Here are a few of the bedrock
Christian beliefs that are being called into question by many - even in
mainstream Christianity. First, I will show you what the Bible says about each belief.
Then, I will show you what the Book
of Mormon says. I think you will
find that the testimony of the Book of
Mormon consistently reaffirms – and sometimes even clarifies – that what
the Bible says is true.
The Virgin Birth
Not long before we moved to
Snowflake, I had dinner with my dear friend, P. As it often did when we were together, the
talk turned to spiritual matters. P
asked me if I believed in the virgin birth and if I thought such belief was
necessary for one to have a testimony of Jesus.
Couldn’t Jesus be a man born like any other man and still be a great
man? I have other friends – nonbelievers – who claim the virgin birth was a
story created by Mary to cover up an illegitimate pregnancy, but I was
surprised to hear such a question from P who is a devout Episcopalian and a
very innately spiritual woman.
I told her that I do believe in
the virgin birth and, what’s more, I think such a belief is necessary for a
testimony of Jesus as the Son of God. First,
Mary had to be a virgin and pure so that there would be no question as to Jesus
being the son of an earthly man rather than the Son of God. Matthew tells us that even after Joseph married
her, he was not intimate with her until after the birth of Jesus to insure
Jesus’ divine parentage in the eyes of the world.
Second, Mary had to be mortal and
the Father, divine. Jesus inherited from
His mother the ability to lay down his body in death. He inherited from His father the ability to
take it up again in the resurrection. This is at the very heart of
Christianity. If you take away the
virgin birth and the resurrection, you take away Christ’s divinity and, thus,
Christianity. Here are testimonies about
Jesus’ birth from scriptures – first, the Bible,
and then the Book of Mormon:
From Luke (New Testament):
[T]he angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph . . . and the virgin’s name
was Mary. And the angel . . . said,
‘Hail, thou art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among
women . . . and, behold, thou shall conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a
son, and shalt call his name Jesus.’ Then said Mary to the angel, ‘How shall this
be seeing I know not a man?’ And the angel answered and said unto her, ‘The
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee: therefore, also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God’ (Luke
1:36-28, 31, 34-36).
From Matthew (New Testament):
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was
espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost . . . behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream,
saying, ‘Joseph, . . . fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which
is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for
he shall save his people from their sins
. . . Then Joseph . . . did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took
unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn
son: and he called his name Jesus (Matthew 1: 18, 20-21, 24-25).
From Isaiah (Old Testament):
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel
(Isaiah 7:14).
Critics say that Isaiah was
talking about any young woman, not necessarily a biological "virgin" by definition. They say that Matthew and Luke repeated a
story created to save Mary’s reputation. But if you add Nephi’s testimony in the Book of Mormon there can be no question
as to Jesus’ mortal and divine parentage.
From 1 Nephi (Book of Mormon): I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: ‘Nephi, what beholdest thou?’ And I said unto him: ‘A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins’ . . . And he said unto me, ‘Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh’ (1 Nephi 11: 14-15, 18).
Text copyright January 2014, Gebara Education
Pictures:
Virgin with Child from www.iamachild.wordpress.com
Luke from multiple sources on the web
Matthew from multiple sources on the web
Isaiah from multiple sources on the web
Nephi from www.lds.org
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