The Gospels and the Doctrine of the Virginal Conception of Jesus

The Gospels of Mark and John make no overt statements regarding the supernatural conception and birth of Jesus. However, several verses from Luke and Matthew emphasize Mary’s virginity and/or the Holy Spirit’s role in the conception of Jesus. These verses demonstrate that both Luke and Matthew viewed Mary’s pregnancy as an example of God’s overturning the natural law (lex naturalis; D. Harrington, Matthew, 35; Serra, “María,” 1130–31).

• In Matthew 1:18 the narrator alludes to Mary’s virginity and explicitly mentions the Holy Spirit’s role in the conception of Jesus, stating, “When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (ESV, emphasis added).

• In Matthew 1:20 the angel implies that Mary was a virgin by assuring Joseph, “Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (ESV).

• Matthew 1:24–25 emphasizes that Joseph was not involved in the conception of Jesus by stating that Joseph married Mary “but knew her not until she had given birth to a son” (ESV).

• Luke 1:27 twice refers to Mary as “a virgin (παρθένος, parthenos)” (ESV).

• In Luke 1:34 Mary questions Gabriel’s announcement of her pregnancy by stating, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (ESV).

• In Luke 1:35 Gabriel emphasizes the Holy Spirit’s role in Jesus’ conception, stating, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (ESV).

Since the time of the early church, the predominant view is that the virginal conception was a historical fact: Jesus was conceived and born by divine intervention without any kind of natural sexual relations. However, modern scholarly positions have challenged the doctrine of Jesus’ miraculous conception and birth. For example, Schaberg refutes the virginal conception of Jesus based on her study of Matt 1–2 and proposes instead that Jesus was conceived illegitimately (Schaberg, “Feminist Interpretation,” 26–31). In Schaberg’s view, the notion of a virginal conception is a distortion and an embellishment that helps to cover up the illegitimacy of Jesus’ birth (Schaberg, Illegitimacy, 195–97). Crossan believes Schaberg’s theory is “most likely historical.” In his view, the early church idealized Mary’s virginity and Jesus’ miraculous birth to counter the “fact of Jesus’ historical” illegitimate birth (Crossan, “Virgin Mother,” 39).