Virgin Mary and the Birth Of Jesus

Mary (Aramaic, Hebrew: מרים, Maryām, Miriam; Arabic:مريم, Maryam), commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee. She is identified in the New Testament[Mt 1:16,18-25] [Lk 1:26-56] [2:1-7] and in the Quran as the mother of Jesus through divine intervention.

I have always like the Virgin Mary. In all the pictures she is drawn so beautiful. When I was younger I was introduce into learning about the Christian and Islamic faiths. What I would like to share is the the story of Mary being visited by Gabriel, the announcement of her pregnancy, and the Nativity of Jesus. Both stories are my favorite to read or listen to when I have free time. I used different sources, pictures, and posted two videos to help visualize the stories. Tell me what you think of both the Christian and Islamic story of Mary's pregnancy and the birth of Jesus?



Mary in the New Testament

Mary resided in "her own house"[Lk.1:56] in Nazareth in Galilee, possibly with her parents, and during her betrothal – the first stage of a Jewish marriage – the angel Gabriel announced to her that she was to be the mother of the promised Messiah by conceiving him through the Holy Spirit. After a number of months, when Joseph was told of her conception in a dream by "an angel of the Lord", he was surprised; but the angel told him to be unafraid and take her as his wife, which Joseph did, thereby formally completing the wedding rites.[Mt 1:18-25]

According to the Gospel of Luke, a decree of the Roman emperor Augustus required that Joseph return to his hometown of Bethlehem to be taxed. While he was there with Mary, she gave birth to Jesus; but because there was no place for them in the inn, she used a manger as a cradle. After eight days, he was circumcised according to Jewish law, and named "JESUS" [Luke 2:21] in accordance with the instructions that the angel had given to Mary in Luke 1:31, and Joseph was likewise told to call him Jesus in Matthew 1:21.

The betrothal of Joseph and Mary and the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem appear in both Matthew and Luke.[16] Luke includes several events prior to the birth of Jesus that do not appear in Matthew, e.g. the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, while Matthew alone discusses the Flight to Egypt after the birth. The Nativity accounts in the New Testament are generally viewed as ending with Finding Jesus in the Temple several years later, after the family has returned to Galilee.

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Mary in the Qur'an

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is considered one of the most righteous women in the Islamic tradition. She is mentioned more in the Qur'an[1] than in the entire New Testament and is also the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur'an.According to the Qur'an, Jesus was born miraculously by the will of God without a father. His mother is regarded as a chaste and virtuous woman and is said to have been a virgin. The Qur'an states clearly that Jesus was the result of a virgin birth, but that neither Mary nor her son were divine. In the Qur'an, no other woman is given more attention than Mary and the Qur'an states that Mary was chosen above all women:
"And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! God hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation."

The virgin birth of Jesus is supremely important in Islam, as one of the most important miracles of Allah. The first explicit mention of an annunciation foreshadowing the birth of Jesus is in XIX: 20, where Mary asks Gabriel how she will be able to conceive, when no man has touched her. Gabriel's reply assures Mary that for Allah all things are easy and that Jesus's virgin birth will be a sign for mankind. The birth is later referred in LXVI: 12, where the Qur'an states that Mary remained "pure", while Allah allowed a life to shape itself in Mary's womb. A third mention of the annunciation is in III: 37-38, where Mary is also given the glad tidings that she has been chosen above all the women of creation. Commentators on the Qur'an remark on the last verse that Mary was as close to a perfect woman as there could be, and she was devoid of almost all failings. According to exegesis and literature, Gabriel appeared to Mary, who was still young in age, in the form of a well-made man with a "shining face" and announced to her the birth of Jesus. After her immediate astonishment, she was reassured by the angel's answer that Allah has the power to do anything.

The Qur'an narrates the virgin birth of Jesus numerous times. In XIX: 17-21, the annunciation is given, followed by the virgin birth, which exegesis relates took place soon after the annunciation. The Qur'an's narrative of the virgin birth is somewhat different from that in the New Testament. The Qur'an states that Mary was in the midst of the desert, when the pains of childbirth came upon her, as she was near a palm tree. Mary cried in pain and held onto the palm, at which point a voice came from "beneath her", understood by some to refer to Jesus, who was yet in her womb, which said "Be not grieved; Allah has provided a rivulet under thee; and shake the trunk of the palm and it shall let ripe dates fall upon thee, ready gathered. And eat and drink and calm thy mind".

The Qur'an goes onto describe that Mary vowed not to speak to any man on that day, as Allah was to make Jesus, whom Muslims believe spoke in the cradle, perform his first miracle. The Qur'an goes onto narrate that Mary then brought Jesus to the temple, where immediately she began to be taunted by all the men, excluding Zechariah, who believed in the virgin birth. The Israelites accused Mary of having touched another man whilst unmarried. It was then that the infant Jesus began to speak in the cradle, and spoke of his prophecy for the first time.

Hey OP

Interesting choice of topic, I like the idea of the importance of Mary not only to yourself but to several faiths.

I however believe that a virgin birth was, is and always will be an impossibility.

First of all, I'd like to say that I like seeing threads so well thought out and laid out. It makes for very easy reading. Good job

That being said, I couldn't help but notice that there was not one picture that you laid out where any adult was smiling. Not one.

