Do you believe in the Virgin Birth?
Christmas is not just about shopping and flirting, eating and drinking, anger and remorse. It is also about the Incarnation. But how many people believe in the Christian story of Christmas, and how strong is their belief? To find out, The Spectator approached leading public figures in the Churches, in the arts and the media and in politics, and asked them: 'Do you believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ?' Here are their challenging — and sometimes surprising — answers.
The Most Reverend and Right Hon. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury Yes; I believe that the conception of Jesus was a moment when the creative action of God produced a reality as new in its way as the first moment of creation itself. And I believe that what opened the way for this was the work of God through human history over centuries, coming to its fullest moment in Mary's consent to God's call. The recognition of the uniqueness and newness of Jesus is a recognition of the absolute freedom of God to break the chains of cause and effect that lock us into our sins and failures; the virginal conception is an outward sign of this divine freedom to make new beginnings.
His Eminence Cardinal Cormac MurphyO'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster Of course. All teaching about Mary the Mother of God points us to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. The miracle of his birth shows us that he is God-with-us. Jesus has only God as Father and Mary as Mother and in his birth we are adopted as children of the Father in the Holy Spirit. We look to Mary as a Mother who loves us.
Cohn Wilson No, of course I don't, and I imagine you'll have some difficulty finding any educated person who believes in it, or any other Christian dogma. Of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, only the third survives.
James Delingpole Look, I've successfully survived 42 years as a member of the Church of England without ever having to give serious thought to the Virgin Birth and I jolly well don't see why I should be put on the spot now just for the sake of a Speccie feature. I guess that makes me a 'Don't Know', which is a terrible thing to admit given that I'm halfway towards being a pillar of my beloved Chelsea Old Church. But that's the great thing about being C of E, isn't it? If I were Catholic, I suppose I'd have to find the issue intensely important. Me, I care more about hymns having the right tunes, and the Prayer Book being 1662.
Ann Widdecombe If Christ was also God, then he cannot have been born purely of humans, so his incarnation as a man must have been via a virgin. Thus I see no reason to doubt the testimony of scripture that Jesus was not the son of Joseph, but of God.
Christopher Howse I gladly believe Jesus was born of a virgin. The teaching is clear. It was believed in the earliest times, and was no more likely then. What tended to repel ancient pagans was Godmade-man humiliatingly spending months in the womb. But that too Christians believe: he assumes our humanity, which he derives from his mother. The same person is pre-existent God and an individual little foetus. That is the great mystery which reconciles us to God and destroys sin and death. We only know about it because we were told, and we were told because, after dying on the cross, Jesus rose again and people saw him and listened to him.
That is a more impressive miracle than mere parthenogenesis.
Edward Stourton Hmmm I can see the logic which argues that if you believe in the Incarnation, you need to believe in the Virgin Birth, so I suppose I ought to say yes . . . but I wouldn't say it is a constant source of inspiration when I reflect on the great questions of life.
The Revd Professor Keith Ward I do not believe in the Virgin Birth. The point of the Biblical account is to see Jesus as the start of a new creation, fulfilling the hopes of the 'virgin Israel'. I do not dogmatically deny it, but think it probably legendary.
The Revd Nicky Gumbel, Vicar, Holy Trinity, Brompton I do believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ. I believe Jesus is the unique Son of God. The Virgin Birth was a miracle. The real issue facing the world today is 'Is there a God?' If there is, then miracles become a real possibility. If God is God, then he created matter, reason, time, space and all scientific laws and therefore is at liberty to interfere. If there is no God, then miracles are a problem. But philosophy and science alone will not answer the crucial question. Scientific laws are not like the laws of pure mathematics that cannot be broken. Rather they are descriptive. Once I came to believe in the great miracle — that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us — I had no problem in believing in the Virgin Birth.
Father Michael Holman SJ, Provincial of the Society of Jesus, British Province If we do not believe in the Virgin Birth, we deny the very divinity of Christ, relegating him to simply a great human being, but not the Son
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