CosmosVirgin Birth
Virgin Birth
Also called: Immaculate Conception
The Christian doctrine that the Virgin Mary conceived Jesus.In this narrative it is one entry repeating across the birth stories of many ancient gods.
Established facts
The virgin conception of Mary appears in the New Testament's Gospels of Matthew and Luke.It is the doctrine that Jesus was conceived without physical union with a man.The Roman Catholic doctrine of Mary's "Immaculate Conception" is a separate matter.That doctrine holds that Mary herself was conceived without original sin.Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Immaculate Conception an official doctrine in 1854.Several myths from the ancient Near East and Mediterranean tell of a god fathering a child with a human woman.
| Horus | Mithras | Jesus |
|---|---|---|
| December 25= | December 25= | December 25 |
| the virgin Isis= | born from a rock= | the virgin Mary |
| 12 disciples= | 12 disciples= | 12 disciples |
| resurrected after three days= | resurrection= | resurrected after three days |
Many of the cells in this table are absent from the Egyptian and Persian originals. Sources copy from each other a set of cells invented in a 20th-century book.
In this narrativeGods born on December 25th
This picture lists gods said to have been born of a virgin before Jesus1.Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III is said to have been born of the virgin queen Mutemwia1.There is a story that the sun god Ra was born of the virgin Neith1.Horus is known as the son of the virgin mother Isis1.The Phrygian god Attis is said to have been born of the virgin Nana1.This picture points out that many of these mothers' names begin with the sound "ma"1.Miriam (Mary), Maia, Maya, and Myrrha are cited as examples1.
In this narrativeIsis and Horus: the original text and the interpretation
The film "Zeitgeist" depicts Horus as born to the virgin Isis-Mary on December 25th1.Acharya S (D.M.Murdock) reviewed this narration1.But the ancient Egyptian original tells it differently1.Isis is said to have conceived magically from the body of the dead Osiris1.It is a conception without a man, but a different matter from the status of "virgin"1.This picture is criticized for picking only one of the two conditions and pinning it on Isis1.
In this narrativeConfusion with the Immaculate Conception
Acharya S also applies the term "Immaculate Conception" to Isis in her own writing1.But the Immaculate Conception means that Mary herself was conceived without original sin1.It is a different doctrine from the virgin conception of Jesus1.This doctrine did not become official Roman Catholic teaching until 18541.So mixing the two terms fuses two separate claims into one1.This rebuttal argues that this confusion creates the illusion that "the same doctrine existed in antiquity."
Connected concepts
- Jesus as the Sun →The virgin conception also joins the list of items under solar mythology.
- Horus →The Isis-and-Horus story is cited as the first example on this list.
- Mithras →Mithras also joins the same December 25th list.
- Winter Solstice →The point where many gods' birthdays cluster is the winter solstice, December 25th.