Only in the second picture do you see the 2 infant angels smiling.

Are most of the pictures out there that depict the Virgin Mary in this time frame the same way?

reply to post by Taupin Desciple


I thought the same thing, then thought a moment. Why does mary always look so sad? I cant remember a pic of her happy.

I didnt even know mary and jesus were in the quran.. Thanks op

reply to post by Toddlez


Jesus was half human half extraterrestrial. That's my take on the whole thing.

If you think about it, God, being not of this earth, was/is by definition, extraterrestrial.

You have to take all of these writings, which are upwards of 2,000 years old now, in the context and the mindset in which they were written.

Think about how differently we saw and comprehended things a mere 200 years ago. These religous texts were written over 2,000 years ago. We try to take them literally, word for word, without putting ourselves in the frame of mind of the people who wrote them. That's why people misinterpret and confuse the whole thing IMO.

reply to post by Taupin Desciple


I see what you're saying. In my own opinion. The artist drew how they would describe Mary, Jesus, and other biblical and Koranic figures. It would be very weird seeing her happy while experience pain from child birth.

reply to post by Toddlez


You're welcome. I was actually going to post a topic opposite of this earlier. Claiming the stories were influenced from Pagan sources.

reply to post by showintail


You're welcome too! Yes, they are in the Qur'an. The first time I read about them was when I was in my early teens.

reply to post by ManOfGod267


You do know Jesus had half brothers right?

Gospel of James was written by one.

Marry is not the perpetual virgin, nowhere in the new testament does it say this, it is "tradition" not in the bible at all.

All the idolizing of Marry is just another false doctrine thrown in by the Roman Catholic church after Romes adoption of Christianity as the state religion.

reply to post by benrl


The story of his birth takes place before his brothers or his mother had a sexual relationship with Joseph. I haven't read any other Gospel that wan't in the Christian bible. So, I wouldn't know anything outside it. Except for the Qur'an.

reply to post by ManOfGod267




James is in the bible, its in the new testament...

in between hebrews and 1 peter...


also this

Matthew 13:55

"Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?"
Matthew 27:56

"Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children."

reply to post by benrl


Well I'm talking about the four Gospels in the New Testament in the Christian bible. I know James was born later. But before she was a virgin that became pregnant with Jesus.

reply to post by ManOfGod267


ok, just saying that the Reverence for mary comes from the Catholic belief in the perpetual virgin, Nothing more important about mary than any other person of faith in the old and new testament.

Even Jesus says about her when she tells someone to tell him that his family was there, that he was already with his family.

Didn't seem like she was held as too revere back then does it?

en.wikipedia.org...

The Church Father Jerome, who died in Bethlehem in 420, reports in addition that the holy cave was at one point consecrated by the heathen to the worship of Adonis, and a pleasant sacred grove planted before it, to wipe out the memory of Jesus. Modern mythologists, however, reverse the supposition, insisting that the cult of Adonis-Tammuz originated the shrine and that it was the Christians who took it over, substituting the worship of their own God

Wait Jesus was born in a cave?
www.photos8.com...

Where have we seen this before?
cregen.files.wordpress.com...
tammuz who’s mother was Ishtar or Easter
wait there's more
4.bp.blogspot.com...
2.bp.blogspot.com...
4.bp.blogspot.com...
3.bp.blogspot.com...
1.bp.blogspot.com...
2.bp.blogspot.com...
2.bp.blogspot.com...

holy cave batman, how old is this story?


Its enough to make you think Christianity is nothing more than pagan sun god worship
2.bp.blogspot.com...
numberonestars.com...

reply to post by racasan


Where did you find all these pictures?
I would like to learn more please.

From what I remember reading Mary knew that Jesus could do miracles, and urged him to go public. He refrained and told her it was not his time. Then again at a party she urged him again and he did one. She then followed him towards the end of his life.

But speaking of family, interesting Jesus says "Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law," anyone know what that means?

reply to post by ManOfGod267


You might start here
thequeenofheaven.wordpress.com...

or
thequeenofheaven.wordpress.com...

www.usbible.com...

www.atheistnexus.org...


In my opinion the whole dying/reborn sun god thing was old even in Babylonian/Sumerian times and is very much tide in to the start of agriculture and therefore civilisation (the night sky makes a wonderful calender and one way to remember how to use that calender is to make stories up about it)

Christianity is just another in a long line of such beliefs stretching back about 10,000 years

reply to post by greyer


I don't know about the last paragraph. In Judaism. You're supposed to love and respect your parents and family.

reply to post by greyer


I always assumed that the choice to follow Christ would bring division in families.

He didn't come to bring peace and what everyone thought he would, his teaching where devisive and the choice to follow Christ for a Jewish person at the time was a dangerous one, still is in some parts of the world.

reply to post by racasan


Its pretty well known that once the catholic church came along, many of the beliefs of all the different religions of the time where rolled into the church to better swallow the change.


THings like celibate priest and nuns (no where is that called for, intact the opposite is for leaders to have a family, and celibate priest and priestess was required to some of the beliefs at the time )

Perpetual virgin mary.

Christmas.

Easter.

there are many more doctrines that came out of that time that have no basis in either Jewish or Christ teachings.

Constantine was looking for something to unify the people, and Christianity was what he chose.