(December 19, 2013 at 8:12 am)xpastor Wrote:(December 18, 2013 at 9:43 pm)Lemonvariable72 Wrote: I'm I think I missed the part in the op where aIn the OP I did write:
Xpastor actually said that the virgin is proof of divinity, because what I read demonstrated a possible origin of the story and didnt really address the deity bit. Maybe drich read a different post.
Quote:Personally, I think the claim [of virgin birth] was more likely to have originated with his fan club after they started to claim divine status for him. There are plenty of examples in the ancient world of hero-figures whose birth was said to have resulted from a human woman being impregnated by a god—e.g., Alexander the Great.
If Drich wants to insist on calling virgin birth a sign of divinity, that's OK with me. It is in no way inconsistent, as he seems to think, with what I said above, that the belief in the virgin birth is associated with a claim to divine status.
Of course, we differ profoundly on whether it actually happened. Just to clarify a phrase which the rest of you probably got but may have gone past my clueless critic, when I speak of Jesus' "fan club" I mean the early Christians, the ones telling the stories about Jesus, some accurate recollection of his teaching and some legendary miracle stories to make a point, both of which were later incorporated into the written gospels.
Okay I see what you mean. I would to add one thing that backs up your point. Mark, our earliest gospel has no virgin birth, and many scholars believe that the first copies of luke had no birth scene either. That just leaves Matthew which was written ( correct me if I'm wrong) about 70-80 AD. In a era with little literacy and average life expectancy of 40 years that means most people that were old enough to remember Jesus in any real way were dead by the time Matthew was written in Greece.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
