Church Testimony The church has uniformly seen Jesus’ literal virginal conception in the Matthean and Lukan birth narratives, as evidenced by the united testimonies of Irenaeus (Asia Minor and Gaul), Ignatius (Antioch of Syria), Tertullian (North Africa), Justin Martyr (Ephesus and Rome) and the Old Roman Baptismal Symbol in the second century7 right down through the great creeds of the church to the present day (see the Apostles’ Creed, the present Nicene Creed, the Definition of Chalcedon, the