THE VIRGIN CONCEPTION
or
Immaculate Conception?

There are only two Scriptures in the entire Old Testament that refer to the virgin conception of Jesus. Although there are many about the Messiah.

The Two Seeds

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Gen.3:15

This is the only place in the Bible where it is called her seed and not his seed. The lineage was never attributed to the woman but the man, this is why when we read the genealogies the women are not included in the records, it was the men who begat.

The Bible mentions the word "seed" in reference to a man's sperm more than 284 times concluding that GOD's intent was clear to man to maintain a clean gene pool for future generations. [Read Genesis 6 - the contaminated gene pool]

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel." Isa.7:14

The sign, which is usually interpreted as a miracle, is describing a virgin conception through a woman, not a man for God will be a son of man in human form.

God identified as the Son of man; Son of God

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Daniel 7:13

He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Daniel 3:25

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
Mark14:61-62

But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?

And Jesus said, I Am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Mark 1:1

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matthew 16:16

[just a sample of some of Christ's names]

Now the Hebrew word for virgin is Alma which can also have the concept of a young woman. At that time in Jewish culture almost unanimously all young women were virgins. In the Greek the word is translated Parthenos which has its only meaning as virgin. When the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into the Greek approximately 250 B.C. the word Alma was translated parthenos in Athens. It was at this time the Parthenon used virgins for their temple prostitution.

It was the miraculous conception without a man, having no human father. This would be a sign of a supernatural means of bringing the Emmanuel (the Anointed One, Christ) into the world.

Isa.9:6 tells us a child would be born; this refers to His birth and humanity. it also says a son will be given and this refers to His nature; as He already was the Son in His pre-existence. He is sent from heaven as the Son. (John 3:16-18; John 6:38-39; John 12:49; John 1:14)

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.

He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16-18

For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. John 6:38-39

And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

For I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. John 12:49

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14

So shall my Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Saith the LORD Isaiah 55:8, 11

Did Jesus need the virgin birth to be sinless?

No, He was already sinless as the eternal Son of God before His conception and birth.

In Luke 1:32 He is called the Son of the most high. v.35 He is called "that Holy One", "the Son of God". He is also called in Mt.1:23 "Emmanuel", all these titles are of God Himself who is without sin.

Heb. 4:15 tells us "He was at all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." 2 Cor. 5:21, " For He made Him who had no sin to be sin for us;" (also 1 Peter: 2:22, and 1 Jn. 3:5.)

This is the reason that God became man- to be a sacrifice for all mankind's sin.

The Necessity of the Virgin Conception

This is why it was necessary for a virgin conception. We find that the sin nature is passed on specifically through the male.

Rom. 5:12-21 tells us sin entered the world through one man [Adam] and that everyone is given a death warrant because of their sin nature.

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come.

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. "

What was necessary is that God enter the world like anyone else so that He could be a genuine human. If He was born of both a human father and mother there could have been no authentic claim to be Deity, He would be no different than any of us. On the other hand if He had come with no relation to human parentage then He could not claim to be a genuine human. The perfect solution worked out from before the foundation of the world and prophesied in Gen.3:15 the seed of the woman, a virgin conception.

This was the miraculous conception without a man, having no human Father. This would be a sign of a supernatural means of bringing Immanuel into the world.

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name, (Immanuel) God with us.” Isa.7:14

Did Mary have to remain a perpetual virgin after the conception and birth of Jesus Christ?" Did she have to be sinless, even though Scripture states "all have sinned?"

Mary, called Christ her Saviour? Luke 1:46-47

Roman Catholic dogma states that for sinlessness to occur - Mary was of necessity made sinless and for this reason Mary is given what the Roman Church calls the immaculate conception, meaning that she (not Christ) was without sin:

The Roman Catholic Dogma of "the Virgin Mary"
The "Immaculate Conception"

"Pope Pius IX in 1854 declaring and defining that the Virgin Mary was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin; i.e."born free from sin."

