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DISSERTATIONS
Ð
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HOR.\CR HART, PIHNTE.H TO l'HE U
I\'EHSITY
1,..:
2.. . I
Gj fJ<ó 0 c:l
DISSERTATIONS
ON
SUBJECTS CONNEC'rED ,\TI'T'H.
THE
I N CAR N A l' ION
/'
BY
CHARLES GORE,-M.A.
,:)
CANON OF WESTMINSTER
OF fHE COl\I1\IUNITY OF THE RESURRECTION, RADLEY
Neque sit mihi inutilis pugna verborum
sed incunctantis fidei constans professio
91802
LONDON
JOHN lYIURRA Y, ALBEMARLE STREET
18 95
LIBRARY ST. MARY'S COllEGE
tk
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FR.\TRI ArBIODU:\i DILECTO
R I C ;\ RI>O R .c\ C K I { A 1\1
BF
E\"OLE
IïSSIMO I AHulv.) But I am assured that the only legitimate translation is He
SatO 1I1iriam the daugJder of' Onion-Leaves ' (t)"
::1 '
Y-a nickname of
. _y: Uy
a kind. not uncommon in the Talmud), and there is no reason to suppose any
reference to our Lord's mother.
The Vl.rgÙz Bz.rtlz of oltr Lord. 4 1
5.
TIle tradZllOll of tlze churclzes.
vVhereycr the first and third Gospels ,vere accepted
and read in the Christian assemblies, there the Virgin
Birth of Jesus ,vould become an accepted fact, like any
other incident in the Gospel history. N ow the traces
of the use of these Gospels go back to the beginning
of the second century. \Ve should expect, therefore,
that. so far as the literature affords indications. ,ye should
find the churches of the second century believing in the
Virgin Birth. But something more than this is the case.
The èarliest churches, in their conflict ,vith the different
heresies to ,vhich the restless spirit of those days gave
rise, make much appeal to tradition. The Church has
not only documents but oral tradition. This tradition
'vas stereotyped in the varying, but substantially similar,
baptismal creeds of east and ,vest. But before it ,vas
so stereotyped it ,vas assuming gradually a fixed form.
It ,vas the summary of that' truth' of \vhich the Church
\vas to be the' pillar and ground 1.' One main function
assigned to the apostolic succession of the o1inistry ,vas
that of giving perpetuity to this tradition and preserving
it from corruption 2. It \\Tas imparted as rudimentary
instruction to every catechumen. Such a ' tradition' is
presupposed as imparted and assimilated in every part
1 I Tim. iii. I;'.
:l See Irenaeus: COil. Rae,.. iii. 3-4, iv. 26. 2; Tertullian, de Praescr. 32, 3 6 ;
IIegesippus, ap. Eus. H. E. iY. 22.
4 2
Dzssertations.
of the Ne\v Testan1ent 1. In different books different
elements of it are noticed or in1plied, such as (I) the
threefold Name, (2) the chief historical incidents of our
Lord's life, (3) instruction in moral duties and in the' last
things,' (4) teaching about the sacraments 2. X o\V it is
not perhaps too much to argue from 51. Luke's preface
to his Gospel that the Virgin Birth of Jesus \vas already
part of that oral instruc.tion \vhich had been in1parted
to Theophilus and to complete \vhich he only needed
more secure information 3. In any case, \"hat I am no\v
concerned to sho\v is that in the creed-like formulas of
the churches the statement of the Virgin Birth had its
place from so early a date and along so many different
lines of ascent as to force upon us the conclusion that
already before the death of the last apostles the Virgin
Birth of Christ must have been among the rudiments
of the faith in \vhich every Christian ,,'as initiated 4.
I See St. Luke i. 4 7Tfpì cLv KaT7]X
()TJ<; ÀÚ-YOJv: Acts ii. 42 TV l)Ll)axv TWV
å1TOUTÚÀOJII: Rom. vi. 17 EÌs tw 7Tapfl)ú()7]TE TV1TOV l)Ll)aX1JS: I Cor. "i. 23,
xv. 1-3: Gal. i. 8, 9: 2 Thess. iii. 6 1J 7Tapál)ouLS: Hebr. v. 12 Tà UTOLXfW :
2 Tim. i. 13 Ú1TOTV1TOJO'LV V-YLaLVÚVTOJV ÀÚ-YOJv: Jude 3 TV ã1Ta( 7Tapal)O()fíuy TOìs
å-yíOLS 7TLUTfL: 2 Pet. i. 12: I John ii. 20.
