Having already established in my earlier essay Reflections on Yule Part Two-The Lie of Jesus's Existence that there is no evidence for an historical 'Jesus of Nazareth', I must turn to the the nonsense written by the writers of the gospels concerning his alleged 'virgin birth'. It would be helpful at this point to cite the main scriptural references which cover this 'miraculous' event.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
20 But while he 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.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 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.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus.
(Matthew 1:18-25, KJV)
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
(Luke 1:26-33, KJV)
Interestingly, the so-called 'virgin birth' is not referred to in the other synoptic gospel, Mark. The term synoptic is used for the first three gospels as they have a similar style and structure, narrating events like a story. The gospel of John is radically different in style and content, appearing to be influenced by Gnosticism. It is the only canonical gospel which refers to Christ as the logos and is certainly worthy of study. Considering that the gospel of Mark is older than Luke, it does appear strange that the writer should omit to relate the story of Jesus's divine and virgin birth. Could this be because this was a developing idea which only gradually came to be established to bolster the idea that Jesus was the 'son of God', and not part of the earliest narrative, that Mark also predates Matthew (an ongoing debate among Bible scholars).
The virgin birth account of Matthew and Luke are supposed to be a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy:
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14, KJV)
The term 'virgin' is a translation (or mistranslation) of the Hebrew almah , which has the usual meaning of 'young woman' and need not imply that the girl is virgo intacta! Anyone familiar with the mythologies of the ancient world, both Semitic and Indo-European would recognise instantly that the 'virgin birth' of Jesus is simply a common trope of a semi-divine god-man. Examples of such god-men include:
Perseus, son of Zeus (pronounced correctly like the Latin deus) and the woman, Danae.
Attis, son of an almond discarded by the gods and the woman, Nana who was also of divine or semi-divine birth, being the daughter of the Phrygian river-god, Sangarius, who was himself the son of Oceanus.
Ra, the son of the goddess, Neith and the product of parthenogenesis, which is an asexual form of reproduction where the egg requires no fertilisation.
Zoroaster, the son of the virgin, Dughdova and a shaft of light.
Alexander the Great, born of the mortal woman, Olympias of Epirus and the god, Zeus in the form of a serpent.
Romulus and Remus, sons of the mortal woman, Rhea Silvia and the god, Mars.
Asclepius, the son of the mortal woman, Coronis and the god, Apollo.
Helen of Troy, daughter of the mortal woman, Leda and the god, Zeus.
Krishna, the son of the mortal woman, Devaki and the god, Vishnu.
There are many other such examples in the pre-Christian and non-Christian world of demi-gods being born from the union of a god/goddess with a woman/man, whether this be a virgin birth or any other type of miraculous birth. Thus, the alleged 'virgin birth' of Jesus of Nazareth has very clear pagan antecedents.
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