Birth Narratives provide insight into doctrine of incarnation

How can the insight of the birth Narratives be measured?

Either accepting or rejecting the accounts of Jesus’ birth given by Matthew and Luke, especially with regard to the alleged virgin birth

what does it state in Matthew's account?

Matthew states that ‘All this tok place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son…’

what does Matthew quote from?

The Septuagint, where the Greek uses the word Parthenos = virgin to translate the word ‘almah’

what does the word ‘almah’ mean? What does this insinuate about Isaiah?

Did not technically mean ‘a virgin’, but rather ‘a young woman of marriageable age.’ Thus, Isaiah didn't did not necessarily expect the Messiah to be born a virgin. (account sees the birth of Jesus as the fulfilment of the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14).

what do many people believe about Isaiah?

the text refers to the nation of Israel giving birth to a Messiah

What is an argument against the virgin birth Narratives?

There are several instances in ancient mythology (recurring theme) of heroes being born of a virgin, e.g. Hercules, who was the son of a divine father and a human mother. The virgin birth story could have been made up by the early church, which wanted to portray Jesus as the son of God

How does the story correspond well to other supernatural elements associated with the account of Jesus’ birth in both Matthew and Luke?

The angelic visitations, and in Matthew the appearance of a mysterious star which guided the Wise Men. The alleged appearance of the star was a common occurrence at the birth of a notable person in the ancient world

What are all these things associated with? (star, angelic visitations)

Has mythological associations, the birth Narratives would be much more credible without them

What did some scholars, led by Bultmann, call to do?

Demythologise the birth Narratives

what is demythologisation?

The essential truth of the Gospel could be made acceptable to modern people. The world of the New Testament is alien to us, we cannot believe in the inventions of God or supernatural beings in the affairs of our lives. Therefore, we must deconstruct the myth to find out the true message behind it

what do some people do with the birth Narratives? What do they argue about pagan myths?

They readily accept these accounts. They argue that early Christian writers were unlikely to be influenced by pagan myths

Despite the differences between Matthew and Luke's birth Narratives, what do both agree on?

The essential points about Jesus’ birth: that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and that Mary was a virgin

what does Luke insist on that is a strength? How does Paul support this?

The historical accuracy of his Gospel. In several of Paul's letters, he provides testimony that Christians believed from the earliest times that Jesus was the son of God