By proclamation of Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1954, this feast is to be celebtated yearly on May 31. In the new calendar of the Church this has been shifted to a memorial celebrated under the title "Queenship of Mary" on August 22. The queenship of Mary extends to the universal Church, for she is by divine prerogative Queen of heaven and earth. Her queenship is to be venerated "as something extraordinary, wondrous, eminently holy" (Ineffabilis Deus) The queenship of Mary has been declared formally by Pope Pius XII, thus "Mary is queen by grace, by divine relationship, by right of conquest and by singular election" (AAS, 38, 1946, 266). Source The Catholic Encyclopedia, p.508, "Queen Mary, Feast of the Blessed Mother)

"This doctrine "Immaculate Conception" was not observed in the West before the 11th century, under the title of the "Conception of Our Lady." The word "Immaculate" was added, and a new Mass and Office provided in 1863. Pope Pius IX declared by the bull Ineffabilis Deus (from which it "is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore must be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful". (Catholic Dictionary, Immaculate Conception, p. 246)"

Scripture: The word "Immaculate" according to the dictionary means "without spot or stain; without sin; pure; without error or blemish; faultless; flawless", Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary, Volume 1, A-L, p.321 Therefore, adding "Immaculate" to conception deliberately camouflaged Pius IX's dogma in order to lead Catholics to believe it is of the birth of Christ, deceiving its true meaning of 1863, i.e., "revealed by God" (believing it to be Scriptural), Immaculate Conception (having Catholics believe it is of Christ and not Mary) which refutes Scripture as stated above regarding sin.

Christians believe and hold firm that Scripture is the Word of God, therefore, from what "god" did the infallible Pope hear that "this doctrine must be believed firmly and constantly"?

God did not intervene in the human genealogy except when He Himself became man. Mary was not picked because she was sinless, but because of God’s grace.

Christ's sinlessness was not dependent on Mary's purity, she didn’t need to be preserved from sin to make Jesus sinless.

Biblically the sin nature is passed on through the man, it lies within the heart of man, in his very soul, the nature of our being. This is why it was not passed on to Jesus as He had no human Father. This is why there was need of a virgin birth.

The Bible teaches that sin is present at conception as David the Psalmist stated "in sin did my mother conceive me." Also stated in Job 14:4 "No one can make something clean out of something unclean." So Jesus was placed into the womb of Mary without the normal means of conception.

It was His human nature that needed to be conceived since He already existed as Deity. The virgin birth became the means to protect the sinless son of God as He became human.

In Luke 1:35 we read "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy one which is to be born will be called the Son of God."

The Holy Spirit then protected His human nature as it developed.

Because it is a medical fact that the father's blood determines the blood type of the child under normal conditions because the "placenta" filters the nutrients from the mother's blood so that the mother's blood does not enter the baby's blood stream.

Matthew 1:20-23 states:

" But while he [Joseph] thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

The angel tells Joseph "that which is conceived of the Holy Spirit." The egg was generated to life by the Holy Spirit as God the Son, who already existed, entered the egg under the superintending ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is the only human being born like this. From the time of the conception to his actual birth, Mary's womb was under the protection and sanctification of the Holy Spirit.

It is the male seed (sperm) where the sin nature is passed on. By having the virgin conception, this bypassed the natural process to insure no sin nature was transferred to the female chromosome. The female ovum itself has no blood, neither the male sperm; but it is when these come together in the fallopian tube that conception takes place, the blood is made and a new life begins. The blood type of the Son of God was a separate and precious type unlike any other, it had no sin. Because of this method of conception, it is not possible that Mary could have supplied any of her Adamic blood for Jesus who was to be the spotless lamb of God.

Neither is there any indication that God fertilized the egg of Mary through either the father or Holy Spirit's work. She conceived without human or divine fertilization so there was no sperm to hit the egg, Jesus who is the author of life made a biological miracle.

