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30 chapters
Preface
Preface
This book is intended to be a literary and critical examination of the historical evidence for the Virgin Birth. It is not the writer's desire to discuss the evidence from the point of view of an advocate; with a view, that is to say, of obtaining an uncompromising verdict. His aim is rather to trace and to define the earliest Christian tradition upon the subject, and to show the limits and the bearings of the historical question. A limited aim such as this ought not to require much justificatio
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Abbreviations
Abbreviations
GHD. V. H. Stanton's The Gospels as Historical Documents , Parts I and II (1903-9). GHT. F. C. Burkitt's The Gospel History and its Transmission (1906). Gr. ii. J. H. Moulton's Grammar of New Testament Greek , Vol. II (1919). HDB. Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible (1898-1904). HJ. The Hibbert Journal. HS. Horae Synopticae , Sir John C. Hawkins (2nd ed., 1909). ICC. The International Critical Commentary. INT. Jülicher's Introduction to the New Testament , Eng. Tr. (1904); J. Moffatt's An Introdu
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I. St. Paul
I. St. Paul
Rom. i. 3 f. reads: “... his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead .” Here the thought of the Virgin Birth is said to lie implicit in the opening words of the passage (cf. Orr, The Virgin Birth of Christ , pp. 119 ff.; also Knowling, Testimony of St. Paul to Christ , p. 313; and Sweet, The Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ , p. 237 n.). Again, the exeges
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II. Q
II. Q
In treating St. Mark's Gospel , our first task is to ask if its silence is complete. This leads at once to a discussion of Mk. vi. 3: “ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary...? ” Parentage among the Jews was traced on the father's side. The passage may therefore imply that Joseph was already dead. Archdeacon Allen thinks that “son of Mary” is “more naturally an allusion to the supernatural circumstances of the birth of Jesus” (ICC., St. Mt., p. 156). 9 Without going so far as this, Canon B
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III. St. Mark's Gospel
III. St. Mark's Gospel
However we explain the phrase, we ought not to interpret Mk. vi. 3 as implying a knowledge of the Virgin Birth on the part of the people of Nazareth. Mt. xiii. 55 and Lk. iv. 22 directly exclude this view. 10 “Who would allude to the miraculous birth of somebody as a reason for not believing in him ?” (Thompson, ib., p. 138 n.). But did the Evangelist know of the Virgin Birth? Has a knowledge of the doctrine shaped his phrasing in Mk. vi. 3? The question is complicated by critical considerations
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IV. Acts
IV. Acts
Does the silence of Acts permit us to draw any inferences concerning St. Luke's knowledge of the Virgin Birth tradition? The question ought to be considered apart altogether from Lk. i, ii. Having regard to the character of the work we do not think that any one conclusion can safely be drawn. The Acts obviously differs from the Gospels, and we cannot, as in the case of the Pauline Epistles, look to it for any sufficient account of the writer's Christology. It would therefore be unsafe to say tha
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V. The Epistle to the Hebrews
V. The Epistle to the Hebrews
The silence of the Fourth Gospel regarding the Virgin Birth is now generally admitted; 22 the only question being whether there is not a passing reference to the doctrine in Jn. i. 13. 23 What the writer's silence means is one of the most difficult problems in the question of the Virgin Birth. The case is different from any we have yet considered. For the doctrine of the Virgin Birth must have been perfectly well known to the Fourth Evangelist. He was well acquainted with the Synoptic Gospels, 2
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VI. The Fourth Gospel
VI. The Fourth Gospel
As the problem is usually treated, the silence of the Fourth Gospel is said to mean either “tacit rejection” or “tacit acceptance” of the tradition. It may be questioned, however, if these alternatives sufficiently cover the possibilities of the case. “Tacit rejection” under any circumstances means repudiation of the doctrine. But “tacit acceptance” may mean anything from comparative indifference to whole-hearted assent. As containing the sharper issue, the case for “tacit rejection” may be cons
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VII. The Pastoral and the Catholic Epistles and the Apocalypse
