Bible Question:
My summary of the circumstances was perhaps too cursory; it was to provide context rather than prove anything. The core of my question is this: does what happened between Mary and the Holy Spirit constitute adultery? Mary and Joseph were betrothed, which in those days was part of marriage. Adultery is defined as illicit sexual relations with a person other than the marriage partner. The Holy Spirit is a person, and impregnation is about as sexual as it gets. I'm asking for the biblical basis that this act, committed by a willing Mary and God, is not adultery. Either it is by virtue of the fact the law does not apply to God or what happened was somehow not illicit, sexual or both. I favor the latter, because Mary's virginity remained intact, at least until after the birth of Jesus, when Mary had children by Joseph. |
Bible Answer: Yes, you are right: "Adultery is defined as illicit sexual relations with a man or woman other than the marriage partner." Impregnation may or may not occur when a man and a woman engage in a physical sexual act. I.e fornication. God did not have sex with Mary, but she became pregnant anyway. Hence, the miracle. It was a supernatural impregnation,not an adulteress or "sexual" impregnation. Impregnation may be the result of an adulteress act, but impregnation among humans cannot occur unless there is a sexual act. God supernatually impregnated Mary without fornicating with her. Adultery is fornication with a human person who is not your spouse. The sin of adultery has nothing to do with the miracle of the immaculate conception. 1. There was no erotic,physical perpetration commited on the person of Mary. 2. God/holy spirit, though a personal,concious, divine entity,does not have a penis. He is not a physical man. 3.God's relationship to Mary was not sexual/erotic in nature. 4. The miraculous conception was not sexual/erotic in nature. 5. God chose the incarnation to come into this world through a human vessel, a woman's womb, so that the Messiah, that which is fully divine, would also be fully human and therefore exist amoung us. He could have done anything to usher in the Messiah: God could have miraculously "impregnated" a stone as the entry of the Messiah into this world, but to fulfill prophecy, he impregnated a woman. He could have descended onto this earth, formed out of the ground etc...use your imagination. My question is: why did he choose the means of conception as the vehicle? I suppose my answer would be: Because this way ensured the Messiah to be both fully human and fully divine. Through this way, the divine experienced total humanity and through this way, fallen humanity was able to identify physically with the divine. Another reason that I think it was necessary for God to "Father" Mary's divine conception was to set apart that which is divine from human original sin. God, through the conception of the Messiah, introduced the first God/man into this world born without "original sin". He created pre-Fall Adam sinless, but God himself came into this world in the form of human flesh housed in the womb of a woman. "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14) (In the Greek, the word for "Word" is "logos" which is a term used by the Greeks in reference "to the governing power behind all things". The Jews used the word "logos" to refer to God.) |