Without detracting in any way from what has just been said, Mary has also functioned in the history of Christian thought as a sign of or pointer to the Lord’s identity as the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, and it is here that her virginity comes into view. Whether we are looking at patristic understandings of Isaiah 7:14 or Karl Barth’s staunch defense of the natus ex virgine (“born of the Virgin Mary,” taken from the Apostles’ Creed), thought about Mary naturally arises when Christians reflect
Page 4