VII. The Pastoral and the Catholic Epistles and the Apocalypse
We may summarize the historical results reached in the present chapter as follows:— 1. There is no certain instance of a New Testament writer who knew of the Virgin Birth tradition, and yet repudiated it. It is more than doubtful if an exception can be found even in the case of the Fourth Gospel, though the Evangelist makes no doctrinal use of the tradition. If the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews knew of the doctrine, the same is probably true of that writer also. 2. The doctrine had no pla
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VIII. Summary
VIII. Summary
3. The tradition was not a matter of public knowledge during the period covered in common by the Pauline Epistles, the Second Gospel, and Q. 4. It is also probable that the same conclusion should be extended to the period covered by the Second Gospel alone, if this Book is dated later than St. Paul's lifetime, as it usually is. Until we have examined the Virgin Birth tradition reflected in the First and Third Gospels, it would not be right to discuss these results further, except to say that an
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I. Narratives and Passages Said to be Inconsistent With the View
I. Narratives and Passages Said to be Inconsistent With the View
At first sight Blass's argument would seem to show a way of escape from this conclusion. He defends the “Western” reading by showing the close connexion which it has with the following verse. “The ‘ to-day have I begotten Thee’ stands in opposition to the ‘thirty years’ , and the ‘Thou art my Son’ likewise to ‘being as was supposed the son of Joseph ’ ” (op. cit., p. 169). The phrase “as was supposed” (verse 23) will fall to be discussed next. Meanwhile we may observe that the connexion which B
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II. The Passage Lk. i. 34 f
II. The Passage Lk. i. 34 f
In the text as it stands, in answer to the angel's words in Lk. i. 30-3, Mary says: “ How shall this be, seeing I know not (οὐ γινώσκω) a man? ” The interpretation of this verse depends upon the force we give to the word γινώσκω. Schmiedel (EB., col. 2956) thinks that γινώσκω in this verse “cannot mean the act of concubitus for which the word is often employed” , because it is here used in the present tense. On the other hand, the quite general sense of knowledge in the way of acquaintanceship,
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III. Summary and Conclusion
III. Summary and Conclusion
It should be observed that the arguments we have employed in the present chapter do not compel us to take the view that St. Luke never at any time taught the Virgin Birth. They are satisfied if we can suppose that he had no knowledge of the doctrine when Lk. i, ii was first written. To say that i. 34 f. is a correction, inserted by a redactor or reader, whose name we do not know, but who is not St. Luke, is to take two steps where we have ground for one only. All that our study entitles us to cl
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I. Lk. i. 34 f. and the Textual Question
I. Lk. i. 34 f. and the Textual Question
In view of this position, it is important to ask whether interpolations may not exist which have left no trace whatever of their origin in the abundant documentary evidence we possess. A representative statement of this view may be found in the words of Dr. James Moffatt (INT., p. 36 f.): “Even where the extant text does not suggest any break, the possibility of interpolations cannot be denied outright; the distance between the oldest MSS., or even the oldest versions, and the date of compositio
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II. Linguistic and Stylistic Examination of Lk. i. 34 f
II. Linguistic and Stylistic Examination of Lk. i. 34 f
The importance of the linguistic argument is manifest in such works as Sir John C. Hawkins's Horae Synopticae (2nd ed., 1909) and Dr. W. K. Hobart's Medical Language of St. Luke (1882). It has also received great emphasis in the books in which Harnack has sought to prove the Lukan authorship and early date of the Acts, viz. Luke the Physician , The Acts of the Apostles , and The Date of the Acts and of the Synoptic Gospels . It may not be without value to ask how far the linguistic argument can
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III. Summary and Conclusion
III. Summary and Conclusion
