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Virgin Birth of Christ

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | © The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Virgin Birth of Christ. The Christian doctrine that Jesus was conceived by the Virgin Mary by the operation of the Holy Spirit and without sexual relations with a man (one should strictly speak of ‘virginal conception’; that Mary remained a virgin even in giving birth is a later idea).

Among modern Christians belief in the virgin birth is often taken as a touchstone of orthodoxy, both by Catholics, for whom it is involved with mariology, and Protestants. Some liberal theologians have criticized the doctrine as setting Christ's humanity apart from ours. They have also drawn attention to the widespread claim of virgin births in many religions (e.g. Mahāmāyā and the Buddha, Kuntī/Pṛtha and Karna, Zoroaster and the saviour, Saoshyant), and have suggested that this is a reverential theme introduced for apologetic reasons. Even stronger criticisms have been made by feminist writers and theologians, who point out that Mary is not even accorded the participation of parthenogenesis if perpetual virginity (see above) is affirmed.

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