Virgin birth of 1 Virgin birth of Jesus

The virgin birth of Jesus is a doctrine of and Islam which holds that Mary miraculously conceived Jesus while remaining a virgin. It was universally held in the Christian by the 2nd century,[1] and is included in the two most widely used Christian , which state that Jesus "was incarnate of the and the Virgin Mary" (the Nicene )[2] and was "born of the Virgin Mary" (Apostles' Creed).[3] It was not seriously challenged, except by some minor sects, before the 18th century.[1]

The earliest expressions of the doctrine are found in the Matthew (:18)[1:18] and Luke,[1:26-35] which say that Mary was a virgin at the time of Jesus' birth and that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. These , later tradition and current doctrine present Jesus' conception as a miracle involving no natural father, no sexual intercourse, and no male seed in any form, but instead brought about by the Holy Spirit.[4][5][6][7] In Roman Catholic and Eastern and Oriental Orthodox usage, the term "virgin birth" means not only that Mary was a virgin when she conceived and gave birth, but also that she The , by Guido Reni, 1621 remained a virgin throughout her life, a belief attested since the 2nd century.[8] (See Perpetual of Mary).

The general Christian doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus (i.e., Mary's virginal conception of Jesus) is not to be confused with the Roman Catholic doctrine of her , which concerns instead her mother's conception of Mary. This is thought to have occurred in the normal way, not miraculously. The Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception holds that, when Mary herself was conceived, she came into existence without the "stain" (, macula) of .[9] Mary's virginity at the conception of Jesus is also a tenet of Islam.[10][11] Muslims refer to Jesus with the matronymic Jesus son of Mary (Isa bin ), a term repeatedly used in the Qur'an.[12]

Distinction from other doctrines The virginal conception of Jesus by Mary is at times confused with the Roman teaching of her "Immaculate Conception", namely Mary's conception by her mother in the normal way, but free from original sin.[13] While the Virgin birth of Jesus relates to the , the Immaculate Conception relates to the . The Roman Catholic doctrine of Mary's Immaculate Conception has been defined as follows: "The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus , Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin."[14] The doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus is also distinct from the more general doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary which refers to her virginity for her entire life and thus subsumes the teachings on the virgin birth.[15][16] Virgin birth of Jesus 2

New Testament

Key articles on

General perspective Mother of Jesus

Specific views Anglican • Eastern Orthodox • Lutheran • Marian veneration • Muslim • Protestant • Roman Catholic

Prayers & devotions • Hail Mary •

Ecumenical Ecumenical views

The earliest Christian preaching about Jesus concerned his death and resurrection, and the early Church turned its attention to the chronology of the rest of the life of Jesus later.[17][18][19] Early Christians were hardly monolithic in their preachings, and the Nativity accounts of the gospels may have diverged as a result, but a comparison of the Nativity stories of Luke and Matthew show common elements in terms of the virgin births, the birth at and the upbringing at Nazareth.[18][20]

Gospels The accounts of the birth and Nativity of Jesus appear in only two of the four Canonical Gospels, the of Luke and of Matthew. Luke's story centers on Mary, while Matthew's story centers on Joseph, and in both gospel accounts (:1-7 and :1) Jesus is conceived without a human father.[21][22][23] Neither Luke nor Matthew claim that their birth narratives are based on the direct testimonies of either Mary or Joseph.[24] James Hastings and separately Thomas Neufeld have expressed the view that the circumstances of the birth of Jesus were deliberately kept restricted to a small group of early Christians, and were kept as a secret for many years after his death.[25][26] Ronald Brownrigg suggests that the narrative in Luke was obtained via a path from Mary, while the narrative in Matthew was obtained from a path on Joseph's side.[27]

Matthew The (c 80-85) begins with a genealogy leading from to Joseph, but then calls Joseph "the husband of Mary, of whom (Mary) was born Jesus, who is called Christ."[1:16] The original Greek text, which has "ἐξ ἧς" (feminine singular), shows that the phrase "of whom" refers to Mary, not to Joseph or to Mary and Joseph together.[1:16] It then states that, when Mary was found to be pregnant, she had not lived with Joseph, to whom she was engaged,[1:18] and that he did not have marital relations with her before the child was born.[1:25] Matthew then states: "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit",[1:20] in fulfillment of the prophecy of the : "A virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."[Mt. 1:22-23] Scholars interpret "prophet" as a reference to :14.[28] Some 5th and 6th century manuscripts read "Isaiah the prophet".[29] Virgin birth of Jesus 3

