I was killing some time, and ended up watching a video of a stand-up comedian do his routine. He was transitioning from one topic to another when he said, “Are there any Christians in the room?” Some hands raise up. He then proceeds to say that these are the most gullible people in the world. They’ll believe anything. His basis for this is the Christian belief in the virgin birth. A young girl gets pregnant, and she says, “No, I didn’t have sex, it was an immaculate conception!” The comedian’s argument was essentially: if your daughter came home with that line, would you believe her?
This was not the first time I encountered this line of thinking. I think I was about 17 or 18, and a friend who I worked with basically made the same argument. I probably didn’t have a good answer for him. As an adult, particularly living in Sydney where there are a lot more Muslims than I encountered in the US, I found that the Divinity of Jesus is definitely a stumbling block for non-Christians. People are happy to give Him credit for being a “good guy” and even being wise, but Son of God? Conceived through the Holy Spirit? It gets to be a bit too much.
Believe it or not, I am somewhat sympathetic to these concerns. Part of what sells it for me though is the longevity of the New Testament story. You see, it isn’t hard to find people in the world today who claim to be the Son of God, or ones who have claimed to have had an immaculate conception. It’s just that usually you’ll find them in a mental institution. Check out the book “The Three Christs of Ypsilanti” and you’ll start to get an idea of what I mean. The short version of the book is that it documents the therapy of three men who all claimed to be Jesus Christ, but why is it that you’ve probably never heard of Joseph Cassel (a failed writer), Clyde Benson (an elderly farmer and alcoholic), and Leon Gabor(college dropout and WWII veteran)? I’d suggest to you that you’ve never heard of them because their lives weren’t particularly noteworthy. Their lives were lived in stark contrast to the actual Jesus of Nazareth. Their stories will come and go, they’ll make their wild claims, and in all likelihood they will disappear without being even a footnote in the books of history.
The story of Jesus, well, it is so much more than a footnote. It’s really a defining story, if not the defining story of the past 2000 years. I tend to think that it’s no accident. Why is it that Christianity has spread around the world, and not some ancient Chinese religion? Budhism has spread, but not in the way that Christianity has. Is that an accident, or is it part of God’s Providence? It will be no surprise to you that I think Providence is in full effect, and that Christianity has spread because God has willed it to. The more access we have to the Bible, and the connection it brings us to heaven, the better. Confusius’ works just don’t do that, which is why, in my humble opinion that Christianity actually has some credibility.
Yet, still for many a leap of faith is required to buy in, especially if all you do is hold the advent in isolation without considering the rest of the New Testament narrative. That’s just it though, Christianity has also spread because the entire story of Jesus is truly unique. Jesus doesn’t go claiming He’s the Son of God, but instead lets His actions do the talking, which gets other people to make the claims for Him. What other non-fiction story in the world is there where a man heals people in an instant? Where he – or she – turns one substance into something else? One who challenged authority peacefully, and was persectuted for it… and then rose from the dead? You can find that there are some people who seem to have done some miracles, even in more modern times, where a healing had occurred. I’ve heard legends of Asian gurus who can manifest an item out of thin air. Maybe it’s true. But I’ve never heard of a person who has the scope of abilities that Jesus had, and the willingness to do them in public settings as a way to prove that his abilities are not just mere illusions or parlor tricks. Certainly there’s no other story of a person raising themselves from the dead.
That’s what I think this comedian is missing. Sure, the virgin birth all on its own can be a tough pill to swallow, but we believe in that because of all the things that happened after the virgin birth. When you’ve got a man who rose from the dead after a very violent and public execution, suddenly Mary’s claims of a virgin birth don’t strain credulity quite so much.