All tests of genetic law show that the virgin conception should have produced a daughter not a son. The human male determines the sex of the offspring. His entrance into the unfertilized egg of Mary caused it to develop without the expected duplication of the female X chromosomes. When an artificial egg duplicates its chromosomes in response to artificial stimulation. the result is female" ( animal studies) D. Hocking from his Christology course.

The Holy Spirit who is God, protected His sinlessness, as God the Son entered the womb and the egg of Mary, He took upon Himself a human nature in addition to His divine nature (clothed himself in humanity Phil. 2:5-8).

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Phillipins 2:5-8

There was no change of nature but an addition, adding humanity to His deity. The female egg source was of Mary, so Jesus was the real son of Mary, yet it was also the Holy Spirit that generated the life so He was begotten of the Father enjoying a special relationship before and during his earthly existence.

John 1:18 "No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." (begotten meaning eternal generation as the unique son, not begotten as humans are).

The sin nature from Adam is passed on through the man, this is why it was not passed on to Jesus, He had no human father.( in Adam all sinned). If one insists that Mary is without sin then they are denying the virgin conception of which was the supernatural means God chose to keep Jesus sinless. This whole concept of His earthly mother being preserved from original sin militates against the incarnation of the only sinless human to be born. If the Father could make Mary sinless then He could just as well have Jesus sinless- which is exactly what the scripture says. 1 Sam.2:2 says there is "no one holy as the Lord". In Rev.15:4 we see the redeemed singing the song of the lamb in heaven "You alone are Holy." In other words only God has intrinsic holiness as His nature. If you are without any sin, then you are Deity - There is only ONE Holy Father who is God Almighty. The Bible teaches the only one who would be born sinless after the fall would be Jesus (this is why this event is called the seed of the woman-excluding the man).

Catholic scholars point to Gen.3:15 to support their teaching of Mary being the co-redeemer. the standard Roman Catholic Bible the Douay Rheims version reads.

" I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shall lie in wait for her heel."

This is based on the translation of the Latin texts of the Vulgate Bible which has been the official Bible of the Roman Catholic church since the fourth century.

Mary…" most completely triumphed over him ,(the ancient serpent) and thus crushed his head with her immaculate foot." (Pope Pius IX Ineffabilis Deus)

The Hebrew Masoretic text which is the original language of the Old Testament reads quite different then the Douay Rheims version. The one who will crush the serpent's head is in the masculine not feminine. So instead of reading like " She shall crush thy head" it should be translated "He shall crush thy head, the God/man. This verse is speaking about Christ’s future victory over Satan, not Mary. The He is a masculine single pronoun in Hebrew, meaning He does this Himself, and He does not share this victory with anyone else. The New Testament agrees with this.

In Rom.16:20 It states, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan"--

" It was for this very reason that the Son of God appeared to destroy the devils work." (1 Jn.3:8)

That "by His death He might destroy him who had the power of death-that is the devil."

To attribute any of this to Mary even as a co-victor is to take the significance of the birth of the messiah away, and it diminishes the purpose and victory that He alone accomplished by His work on the cross.

In Acts 20:28 it states "God purchased the church with his own blood."

The blood from Emmanuel’s veins, is the very reason there had to be a virgin birth. Mary was only the vehicle for 9 months, she had no sharing in any other purpose that the spotless lamb would accomplish, except to share with Joseph in bringing him up in the ways of the Lord.

The Bible does not confirm Mary as the triumphant one over the devil, she did not die for our sin.

Col.2:15 says it was Jesus who humiliated Satan when He died for sin..

One needs to believe in the Biblical account of the virgin birth to be a Christian, when a denomination, specifically the Roman Church, changes Scripture, they lose the miracle of God using fallen humanity to accomplish His decrees. To actively and consciously refuse the facts of the means of the Son of God's birth, denies His Divinity and gives it to Mary as goddess. This is why the Apostles creed and the Nicene creed had mention of the virgin conception, it was this important.