Hebrew has a specific word "", which may mean "maiden," "young woman," or "virgin". When Matthew 1:22 states: "Behold the virgin shall be with child" it uses the Greek term "parthenos" as "virgin" as in the of Isaiah, while the original Masoretic Isaiah uses the Hebrew "almah".[30] This Greek translation "alters or refines the meaning of Isaiah's original Hebrew: where the prophet had talked only of a ‘young woman’ conceiving and bearing a son, the Septuagint projected ‘young woman’ into the Greek word for ‘virgin’ (parthenos)."[31] Raymond Brown suggests that the translators of the Septuagint may have understood the Hebrew word "almah" to mean virgin in this context.[30]

Luke The Nativity is a prominent element of the (c 85-90), and comprises over 10% of the text, being three times the length of the Nativity text in the Gospel of Matthew.[32] In :30-35 Mary asks how she is to conceive and bear a son, since she is a virgin; and she is told it will happen by the power of God. Luke 3:23-38 gives a genealogy, different from that given by Matthew. Scholars differ on which of the two, Matthew or Luke, is the legal genealogy via Joseph, and which the physical descent via Mary.[33] When the tells Mary that she will bear a son conceived by the Holy Spirit,[Lk. 1:26-38] she responds with the ,[Lk. 1:46-55] a prayer of joy.[34]

Pauline epistles The Pauline epistles, the earliest surviving Christian writings, refer to Jesus' mother without stating that she was a virgin. Instead Paul focuses on contrasting the birth of Jesus with the fall of Adam, and presents Jesus as the "firstborn of all creation", and a second Adam, in Colossians 1:15-16.[7][35][36][37] Some[38] see the silence of Paul on virginity as implying that he knew of no account of the virgin birth of Jesus, while scholars such as Raymond Brown reject the "argument from silence" and state that Paul's letters were composed with a view to ecclesiastical problems with which he had to deal, not to give a narrative of the life of Jesus. Raymond E. Brown states that given the multiple lines of reasoning, there are no convincing arguments to determine whether Paul knew of the virgin birth or not.[39] Brown writes that it is difficult to decide whether Paul's silence on the question of the virginal conception of Jesus is significant in any case.[39] Brown states that, even if the silence of Paul is taken to indicate ignorance of the virgin birth, it does not disprove it, for a family tradition about it could have circulated among relatively few in the years 30-60, before becoming known to the communities for whom Matthew and Luke wrote.[40] Other authors have noted that the silence of Paul is no indication, given the Pauline Epistles were not intended as chronologies and include very few details of the life of Jesus in general, and that even the was only mentioned by Paul in response to problems in Corinth.[41] Specific passages in Paul's letters include Galatians 4:4, usually translated as: "when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law". (The word translated as "born" literally means "having come to be",[42] and Young's Literal Translation gives the phrase as "come of a woman, come under law".) Some see this silence about a virgin birth as lack of knowledge of it, while others see the phrase "born of a woman, born under the law" as implying that Jesus had no human father.[43][44] The opening of the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 1:1-4) includes the words: "concerning his Son, who was descended from (or who came from the offspring of David) according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord". Some take "descended from David according to the flesh" to mean that Joseph, a descendant of David, was the physical father of Jesus, thus denying the virgin birth of Jesus, others take it as indicating that Mary too was a descendant of David.[45][46][47][48] Others point out that here, as in Galatians 4:4, Paul does not use the ordinary word for "born" (γεννητός, gennetos, the word used in Matthew 11:11 in relation to being "born of a woman"), but the word γενόμενος, genomenos, literally meaning "become", "come to be",[49][50] a fact that some interpret as an allusion to incarnation of the pre-existent Son of God.[51][52] Virgin birth of Jesus 4

