Talk:Virgin birth

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Not really a virgin

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the "virgin" part is just changing "young maiden" (what in this age would be considered a teen in the best case) by mistranslation into "virgin" (not sex before). Is that right even if it does not make this more true?.^{— Unsigned, by: 93.191.139.8 / talk / contribs}

The whole story is a myth from start to finish. So I am not sure that changing one part of the translation would change the facts. But I guess it would change the story for Christians as then logically Joseph could have been Jesus's father.Bob^{"Life is short and (insert adjective)"} 14:47, 21 February 2020 (UTC)

Length of virginity

In Eastern Orthodox tradition only immaculate conception is significant, and the birth implicitly assumed to be of relatively ordinary type, with loss of virginity implied by default and simply not brought up. The title "Virgin Mary" refers to the fact that she was (let's not split hairs about amount of truth in Gospels, I'm talking about the narrative) a virgin during that time, not that she remained in this state forever.--Arisano (talk) 13:58, 10 June 2022 (UTC)

Mesopotamia

I recently saw a meme on Twitter pointing out that virgin birth has shown up in Mesopotamian mythology as well. I couldn't find it again when I went digging, but I know I saved the image to my iPhone. Anyways, this might be something worth looking into and adding to the article. --Luigifan18 (talk) 14:15, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

It's actually a pretty common religious trope see Miraculous births.Bob^{"Life is short and (insert adjective)"} 18:01, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Pretty common, yes, in gentile cultures. The whole "virgin birth" trope was added to Christianity to make Jesus seem like a great figure to gentiles. Remember that real people were also said to be "born of a virgin." People like Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, and Plato. Jesus being "born of a virgin" ranked him alongside the greats of the classical world. Carthage (talk) 19:49, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

It makes sense in any culture. If an individual is declared to be a god (or something else special) then they or their followers will be obliged to fill in a backstory which makes their birth something special.Bob^{"Life is short and (insert adjective)"} 06:35, 4 September 2024 (UTC)