The Virgin-Birth of Our Lord | Page 2

the mystery of the Virgin-Birth,
that there is a tendency in the human mind, not without its illustrations
in history, to "decorate with legend" the early history of great men. In
reply, it may be enough here to say that legends analogous to the pagan
legends of the births of heroes, false and absurd legends, did gather
round the infancy of Jesus Christ. The Apocryphal Gospels are full of
such legends. They tell us how the idols of Egypt fell down before Him;
how His swaddling-clothes worked miracles; and how He made clay
birds and turned boys into kids, and worked other absurd miracles of
various kinds. But there is a world of difference between these "silly
tales" and the restraint, purity, dignity, and reserve which characterize
the narratives of the first and third Evangelists. "The distinction
between history and legend," says Dr. Fairbairn, "could not be better
marked than by the reserve of the Canonical and the vulgar tattle of the
Apocryphal Gospels."*
-- * Quoted in Gore, Dissertations, p. 60. --

I wish to take this opportunity of thanking my colleague, the Rev. G. W.
Douglas, and my friend the Rev. Canon Warner, Rector of
Stoke-by-Grantham, for their kind help in revising the proof-sheets of
this paper.
B.W.R.
THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE, ELY, Feast of St. Mark, 1903.
[Note on transliteration of Greek quotations: o = omicron (short o); e =
epsilon (short e); o = omega (long o); e = eta (long e)]
THE VIRGIN-BIRTH OF OUR LORD
There are two miracles confessed in every form of the Creed--the
miracle of the Conception and Birth, by which the Incarnation was
effected; and the miracle of the Resurrection. These are the
fundamental miracles, and are the battle-ground upon which the
defenders and assailants of Christianity more especially meet.
The discussion of this most sacred subject of the Virgin-Birth of our
Lord has been forced upon us at the present time. It is impossible to
ignore it or set it aside. We must be prepared, each of us, however
much we may shrink from treading on such sacred ground, to give a
reason for the hope that is in us with reverence and fear.
I will ask you here and now to consider the matter briefly under four
heads. First, I will try to give the evidence for the belief in this article
of the Creed during the second century; next, I will ask you to consider
the evidence of St. Matthew and St. Luke; thirdly, we will consider the
argument e silentio on the other side; and lastly, I will ask you to reflect
on the theological aspect of the question.

THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION
I will therefore, without any further preface, plunge into the middle of
the subject, and ask you, first of all, to consider afresh that 'throughout
the Church the statement of the belief in the Virgin-Birth had its place
from so early a date, and is traceable along so many different lines of
evidence, as to force upon us the conclusion that, before the death of
the last Apostle, the Virgin-Birth must have been among the rudiments
of the Faith in which every Christian was initiated;' that if we believe
the Divine guidance in the Church at all, we must needs believe that
this mystery was part of "the Faith once for all delivered to the Saints."
Bear with me, then, while I go over the evidence of the leading

witnesses.
1. St. Ignatius.
He must have become Bishop of Antioch quite early in the second
century. As he passes through Asia about the year 110, he is on his way
to martyrdom, and in his Epistles he speaks emphatically of the
Virgin-Birth.
In the Epistle to the Ephesians, he says: "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."*
-- * Eph., 19. "Kai elathen ton archonta tou aionos toutou he parthenia
Marias kai ho toketos autes, homios kai ho thanatos tou Kuriou; tria
musteria krauges, hatina en hesuchia theou eprachthe." --
In the Epistle to the Symrnaeans, 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."+
-- + Smyrn., I. "Doxazo Iesoun Christon ton theon ton houtos humas
sophisanta; enoesa gar humas katertismenous en akineto pistei ...,