tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post6625681960609404435..comments2024-03-28T10:26:20.408-04:00Comments on Ponderings on a Faith Journey: Conceived by the Holy Spirit . . . A ReflectionRobert Cornwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581876323110725024noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-61291668109246190482016-12-21T10:24:50.366-05:002016-12-21T10:24:50.366-05:00" I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only S..." I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary," Is not problematic for me. It affirms the unique connection between the Creator God and Jesus of Nazareth and it affirms several aspects about th relationship between the very human Mary and the divine nature of Jesus. I doubt most people consider these matters in any depth, but those who embrace the credal formula grasp these connections on an instinctive level.<br /><br />We cannot comprehend the nature of the Creator, nor can we comprehend the details of the connection between Jesus and the Creator - but we know it is unique, and we know it is intimate, and we know Jesus called the Creator "Father." And in calling out to the Creator in this fashion Jesus claimed a special kind of uniqueness, and signaled that received a special kind of affirmation, the kind of affirmation which, in human experience at least, we know only a parent can communicate to a child. So while on an experiential level the 'father/son' relationship is too mystical to accept, on an imaginative level it makes sense - perfectly.<br /><br />As for the connection between Jesus earthly mother and the divinity manifested in both Jesus and the Creator, there seems little better expression than to say that Jesus was "conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary." This expresses the very human act of childbirth, while signaling the unfolding of divine activity in the world. Of course children receive their DNA from a human mother and a human father. Even his contemporaries were aware of this. But there was the need to explain the uniqueness of Jesus. So the affirmation of the participation of God in his birth and the denial of a human father continually reminds us that Jesus was not a normal human being, born simply of peasant parents in Palestine. Nor was his chosen-ness random, Jesus was intended by God as an incarnational event. And Mary's alleged virginal nature is also critical to the formula. She may or may not have been an actual virgin - the truth being expressed is at least two-fold: Jesus' birth was a fulfillment of the promises of God in scripture, and, more importantly to me, the. Pain of virginity emphasizes the assertion that the Creator, the only one who matters, deemed that she was worthy of bearing the incarnation. Nothing in her was deemed "unclean" by God - not her womanhood, not her station in life, and not any of her life choices before she conceived Jesus. This metaphorical purity was acquired by her through her trust in the will of God to guide and guard her life. She had faith, and her faith was indeed enough. This 'virginal' status is available to each and everyone of us provided we can learn to trust in the presence of God in our lives. <br /><br />So I have no problem with this formula - heretic though I may be.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06245470576919732592noreply@blogger.com