Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The doctrine that Jesus was miraculously begotten by God and born of the Virgin Mary without the agency of a human father.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun human conception without fertilization by a man
  • noun the theological doctrine that Jesus Christ had no human father; Christians believe that Jesus's birth fulfilled Old Testament prophecies and was attended by miracles; the Nativity is celebrated at Christmas

Etymologies

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Examples

  • She was the only human ever to give birth without being fertilized by a male sperm—otherwise known as the Virgin Birth—the reason being that the standard male sperm-delivery system comes very close, in the eyes of the Church, to mortal sin.

    Last Words George Carlin 2009

  • The doctrine of the Virgin Birth is the thesis that Jesus was not conceived by the ordinary methods.

    Keisha and Mary. Ann Althouse 2006

  • The doctrine of the Virgin Birth is the thesis that Jesus was not conceived by the ordinary methods.

    Keisha and Mary. Ann Althouse 2006

  • Virgin Birth, that is, those who were sufficiently intelligent to grasp it.

    Mystic Christianity William Walker Atkinson 1897

  • As to the Virgin Birth, my best understanding is that I can let go of its historicity because it does not directly affect the way I live for God.

    John Backman: Does The Truth Of The Bible Matter? John Backman 2011

  • As to the Virgin Birth, my best understanding is that I can let go of its historicity because it does not directly affect the way I live for God.

    John Backman: Does The Truth Of The Bible Matter? John Backman 2011

  • Bruno refused to recant his disbelief in the Trinity, Virgin Birth, divinity of Christ and other rather non-negotiable items especially for a clergyman.

    Matt J. Rossano: The Galileo Affair: Emblematic Or Exceptional? Matt J. Rossano 2011

  • Placed center-stage in Pagels's account, they offer an unsettling version of Christianity—one in which Jesus is the lover of Mary Magdalene and ideas such as the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection are treated as naïve fantasies.

    Five Best: Religious Cults In Antiquity Mary Beard 2011

  • Atheists like Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins delight in picking apart the story of the Virgin Birth as one of many examples of a pre-modern people believing in a religious mythology that most today would find absurd if someone made similar claims.

    Jeffrey Small: The Origins Of Christmas Jeffrey Small 2011

  • As if that were the stupidist question about a profound subject he had ever heard, like How does Virgin Birth work, anyway?

    Babies Terence Cannon 2011

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