - Wikipedia

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

The Hebrew text never mentions a virgin; it is correctly translated 'the young woman' and is not a messianic passage.

And besides, despite the prophecy, absolutely nobody called him "Immanuel." That in itself seems something of a prophetic failure, to me.

 

[InChrist]

Because Jesus is fully God and fully human ... a sinless human.

"The Virgin Birth circumvented the transmission of the sin nature and allowed the eternal God to become a perfect man.'
Why is the Virgin Birth so important?

 

[David T]

Most Christians hold the virgin birth of Jesus was prophesied in the Old Testament

Isaiah 7:14
"Behold, a virgin has conceived and will bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us."
​

And in fulfillment of this prophesy the New Testament says

Matthew 3:18-23
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed" to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”​

Luke 1:27
to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

Luke 1:34
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”​

My question: why was it necessary that Emmanuel (Jesus) be born of a virgin? What's the big deal about being born to a mother who never had sexual intercourse? Is this a message that sexual intercourse is a tainted, dishonorable, disgraceful act?

.

.

​

I can give you the adult version if you want Would the story be more meaningful? No I doubt it, actually I won't bother. The reason I know this is because the adult version requires an adult to understand it.

Am I a Christian? Not remotely by any modern definition at all starting with "I believe" or "I don't believe.. Please.." I am an adult. I am More of a BC type that understands the text. It's easy, you have to be an adult. She is not just a virgin she is in that tradition THE GREAT VIRGIN. IT HAS ZERO TO DO WITH SEX..THERE IS NO SEX IN YOUR VIOLENCE. She is mother nature herself into flesh. Rape her, abuse her try to kill her, destroy all life on this planet science ourselves into extinction she cannot be killed forever just us. Nature alive or extinction. We are Messing with the wrong lady she is giant..