We are unable to accept the theory that ἐπεὶ ἄνδρα οὐ γινώσκω is an insertion of unknown origin, for the following reasons: 1. On the whole, the more natural interpretation of verse 35 is that in itself it implies the Virgin Birth. It is easier, on this view, to explain ἐπελεύσεται and ἐπισκιάσει followed by διὸ καί. (Cf. Schmiedel, col. 2957 n.; Plummer, St. Lk. , p. 24f.; Lobstein, op. cit., p. 67.) 2. No textual evidence can be cited in support of the theory. This is frankly admitted by Mr. T
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I. A Suggested Theory
I. A Suggested Theory
The historical value of the new information is a question we are not now considering. It is part of our theory, however, that it satisfied the mind of St. Luke; to him the Virgin Birth was historic fact. Probably the story appealed to him at once as a fitting explanation of the unique personality of Jesus. It was a tradition rich in doctrinal possibilities; it provoked reflection, and it answered questions. The Evangelist saw at once that the story must find a place in his narrative. Fortunately
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II. Literary Conditions Under Which the Gospels Were Written
II. Literary Conditions Under Which the Gospels Were Written
It will scarcely be denied that the possibility of interpolation by an original author has often been overlooked by many critics. They are not slow to find the insertions of later readers and scribes, but often it seems tacitly to be assumed that the original writers must have written with logical and almost unerring precision. Curiously enough, something like the Verbal Inspiration of Scripture is required to justify some of the critical results reached. This is a doctrine long since discredite
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III. The Objections to Which the Above Theory is Exposed
III. The Objections to Which the Above Theory is Exposed
(2) A second thing to be remembered is that, if our theory is true, we do not know anything of the actual circumstances under which the new tradition was introduced into the Gospel; it may have been in haste . Did the story reach the Evangelist at the last moment? Or, if not, was there a process of sifting and testing of the new information, which left little time when at length the fateful decision was taken, and the Evangelist took up his pen? Again we cannot prove these things, but again we c
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IV. Certain Consequences
IV. Certain Consequences
(3) It is the fact just noted which helps us to date the first appearance of the Virgin Birth tradition; its date is bound up with the question of the date of the Third Gospel. This is a question which will receive further treatment in our final chapter (pp. 117 ff.). (4) Our hypothesis postulates an earlier narrative of the Birth of Jesus which knew nothing of the Virgin Birth. The relation of this narrative to the later tradition needs carefully to be considered. We have already expressed the
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I. The Characteristics of the Genealogy
I. The Characteristics of the Genealogy
(3) The verb ἐγέννησεν is used throughout of legal, not physical, descent. 80 This inference is drawn from the artificial character of the Genealogy. Its omissions are obvious, and must have been so both to the compiler and his readers. “The contemporaries of the Evangelist knew their Bible at least as well as we do. They knew that there were more than fourteen generations between David and the Captivity, that Joram did not beget Uzziah, and that Josiah did not beget Jeconiah” (Burkitt, Evan. Da
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II. The Genuineness of Mt. i, ii
II. The Genuineness of Mt. i, ii
(2) The Vocabulary and constructional forms of cc. i, ii are also characteristic of the Gospel as a whole. Burkitt ( Evan. Da-Meph. , ii, p. 259) instances eight words from these chapters as “characteristic Matthaean words” . These words are given below. The statistics have been obtained by tracing the record of the words in Moulton and Geden's Concordance (doubtful cases and quotations being omitted). In addition to the list given by Burkitt, we may note also the following: Other words which re
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III. The Unity of Mt. i, ii
III. The Unity of Mt. i, ii
(2) As regards the artificial structure of the Genealogy, we may note that this too is characteristic of the First Evangelist's manner. He is fond of arranging his material in groups of threes. Allen enumerates twenty-three instances outside cc. i, ii (ib., p. lxv). Similarly the double seven reflects “the author's penchant for that sacred number” (Moffatt, INT., p. 250, who notes four other examples (p. 257)). (3) We are unable to illustrate from the rest of the Gospel the legal use of γεννάω,
