RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Vinson. Virgin Birth
grammatical in the use of the baptismal formula. Virgil and Sidonius, considering this unjustifiable, appealed to Pope Zacharias, who decided against Boniface. Two years later (748) Boniface in his turn lodged complaints against Virgil and Sidonius with the pope, though Virgil was the special object of attack, being charged with intrigue against Boniface and also with holding to the spherical form of the earth. It is uncertain whether he was ever brought to trial, and he certainly was never condemned. On June 15, 767, Virgil received consecration, and was thereafter insistent in maintaining his episcopal rights and dignity. Besides founding many other churches in his see, Virgil built one in honor of St. Rupert at Salzburg, in which he him-
self was buried. Virgil was active also in the conversion of the Alpine Wends, for whom he appointed a bishop in partibus, named’ Modestus. By his compatriots Virgil was called the ‘‘ geometer,” and he was interested in history, inspiring Aribo of Freising to write the Vita Corbiniant, himself composing the Monumenta necrologia monasterii S. Petri Salisburgensis (ed. 8S. Herzberg-Frinkel, in MGH, Nec., vol. ii., 1890). In 1233 he was canonized by Gregory Exe (A. Hauck.) BisiiocrapHy: Consult the literature under SALzBuRG, ArcupiocrsE or; the Vita in MGH, Script., xi (1854), 86-95, and in ASM, III., ii. 309-318; Rettberg, KD, ii. 223 sqq.; Hauck, KD, i. 568-569; F. J. Buss, Winfrid- Bonifacius, ed. R. Ritter von Scherer, pp. 293 sqq., Graz, 1880; KL, xii, 1002-05,
Historical Outline of Attitude Toward the Doctrine (§ 1).
Modern Demand for Reopening the Discussion (§ 2).
Infancy Narratives Integral in the Gospels (§ 3).
The Evidence in Matthew (§ 4).
The Evidence in Luke (§ 5).
The Genealogies in Matthew and Luke (§ 6).
The Accounts in Relation to Joseph and Mary (§ 7).
Problem of Oral or Written Sources (§ 8).
The Angelic Appearances (§ 9).
VIRGIN BIRTH.
The Magi and Herod (§ 10).
Fact Contained in Legend (§ 11).
Relation of Isa. vii. 14 (§ 12).
Development of Sonship Idea (§ 13).
Attitude of the Disciples (§ 14).
No References in Mark or Paul (§ 15).
Silence of the Rest of the New Testament (§ 16).
Ascetic Influence (§ 17).
Views of Ebionites, Ignatius, Aristides, and Justin (§ 18).
Melito, Irenzus, Gnostics, tullian (§ 19).
Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus (§ 20).
and Ter-
Origen, and
Legendary or Mythical Theory (§ 21).
Arguments from the Old Testament (§ 22).
Arguments from Classical Antiquity (§ 23).
Arguments from Ancient Messianic Longings (§ 24).
Arguments from Folk-Lore (§ 25).
Criticism of the Legendary Theory (§ 26).
Is the Dogma Hssential to Christianity? (§ 27).
Dogmatic Bearing on Sinlessness (§ 28).
Dogmatic Bearing on Incarnation (§ 29).
Summary (§ 30).
The doctrine that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary through the operation of the Holy Ghost received its first authoritatively formulated statement in the earliest Roman Creed, not later than 150 a.p., and probably earlier (in its earliest form dated by Harnack about 140, by Zahn about 120, and by Kattenbusch about 100; cf. AposTiEs’ CREED). So far as its Scriptural basis is concerned, this rests exclusively on the narratives in Matthew and Luke, and a consideration of it involves an inquiry concerning (i) the nature and origin of the narratives as they appear in those gospels; (2) their relation to the rest of the New Testament; (3) the position of early church writers; (4) supernatural birth stories in comparative religion; (5) and dogmatic bearings of the subject.
The traditional doctrine of the Church is found in the great confessions, e.g., in the Apostles’ Creed, ‘“T believe . . . in Jesus Christ, . . . who was con-
ceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the 1. Historical Virgin Mary’”’; and in the Nicene Outline of Creed, ‘“‘ who . . . was incarnate by
Attitude the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary.” Toward the This remained for nearly 1,500 years
Doctrine. the common, well-nigh undisputed
tradition of the Church, even among the Arians and the Socinians (cf. the Racovian Catechism). In the latter part of the eighteenth century an assault on the doctrine was made by Thomas Paine (Age of Reason) and by Voltaire (Examen important de milord Bolingbroke, ch. x.), and most of the Deists and Rationalists (see Drism and Ra- TIONALISM AND SUPERNATURALISM) declared for the natural explanation of Jesus’ birth. In the nineteenth century Schleiermacher, while affirming the natural paternity of Joseph, accounted for the
archetypal nature of Jesus’ consciousness through a creative divine deed in his birth, by means of which the original idea of man became realized. Paulus and Strauss sought a natural explanation for the event; De Wette treated the stories as myths—poetic symbols of religious ideas; and according to Renan Joseph was Jesus’ father. In the last half of the nineteenth century the traditional view was elaborated by F. K. L. Steinmeyer, Die Geschichte der Geburt des Herrn und seiner ersten Schritte mit Bezug auf die neueste Kritik, Berlin, 1873; F. L. Godet in his Commentary on Luke, Eng. transl., 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1875; B. Weiss in his Life of Jesus, Eng. transl., 3 vols., Edinburgh, 1884; C. Gore, Incarnation of the Son of God, London, 1891, and Dissertations on Subjects connected with the Incarnation, 1896. Representing the critical position are C. L. A. Sydow, Die wunderbare Geburt Jesu, Berlin, 1873; H. Usener, Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen, i., Bonn, 1889; P. Lobstein, The Virgin Birth of Christ, Eng. transl., London, 1903; Hillmann, Die Kindheitsgeschichte Jesu nach Lukas, JPT, 1891; H. J. Holtzmann, Lehrbuch der neutestamentlichen Theologie, 2 vols., Freiburg, 1897; and P. Rohrbach, Geboren von der Jungfrau, Berlir, 1898. The discussion became acute, however, when C. Schrempf of Wiirttemberg in 1892 declined to assent to the Apostles’ Creed, especially to this article. This became the immediate occasion of a vigorous and heated discussion in Germany, echoes of which were heard across the channel and in America. Of the works pro and con, only a few are mentioned. For the doctrine appeared A. H. Cremer, Zum Kampf um das Apostolicum, 7th ed., Berlin, 1893; Th. Zahn, Das apostolische Symbolum, Leipsic, 1893; G. Wohlenberg, Empfangen vom heiligen Geist, ge-
Virgin Birth