VIRGIN BIRTH—the biblical doctrine that Jesus was miraculously begotten by God and born of Mary, who was a virgin. The term virgin birth explains the way in which the Son of God entered human existence; it means that Mary had not had sexual relations with any man when she conceived Jesus. This unparalleled act of God is described beautifully in Luke 1:26–38. The angel of God appeared to a virgin who was engaged to Joseph. In those days engagement was a legal arrangement in which a woman was betrothed,