The statement in Romans 8:3-4 that God sent his Son "in the likeness of sinful flesh" has been interpreted as meaning merely that Jesus was externally just like any other human being, supported by Paul's remark elsewhere that Christ "knew no sin".[2 Cor 5:21] Others suggest a contradiction between Paul's notion of being "in the likeness of sinful flesh" and his having been born of a virgin. In 1Timothy 1:4, where Paul urges people not to "occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations...", has been debated as to whether it indicates that Paul had a negative view of the developing virgin birth stories and their variant genealogies.[53]

Old Testament

Isaiah

Therefore himself shall give you a sign; Behold, an almah shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.[54]

In this passage from the the prophet predicts to king Ahaz that a young woman will give birth to a child who will be called "Immanuel", meaning "God with us", and that Ahaz's enemies will be destroyed before this child learns the difference between good and evil, ,(almah) "עלמה" i.e., before it reaches maturity. The Hebrew word is which scholars agree means a young woman of child-bearing age, without any connotation of virginity, and the context of the passage makes it clear that Isaiah has in mind events in his and Ahaz's near

future. The Greek-speaking author of Matthew, however, used the Isaiah by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel Greek translation of Isaiah, in which the word is given as "παρθένος", parthenos, meaning a virgin.[55]

The Qur'an

Although not specifically mentioned in the , Muslims believe that Jesus and Mary were the only two children not to be touched by Satan at the moment of their birth, for God placed a veil between them and Satan.[56] The Qur'an says that Jesus was the result of a virgin birth. The most detailed account of the annunciation and birth of Jesus is provided in Sura 3 and 19 of The Qur'an wherein it is written that God sent an angel to announce that she could shortly expect to bear a son, despite being a virgin.[10] The account in Sura 19 [Qur'an 19:1] of the Qur'an is close to that in the Gospel of Luke.[57] The Annunciation to Mary is mentioned twice in the Quran and in both instances Mary is told that she was chosen by God to deliver a son. In one case, the bearer of the news, who is believed to be archangel Gabriel, delivered the news in (3:42-47) as he takes the form of a man (19:16-22). [58][59] The details of the conception are not discussed but when Mary asks Mary and Jesus in old Persian Shi'a miniature. Virgin birth of Jesus 5

how she can bear a son in view of her chastity she is told that God creates what he wills and that these things are easy for God.[58] However, elsewhere the Quran states (21:91 and 66:12) that God breathed "His Spirit" into Mary while she was chaste.[58][59]

Critical analysis

Historicity Some writers[60][61][62][63][64] take it as significant that two separate gospels attest to the virgin birth, although their details vary. In this view, the virgin conception and birth constitute a tradition that fits within the criterion of multiple attestation. The accounts of Matthew and Luke are taken as independent testimonies of the tradition.[65] The mutual independence of the two attestations is shown by the differences between the accounts of Matthew and Luke regarding Jesus' birth, to which scholars have drawn attention.[66][67] According to Matthew, an unnamed angel informs Joseph of the virginal conception; in Luke the angel Gabriel informs Mary before the conception occurs. Two rival explanations are put forward for the "double attestation" of Matthew and Luke regarding the virgin birth of Jesus:[68][69][70]

1. The virgin birth was a historical event, and the narratives of Matthew and Luke are based on different aspects of the event according to witnesses' reports of it. 2. Matthew and Luke both wanted to present Jesus as fulfilling prophecies from Hebrew scripture. Both were aware of prophecies concerning a virgin birth The Annunciation, by Fra Angelico and Bethlehem, and therefore these elements of their stories match. But each author wove these prophecies into an overall narrative in a different way. For example, both authors had to explain how Jesus was born in Bethlehem when he was known to be from Nazareth (as mentioned in all four gospels)—and each came up with an independent explanation.

Among other hypotheses that have been proposed as explanations of the origin of the accounts in Matthew and Luke of the birth of Jesus from a virgin is that of Stephen L Harris, who proposed that these were written to answer Jewish slanders about Jesus' illegitimate birth,[71] of which there is evidence from the 2nd century, but which may have been a subsequent polemical Jewish response to the account in Matthew and Luke.[72] Helmut Köster sees the narratives of Jesus' virgin birth as having roots in Hellenistic mythology.[73] Virgin birth of Jesus 6

