Virgin Birth?

Recently, in a class at the college I attend, a professor made the comment that if one does not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, it is because they do not believe that God can do miracles. I however, propose that this is a false statement. To say that one is a deist on the sole account of their belief in the virgin birth is an unfair assumption. Furthermore, the virgin birth of Jesus is not an essential belief. I believe in the virgin birth. However, I want to point out that this is a matter of faith. Epistemologically speaking, one cannot know whether or not the virgin birth occurred historically. The only 'evidence' one has is the written attestation of Matthew 1 and Luke 1. Thus, I would first like to note that neither of these authors were present to verify. They had to believe it on account of the story told orally. If one thinks it right, they can take Matthew and Luke as strictly historical documents. However, before modern times, there aren't many historians who record strictly what was historical. And to place that modernist assumption on them due to their title of historian is unfair. Furthermore, contemporary literature to the gospels also had similar stories of heroes being born of virgins. The common critique is that these stories are not that similar and that those women weren't actually virgins. Such a different story applies to Alexander the Great:

It seemed to the bride [Olympias, Alexander’s mother], before the night when her marriage with Philip was consummated, that there was a clap of thunder, that a bolt fell upon her womb, and that from the stoke a great fire was kindled, and then, breaking out in all directions into sparks, was quenched; then later, after the marriage, Philip saw himself in a dream placing a seal over his wife’s womb; and the carving of the seal, as he thought, had a figure of a lion; and when the other seers viewed the vision with suspicion, as meaning that Philip should keep careful watch over things concerning his marriage, Aristander of Telmessus said that the woman was with child (since nothing that was empty required a seal) and that she would bring forth a son who would be high-spirited and like a lion in his nature. And on one occasion there appeared also a serpent stretched out beside Olympias; body as she slept, and they say this especially dulled the love of Philip and his ardor so that he did not thereafter often approach her – either because he feared certain sorceries that might be practiced upon him, or because he avoided her on the ground that she belonged to one greater than he.

However, the story of Plato is rather similar to the gospel's account:

Speusippus, Plato’s nephew, in his work called Plato’s Funeral Feast, and Clearchus in the Encomium on Plato, and Anaxilaïdes in the second book of his work On Philosophy, say that there was a report at Athens to the effect that Ariston [Plato’s father] sought to have union with Perictione [Plato’s mother], who was then of marriageable age, and did not attain his end; and that when he ceased from his violence he saw the appearance of Apollo; wherefore he kept her pure from marriage until she brought forth her child.[1]

Does this not sound similar to our account of Luke and Matthew? Indeed Diogenes' account is from the 3rd century A.D., but he is quoting literature from the 4th century B.C. I am not trying to say that the virgin birth is just a copy of other great stories. Or even that those stories stole from the Gospels. I am trying to point that Roman/Greek literature often included virgin birth narratives in order to show that such honorable and great men could not have been born like the normal human being. Is it so ridiculous to say that that virgin birth may have been an early Christian tradition to show that the Messiah of the Israelites was too great to be born by natural circumstances?

The great theologian Karl Barth did not feel the need to force the virgin birth to be historical. Rather, the story was written to make the point that salvation does not come through men - God's work to save humanity is not the result of the relations between a man and woman, but rather the result of God's intentional creation and planning in the world.

---

[1] Diogenes Laertiusm iii. 2. Compare the translation by R. D. Hicks in “Diogenes Laertius,” i, 1925, p. 277, in the Loeb Classical Library. The Greek text is also found in that edition.

Saved by Works?

I was raised to believe that we are justified through faith alone as stated in Ephesians 2:8:

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.

However, in recent months my studies and research has led to quite a new understanding. It is my conclusion that salvation is very much intertwined with works. Here are just a few reasons that I think works are necessary.

First, the current view that Christians are saved by their faith and that simply believing in their hearts will attain salvation is developed out of the western, Lutheristic understanding of faith. It was Luther who first designated that the individual's faith is sufficient to save the soul. Therefore, what that person does in the flesh has no inherent affect on their salvation. Yet, I think it is extremely important to point out that Luther did not consider James part of the canon of Scripture, which as we will see later, has a plethora to say about faith and works. Therefore, I find that this error - faith of the individual alone saves a man - is misled and frankly non-biblical. Thus, it is now pertinent to show salvation from the words of Jesus and the New Testament, with a focus on James. Then I will suggest the view of salvation with the help of Wright and Sanders.

Matthew 25 is one of the leading passages on salvation and judgment. I mentioned this in my previous post, however, I felt this was a good place to explain more. Matthew 25:31-44 states,

³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Jesus is quite clear that judgment is based on the actions (works). Jesus states that all the world will be gathered and they will be judged on their works of feeding the hungry, aiding the stranger, clothing the naked, healing the sick, and visiting the prisoner. Jesus demand for those who follow him follow the exact things that Jesus did during his ministry. Jesus was interested in saving the entire person, both body and soul. This story is quite evident that Jesus judges the world by what they do.

Yet, one will argue what Paul said in Ephesians 2:8. That we are saved by faith not by works. This is true, especially in light of our salvation based on Jesus' faith. But, this is where the Epistle of James becomes important. James in chapter 2 says,

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

James is quite clear that faith without works, is dead. His point is the same as Jesus: When you see someone in need and do nothing, you are not a follower of Jesus Christ. You works will be evidence of your faith on judgment day. Your faith will be judged by your works. We may not be saved by works, but we are inevitably judged by works. James goes on to say that even the demons believe in God (to have faith and to believe are the same in Greek: "pisteuo"), so what better are you than the demons if you believe. The difference is obedience. As the demons do not obey and will be judged, so also those who do not obey the commands of Jesus will be judged.

It is now quite evident why Luther didn't think that James was canonical. James contradicts the very foundational work of Luther to say that works doesn't matter. The works which Jesus prescribes are necessary for salvation. Therefore, let us no longer preach a gospel which requires a few repeated words, rather, let us preach the Gospel of Jesus which requires full submission and a change in life.

Justification/salvation should be understood with a covenantal understanding. E.P. Sanders, in his book Paul and Palestinian Judaism discusses the covenant. He suggests the idea of "covenant nomism" in which a Jew became a member of the people of God by birth/circumcision and they maintained their membership by the works of the Law. In other words, birth got them into the community and obedience to the Law kept them in the community. In the same way, faith brings one into the community of the Church, and thus the person is saved. Works then maintain their position within the community of the Church. A person is saved by being a part of the Church, not individualistically as Luther would have believed. We are granted salvation initially through Jesus' faith(fulness) which justifies our faith. However, if we disobey by not doing the works Jesus has called us to, then we forfeit our membership in the community of God and thus forfeit our salvation.