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IV. Implications, Sources, and Results
IV. Implications, Sources, and Results
(3) The question of the source or sources from which the Evangelist obtained the narrative of Mt. i. 18-25 cannot be adequately discussed in itself and in relation to the First Gospel alone. Nevertheless it is worth while to ask how far we can go within those limits. From the evidence supplied by the Gospel itself, we cannot say that the narrative rests on the testimony of Joseph. If the Virgin Birth is historically true, this view has much probability in its favour. But to urge such an origin f
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Appendix To Chapter V. The Textual Problem of Mt. i. 16
Appendix To Chapter V. The Textual Problem of Mt. i. 16
(A) First, we have the text followed in the A V. and R V. , which reads: Ἰακὼβ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωσὴφ τὸν ἄνδρα Μαρίας, ἐξ ἧς ἐγεννήθη Ἰησοῦς ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστός. This is the text of all extant uncials, very many minuscules, and many versions (Sanday). “It is definitely attested by Tertullian, De Carne Christi , § 20” (Burkitt). (B) A different text is attested by the “ Ferrar ” Group . It is implied by a number of important MSS. of the Old Latin Version , by the Armenian , and by the Curetonian
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I. The Virgin Birth in the First and Third Gospels
I. The Virgin Birth in the First and Third Gospels
It cannot escape our notice that, in spite of their obvious differences, Lk. i. 34 f. and Mt. i. 18-25 contain what is substantially the same statement, a statement which in each passage is central. In Mt. i. 20 we read: “ That which is conceived (τὸ ... γεννηθέν) in her is of the Holy Spirit ” ; and in Lk. i. 35, after the reference to the Holy Spirit, we read: “ That which is to be born (τὸ γεννώμενον) shall be called holy, the Son of God ” . There is much to be said for the view that both exp
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II. The Date of the Gospels in Relation to the Virgin Birth Tradition
II. The Date of the Gospels in Relation to the Virgin Birth Tradition
(1) The first period we may note is the closing years of the first century. For this view the main arguments are (i) the supposed dependence of St. Luke upon Josephus, and (ii) the ecclesiastical tone of certain passages in the First Gospel. (2) A second view brings both Mk. and Lk. within St. Paul's lifetime, and dates Mt. shortly after the fall of Jerusalem. This is the opinion of Harnack ( Date of Acts and of the Synoptic Gospels ). It has not won a large following, either in Germany or in th
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III. The Relation of the Question of the Historical Value of the Gospels to the Problem
III. The Relation of the Question of the Historical Value of the Gospels to the Problem
What bearing has such an estimate of the Gospels upon the historic truth of the Virgin Birth tradition? Obviously, it does not save us from the trouble of testing the tradition by such tests as we can apply. That the tradition has found a place in the New Testament is not in itself a certificate of truth. The Evangelists certainly believed the tradition; they were intellectually honest; but they may have been mistaken. The ultimate question is the truth of the authorities upon which they rested
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IV. The Question of Alternative Theories
IV. The Question of Alternative Theories
It is not strange, perhaps, that some writers have pressed these contradictions into the service of Apologetics. Thus, for example, Dr. Orr does not scruple to say: “As in the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrim, ‘neither so did their witness agree together’ ” (op. cit., p. 152). He even presents the remarkable argument that Dr. Cheyne's theory “gives the death-stroke to all the theories that have gone before it” , and yet is itself “absolutely baseless” (ib., p. 178). Sweet's argument is more
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V. Doctrinal Considerations
V. Doctrinal Considerations
But if primarily the question is one of evidence, it does not stop there. The historical and the theological aspects of the problem overlap; we cannot determine the question by weighing evidence alone. If we attempt to confine ourselves to a purely historical inquiry, the verdict must be “Not proven” . 108 It is true, on the one hand, that the late appearance of the tradition is not an insuperable difficulty. The theory of a long-treasured secret has a logic of its own. On the other hand, by the
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