Psilanthropism Psilanthropists argue against the virgin birth and contend that Jesus was a "mere human".[74] Psilanthropism existed among early Jewish Christian groups such as who considered Jesus the , but rejected Apostle Paul as an apostate.[75] [76] However, in the 4th century the rejected the teaching that Jesus was a mere human.[77] In the 2nd century, Celsus, a pagan anti-Christian Greek philosopher wrote that Jesus's father was a Roman soldier named Pantera. The views of Celsus drew responses from Origen who considered it a fabricated story.[78][79] Raymond E. Brown states that the story of Pantera is a fanciful explanation of the birth of Jesus which includes very little historical evidence.[80] In the as part of the conflicts with Christians, a satirical parody of the Christian gospels called the Toledot was written by the Jews, perhaps as a tool for warding off conversions to Christianity.[81] The book referred to the name Pantera, or Pandera as the father of Jesus, and also portrayed Judas Iscariot as a Origen hero.[82][83][84] The book accuses Jesus of illegitimate birth as the son of Pandera, and of heretic and at times violent activities along with his followers during his ministry.[82][84] Robert E. Van Voorst states that the literary origins of Toledot Yeshu can not be traced with any certainty, and given that it is unlikely to go before the 4th century, it is far too late to include authentic remembrances of Jesus.[85]

Historically notable psilanthropists have included figures such as the translator of the first in Byelorussian, Symon Budny (who was excommunicated by the Polish Unitarians[86]), and and Taylor Coleridge in the 18th and 19th centuries.[87][88] Modern psilanthropists include some members of the . Although the church's textbook, the Divine Principle does not specifically mention the teaching that Zacharias was the father of Jesus, according to Ruth Tucker[89] some members of the church hold that belief[90][91] - which is based on the work of .[38] Scientific atheist Richard Dawkins dismisses the possibility of virgin birth from a biological perspective, as he generally dismisses all biblical miracles on grounds that they are unproven and unsubstantiated supernatural events.[92]

Analogies and explanations

As part of the conflicts between Christians and other groups during the 1st and 2nd centuries, statements were made by both Jews and pagans that the Christian virgin birth narratives had been derived from pagan sources.[93][94] Early Christians such as countered the argument about pagan connections to the virgin birth of Jesus.[95] In the 2nd century, Justin presented these arguments in The First Apology of Justin, and in Dialog with Trypho.[95] Justin argued at length against the pagan connection and noted that the word virgin does not even occur in the pagan sources.[96] He also addressed the issues in his debates with a Jew called Trypho.[93]

Followers of Mithraism have proposed, from Persian sources, that Mithra might Justin Martyr have been born of the union of Mother Earth and Ahuramazda, and that his story influenced both Christianity and Chinese mythology, where he became known as "The Friend".[97] Christian authors have argued that no historical basis for the connection to Christianity has been presented by the Mithraists.[98] Virgin birth of Jesus 7

The early Christian document, the Ascension of Isaiah, which may date to the 2nd century, also has a narrative of the virgin birth of Jesus.[99] However, the date and origin of this document is questionable, given that the author disguised his identity behind Isaiah.[100] The narrative of the virgin birth of Jesus can be found also in other apocrypha, for instance the Protevangelium of James, perhaps written in the 2nd century.[101] Parthenogenesis has been hypothesized as a possible biological mechanism for the virgin birth of Jesus.[102] But this hypothesis has received no general scholarly support.[103][104]

Christian celebrations and devotions

Christians celebrate the conception of Jesus on 25 March[105] (Lady Day) and his birth at (25 December) or Epiphany (6 January). Among the many traditions associated with Christmas are the construction of cribs and the performance of re-enactments of elements of the story in the Gospels of the birth of Jesus, a tradition started in the 13th century by the Franciscans.[106][107][108]

The festival of the Nativity which later turned into Christmas was a 4th century feast in the Western Church notably in Rome and North Africa, although it is uncertain exactly where and when it was first celebrated.[109] There has been debate about the reason why Christians came to choose the 25 December date to celebrate the birth of Jesus. One theory is that they did so in order to oppose the existing winter-solstice feast of the Natalis Solis Invicti (Birthday of the Unconquered Sun) by celebrating on that date the birth of the "Sun of Righteousness".[110]

