The Virginal Conception of Jesus in the New Testament

Abstract

THE VIRGINAL conception of Jesus by Mary has recently become the topic of discussion in American Roman Catholic circles. There have been comments in diocesan newspapers and reports of the dismay of the Mariological Society in the U.S.A., and there have been references to the discussion of this topic in many and varied Roman Catholic circles in Europe, in technical theological periodicals, and in not a few specifically devoted to Mariology. The discussion ranges far at times, involving systematic theologians as well as exegetes, and in at least one instance a national conference of bishops. The issue involves the virginal conception of Jesus, i.e., whether He was historically conceived by Mary who was and remained bodily a virgin in the process, or, in other words, whether He was conceived without the intervention of human seed. It is necessary to be precise about this, because in popular writing and sometimes in Protestant theological treatment or in Roman Catholic discussions in other modern languages the question has been referred to as the Virgin Birth. This mode of reference may be defensible, for it is based on early credal formulas, such as natus ex Maria virgine. But it should be avoided in technical discussions, because it is often ambiguous. The ambiguity comes from a different notion in Catholic tradition which asserts that Mary remained a virgin even at the time of Jesus' birth (i.e., that His birth was miraculous, or caused no rupture of the hymen or other bodily lesions). The notion of the virginal parturition has no basis in Scripture and comes from post-NT and patristic writings; it even acquired status in Mariology. 2 But because of this development it is better to avoid the term