耶穌為童女所生 The Virgin Birth
作者: 史鮑爾 (R.C. Sproul) 譯者: 姚錦榮
摘自《神學入門》《Essential Truths of the
Christian Faith》P77 ,更新傳道會出版http://www.crmnj.org/
耶穌為童女所生的教義，指出耶穌的出生是神跡性受孕的結果：童女馬利亞靠著聖靈的能力，無需為人父者，懷了一嬰孩。基督這神跡性的誕生，正證明了祂擁有與眾不同的本質。祂由女子所生，這說明了祂具有人性，是我們中間的一份子，但又和我們不完全相同，我們是帶著原罪出生，但基督沒有原罪。
耶穌為童女所生一事也和基督的神性有關。雖然神也可以循別的方法進入世界，但這神跡卻顯明了基督的神性。天使迦百列向馬利亞的宣告，顯明了這一點，當天使告訴馬利亞，她將要生子時，馬利亞十分困惑地對天使說：「我沒有出嫁，怎麽有這事呢？」（路1：34)
迦百列對馬利亞的回答，使我們對童女生子一事有了更確切的理解：「聖靈要臨到你身上，至高者的能力要蔭庇你，因此所要生的聖者必稱為神的兒子」（路1：35)，接著，天使又說：「因為出於神的話，沒有一句不帶能力的。」（路1：37)
現代科學化的人工受孕，是非神跡式的一種受孕方式。一般來說，除了人工受孕外，一個胎兒的成形，只要透過正常普通的肉體關系就會發生，這是很平常的事。如果一位女子未與男子發生性交而受孕，這不但違反了生物現象，而且顯然違反了自然定律。
馬利亞的孩子不是單由馬利亞而生的，孩子的「父親」是聖靈。路加福音說到，聖靈臨到馬利亞身上，祂的能力蔭庇她，這正回應了聖靈在創世時借著運行而成就的工作，也說明了這個嬰孩的出生是特別的，祂的父親是神自己。
通常不相信耶穌為童女所生的人，也不會相信耶穌是真神的兒子，因此之故，耶穌為童女所生可視為一個分水嶺的教義，將正統信仰的基督徒與不信耶穌覆活與救贖的人，分離開來。
總結
1．聖經清楚且毫不含糊地教導童女生子的教義。
2．耶穌從女子所生的事實顯明耶穌的人性，和耶穌是新的亞當和第二個亞當。
3．耶穌並非從具人性的父親所生，這顯明了祂擁有神兒子的神性本質。
4．不相信耶穌為童女所生的人，通常也不會相信聖經中超自然或神跡性的成分。
思考經文：
賽7：10-16；太1：23；羅1：3-4：林前15：45：-49；加4：4
The
Virgin Birth
The
doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Jesus holds that Jesus' birth was the result of
a miraculous conception whereby the Virgin Mary conceived a baby in her womb by
the power of the Holy Spirit, without a human father. Christ's miraculous birth
tells us much about his nature. That He was born of woman demonstrates that He
was indeed human and became one of us. Christ's humanity, however, was not
precisely the same as our own. We are born with original sin, Christ was not.
The
Virgin Birth also relates to the deity of Christ. While it is certainly
possible for Deity to enter the world in a manner other than a virgin birth,
the miracle of his birth points to Christ's divinity. The announcement of the
angel Gabriel to Mary underscores this point. When he told Mary she would have
a son, Mary was perplexed: "How can this be, since I do not know a
man?" (Luke 1:34).
Gabriel's
answer to Mary is of decisive significance for our understanding of the Virgin
Birth: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest
will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be
called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). Moments later the angel added,
"For with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:37).
Aside
from artificial insemination, which is a modern, non-miraculous variation on
conception, nothing is more regular or commonplace in nature than the normal
causal relationship for the conception of a baby. For a woman to become
pregnant who has not had sexual intercourse with a man is not only biologically
extraordinary, it is clearly against the laws of nature.
But
Mary's child was not generated by Mary, herself. The "father" of the
baby is the Holy Spirit. The language of the Spirit's coming upon Mary and
"overshadowing" her echoes the descriptive account of the Holy
Spirit's work in the original creation of the world. It reveals that this baby
will be a special creation with His father being God Himself.
Those
who do not believe in the Virgin Birth usually do not believe that Jesus is the
true Son of God. Thus, the Virgin Birth is a watershed doctrine, separating
orthodox Christians from those who do not believe in the Resurrection and
Atonement.
1. The Bible plainly and unambiguously
teaches the Virgin Birth.
2. The birth of Jesus from a woman points
to His humanity and His appearance as the new or second Adam.
3. That Jesus was born apart from human
fatherhood points to His divine nature as the Son of God.
4. The denial of the Virgin Birth is
usually linked to the denial of the supernatural or miraculous elements of
Scripture.