“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
-Isaiah 7:14

The virgin birth of Christ is a central truth in Christology. Often in evangelical circles it is a neglected doctrine that is assumed to be understood. Its biblical roots go back to the prophet Isaiah who foretold of the virgin giving birth to the savior of the world. It stands out on the biblical landscape as an affirmation of a divine event in human history. Isaiah says, “the Lord himself will give you a sign….” The doctrine itself, simply put, is that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin mother, Mary, without the involvement of a human father. It is referred to as the miraculous conception. Not be confused with the erroneous Roman Catholic belief in the Immaculate Conception in which Mary herself was born without a sin nature even though she had human parents. Christ was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit thus taking flesh through Mary. This is understood to be a miracle and therefore an impossibility without the direct intervention of God.
The theological importance of the virgin birth has many dimensions. First, the event substantiates the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah. This confirms the consistency of Scripture. Secondly it speaks to the divinity of Christ. In and of itself it does not prove Christ’s divinity, but the event itself speaks of divine intervention in the course of human events. Thirdly, it supports the humanity of Christ. Jesus was born of a human mother and experienced the trauma of childbirth, the education of a growing child and is thus able to identify with our weaknesses as spoken of in the book of Hebrews. The virgin birth also helps substantiate the sinlessness of Christ. If Christ was born from two human parents it would be more difficult to understand his lack of a sin nature.
The virgin birth speaks to the reliability of Scripture, the divine intervention in human experience, and the love and mercy of God in sending his Son. The doctrine of the virgin birth is sometimes used as a litmus test for evangelical Christians. Does it warrant such consideration? Do we understand enough of scripture to interact with those who hold divergent views? We should meditate on these ideas today and consider more closely the virgin birth of Christ.

Kevin Farmer, Phil Meade, Dana Arledge