Luke 4:16 Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 4:17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.…
The New Testament accounts of the Virgin Birth (more properly, the virginal conception) of Christ make good historical sense, says N.T. Wright. In an article entitled ‘God’s Way of Acting’ (The Christian Century, December 16th 1989) Wright sets out his argument. What follows is a summary.
Of course, we make much of the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke, even though the New Testament itself places much more stress on events of Calvary, Easter and Pentecost.…
Do we need to postulate a physiological mechanism for the Virgin Birth? Is it not best to regard it as a miracle, pure and simple? Possibly. But the question then arises as to how this safeguards the doctrine of our Lord’s humanity. Moreover, if it is the case that God loves natural processes (he created them!) and uses ‘pure’ miracles sparingly (often preferring ‘miracles of timing’) then we have further reasons to enquire if any account can be given of the genetics of the virgin birth.…
Of course, the notion of Christ’s virgin birth (more correctly, ‘virginal conception’) is as commonly ridiculed outside the Christian church as it is disputed within it. Many theologians insist that we cannot take it literally: that it is a mythical way of expressing who Jesus was.
It is pointed out by critics that the virgin birth is recognised only by Matthew and Luke, and is conspicuously absent from the other New Testament writings, including those of Paul. …
Daniel Florien lists five reasons why he no longer believes in the virgin birth of Jesus:-
1. “There is no reliable evidence”. No DNA samples, for example, and no medical confirmation. Well it is plain silly to suppose that there might be that kind of evidence. Florien adds that there are ‘no eyewitness accounts’. That’s a pretty silly complaint, too: I don’t think that, under the circumstances, it is reasonable to expect there to have been a human witness to Mary not having sexual relations with Joseph (or anyone else for that matter).…
Those who are sceptical of the historicity of the biblical accounts of the virgin birth of Jesus largely base their objections on supposed parallels with other supernatural birth stories in the ancient world.
As long ago as 1796 Charles Dupuis suggested that the biblical account borrowed from the stories surrounding the birth of Krishna. Early Christians ‘drew on’ such stories, it is claimed, in order to find ways of demonstrating the uniqueness of Jesus. This idea was popularised by James Fraser, in The Golden Bough (1890, 1912).…
‘The first and most indisputable fact about the birth of Jesus is that it occurred out of wedlock. The one option for which there is no evidence is that Jesus was the lawful son of Joseph and Mary. The only choice open to us is between a virgin birth and an illegitimate birth.’ (J. A. T. Robinson, Twelve More New Testament Studies (SCM, 1984), 3–4.)
Luke announces the heavenly origin of Mary’s firstborn in unmistakable terms. …
This question, argue Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert, prompts a whole raft of further questions:
…‘The question is deceptively complex and potentially divisive. For starters, what do we even mean by mission? And if that can be settled, we then face more difficult questions. Is the mission of the church discipleship or good deeds or both? Is the mission of the church the same as the mission of God? Is the mission of the church distinct from the responsibilities of individual Christians?
“I believe in…the life everlasting.”
‘Who wants to live forever?’ (song by Queen).
How would you like to live to be 1,000? According to Dr Aubrey de Gray, co-founder of the SENS Research Foundation, scientists are well on the way to ending bodily aging. The first person to live to be 1,000, he claims, has already been born.
Or how about having your body deep frozen after you die, in the hope that one day science will be able to resuscitate it? …
Over the past 50 years, evangelicals have debated whether the church’s mission is, or should be, primarily or even exclusively that of evangelism, or a combination of evangelism and social action.
At the forefront of this debate has been the distinguished evangelical leader and teacher, John Stott.
In The Contemporary Christian (chapter 20), Stott articulates his conviction that
‘authentic mission is a comprehensive activity which embraces evangelism and social action.’
In this understanding, the gospel has a vertical dimension (the salvation of souls) and a horizontal dimension (the improvement of society).…