Mary writing the Magnificat, by Marie Another tradition derived the date of Christmas from that of the Ellenrieder, 1833 Annunciation, the virginal conception of Jesus.[110] Since this was supposed to have taken place on 14 Nisan in the Jewish calendar, calculated to have been either 25 March or 6 April, it was believed that the date of Christ's birth will have been nine months later.[111] A tractate falsely attributed to John Chrysostom argued that Jesus was conceived and crucified on the same day of the year and calculated this as 25 March, a computation also mentioned by Augustine of Hippo.[110]

The Magnificat, based on Luke 1:46-55 is one of four well known Gospel : the Benedictus and the Magnificat in the first chapter, and the Gloria in Excelsis and the in the second chapter of Luke, which are now an integral part of the Christian liturgical tradition.[34][112][113] The Magnificat is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn.[114][115] The Annunciation, representing the virgin birth, became an element of in Medieval times, and by the 13th century direct references to it were widespread in French lyrics.[116] The uses the title "Ever Virgin Mary" as a key element of its Marian veneration, and as part of the (hymns) to Mary which are an integral part of its liturgy.[117] Virgin birth of Jesus 8

Artistic depictions This doctrine of the Virgin Birth is often represented in terms of the annunciation to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God, and in Nativity scenes that include the figure of . The Annunciation is one of the most frequently depicted scenes in Western art.[118] Annunciation scenes also amount to the most frequent appearances of Gabriel in medieval art.[119] The depiction of Joseph turning away in some Nativity scenes is a discreet reference to the fatherhood of the Holy Spirit, and the doctrine of Virgin Birth.[120]

Gallery of art

Holy Doors, St. (1267-1337) , 1489-90 Mikhail Nesterov, Catherine's Russia, 19th century Monastery, Mount Sinai, 12th century

References

[1] " Virgin Birth (http:/ / www. britannica. com/ eb/ article-9075467/ Virgin-Birth#181858)" britannica.com Retrieved October 22, 2007.

[2] Translation by the ecumenical English Language Liturgical Consultation, given on page 17 of Praying Together (http:/ / www. englishtexts.

org/ praying. pdf), a literal translation of the original, (http:/ / www. ccel. org/ ccel/ schaff/ hcc3. iii. xii. xiii. html) "σαρκωθέντα ἐκ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς Παρθένου"

[3] Translation by the English Language Liturgical Consultation, given on page 22 of Praying Together (http:/ / www. englishtexts. org/ praying. pdf)

[4] Lateran Council of 649, canon 3, quoted in Denzinger, 256 (http:/ / www. catecheticsonline. com/ SourcesofDogma3. php)

[5] Cathechism of the Catholic Church, 484-486 and 496-498 (http:/ / www. vatican. va/ archive/ ENG0015/ __P1K. HTM)

[6] John Paul II, 10 July 1996, 3 (http:/ / www. ewtn. com/ library/ papaldoc/ jp2bvm26. htm) [7] The virgin birth by Robert Glenn Gromacki 2002 ISBN 0-8254-2746-0 pages 220-221 [8] Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-10-280290-3), article Virgin Birth of Christ

[9] Kathleen Coyle, Mary in the (Twenty-third Publications 1996 ISBN 0-85244-380-3), p. 36 (http:/ / books. google. com/

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resnum=1& ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage& q="infancy stories were added"& f=false) [20] The Origins of the Gospel According to St. Matthew by George Dunbar Kilpatrick 2007 ISBN 0-86516-667-6 page 54. [21] Mercer dictionary of the Bible by Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard 1998 ISBN 0-86554-373-9 page 556 [22] Jesus and the Gospels by Clive Marsh, Steve Moyise 2006 ISBN 0-567-04073-9 page 37 Virgin birth of Jesus 9

[23] The Gospel according to Matthew by Leon Morris ISBN 0-85111-338-9 page 26 [24] Lord Jesus Christ by Larry W. Hurtado 2005 ISBN 0-8028-3167-2 page 322 [25] A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels: Volume II by James Hastings 2004 ISBN 1-4102-1788-4 page 805 [26] Recovering Jesus: the witness of the New Testament Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld 2007 ISBN 1-58743-202-1 pages 116-123 [27] Who's Who in the New Testament by Ronald Brownrigg 2001 ISBN 0-415-26036-1 page 99 [28] "In three details Matthew departs from the Septuagint form of Isa. 7:14 ... (1) the use of hexei rather than lēpsetai; (2) the third person plural 'they will call', rather than 'you [sing.] will call'; (3) the supplied interpretation of Emmanuel as 'God with us'" (Raymond E. Brown: The Birth of the Messiah [ISBN 0-385-05405-X], p. 150) [29] Barbara Aland, et al. Latin New Testament 1983, American Bible Society. ISBN 3-438-05401-9 page 3 [30] Brown, Raymond E.; Achtemeier, Paul J. (1978). Mary in the New Testament: A Collaborative Assessment by Protestant and Roman Catholic Scholars. Paulist Press. p. 92. ISBN 0-8091-2168-9. [31] Diarmaid MacCulloch, A , 2009 (Penguin 2010, p. 81). ISBN 978-0-14-102189-8 [32] The people's New Testament commentary by M. Eugene Boring, Fred B. Craddock 2004 ISBN 0-664-22754-6 page 177 [33] John Gresham Machen Virgin Birth of Christ 1987 Page 218 "We shall still be able to say that the difference between the two genealogies, taken broadly, is due to the fact that for the most part — perhaps even in every link except one — the genealogy traces the actual physical ancestors." [34] An Introduction to the Bible by Robert Kugler, Patrick Hartin ISBN 0-8028-4636-X page 394 [35] The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia by Geoffrey W. Bromiley 1988 ISBN 0-8028-3785-9 page [36] An introductory dictionary of theology and religious studies by Orlando O. Espín, James B. Nickoloff 2007 ISBN 0-8146-5856-3 page 238 [37] Mercer dictionary of the Bible by Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard 1998 ISBN 0-86554-373-9 page 712

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[83] Princeton University (http:/ / www. princeton. edu/ ~judaic/ toledotyeshu. html) [84] William Horbury, The Depiction of Judeo-Christians in the Toledot Yeshu in "The image of the Judaeo-Christians in ancient Jewish and " edited by Doris Lambers-Petry 2003 ISBN 3-16-148094-5 pages 280-285 [85] Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence WmB Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 0-8028-4368-9 pp. 122 and 127 [86] The Jews in old Poland, 1000-1795 ed. Antony Polonsky, Jakub Basista, Andrzej Link-Lenczowski - 1993 p32 "Budny rejected the eternality of Christ and, in the notes to his translation of the New Testament, denied the Virgin birth, assenting that Jesus was Joseph's son. Even among heretical leaders Szymon Budny was considered a heretic and they would have nothing to do with him [87] Cyclopædia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature, Volume 2 By John McClintock, James Strong 1894 p404 [88] Joseph Priestley and English in America by J. D. Bowers 2007 ISBN 0-271-02951-X page 36 [89] Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions, and the New Age Movement by Ruth A. Tucker 1989 ISBN 0-310-25937-1 pages 250-251 [90] Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains, By U. S. Department of the Army, Published

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version (http:/ / www. asa3. org/ ASA/ PSCF/ 1983/ JASA9-83Kessel. html) [103] The birth of Jesus by George J. Brooke 2001 ISBN 0-567-08756-5 pages 62-63 [104] The virgin birth by Robert Glenn Gromacki 2002 ISBN 0-8254-2746-0 page 113 [105] The Julian Calendar 25 March corresponds at present to 8 April in the Gregorian Calendar. [106] The image of St Francis by Rosalind B. Brooke 2006 ISBN 0-521-78291-0 pages 183-184 Virgin birth of Jesus 11

[107] The vitality of the Christian tradition by George Finger Thomas 1944 ISBN 0-8369-2378-2 page 110-112 [108] The tradition of Catholic prayer by Christian Raab, Harry Hagan, St. Meinrad Archabbey 2007 ISBN 0-8146-3184-3 pages 86-87 [109] in Reformed Churches past and present by Lukas Vischer 2002 ISBN 0-8028-0520-5 pages 400-401 [110] Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3), article Christmas

[111] Procter and Frere's New History of the Book of Common Prayer (see The Date of Christmas and Epiphany (http:/ / www. oremus. org/

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Gabriel announces to Mary that she will give birth to Jesus Life of Jesus: Conception of Jesus

Preceded by New Followed by Gabriel announces Testament Mary visits Elizabeth John's Events birth to Zechariah Article Sources and Contributors 12 Article Sources and Contributors

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