2 See (I) St. l\Iatt. xxviii. 19; cf. Dil/ache, 7 (baptism into' the Name'
implies teaching about it, which is also implied in all that familiarity
with the idea of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which the
New Testament takes for granted); (2) Luke i. 1-4, I Cor. xi. 23. xv. 3-4;
(3) Hebr. vi. 1-2, I Thess. iv. 1-2, V. 2; (4) Hcbr. vi. 1-6, Rom. vi. 3, I Cor.
x. 15-16, xi. 23ff.; cf. Acts ii. 38.
3 St. Luke i. 4 'that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the
things in which thou wast orally instructed.'
4 It is important to distinguish variations in the words of creeds from
variations in the substance of tradition. Thus, for example, the creed of
the church of Caesarea, as it was presented in the Council of
icaea (see
Socrates, H. E. I. 8, and Heurtley, de Fide et SY//lbolo, p. 4), and the actual
creed of Nicaea itself, state the [act of the lncarnation, but make no specific
mention of the virgÙt birth, through which the Incarnation took place:
fTLC1TEVOP.fV Ei
va KVpLOV '!7](J'Ovv XPLUTÚV, TÒV 'r'íùv T01} E>EoV, . . . TÙV l)L' 1Jp.âs
llze Virgin Birth of Ollr Lord. 43
Thus (I) Irenaeus, \\'riting, as he tells us, \vhile
Eleutherus \vas bishop of Rome, i. e. not later than
A. D. J 90, assures us of the place the Virgin Birth held
in the traditions of the \vh01e Church.
'The Church,' he says, 'though scattered over the
whole \vorld to the ends of the earth, yet having received
from the apostles and their disciples the faith
in one God the Father Alnlighty . . .
and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, \vho \vas
incarnate for our salvation:
and in the Holy Ghost, \"ho by the prophets announced
His dispensations and His comings:
and the birth of the Virgin, and the passion, and resur-
rection from the dead, and the bodily assumption
into heaven of the beloved Jesus Christ our Lord,
and His appearance from heaven in the glory of
the Father. . .
having received, as \\'e said, this preaching and this
faith, the Church, though scattered over the ,vhole \vorld,
guards it diligently, as inhabiting one house, and believes
in accordance \vith these ,vords as having one soul and
the same heart; and \\'ith one voice preaches and teaches
and hands on these things, as if possessing one mouth.
For the languages of the \yorld are unlike, but the force
of the tradition is [every\vhere] one and the same 1.'
TOV
åV(JPW1TOVS Ka2 ðLà T
V -IJ}J.fTÉpav nWTT}píav KaTfÀ(JÚVTa Ka2 napKw(JÉvTa,
Èvav(JpCJJ1T
aavTa, rra(JÓVTa, K. T.À. This however does not mean any lack of
importance attached to the virgin birth. Eusebius, the bishop of the
church of Caesarea, shows us in his writings that the virgin birth was
supposed to be involved in any statement of the Incarnation. Thus in
contra fiJarcellum de Eal. Theol., after much discussion of the Incarnation
in ii. I (Gaisford, p. 199), the virgin birth is incidentally mentioned-ii. 4
(p. 205) Ó Èv TV ó:yiq. rrap(JÉvÇJ 'YEVÚ}J.EVO
, Kal crapKCJJ(JELS Kal Èvav(JpCJJ1rfwa
Ka
Tra(Jwv.
1 con. Haer. i. 10. I -Ij }J.
V 'Yàp ÈKKÀT}aí.a, Kaí.1TEp Ka(J> öÀT}
Tij
OlKOV}J.ÉVT}S
ËCJJ
1TfpáTWV TijS 'Yij
ðLEa1TapJlÉvT}, Trapà ðÈ TWV å1ToaTóÀCJJv Kal TWV ÈKfLVCJJV
44
Dzssertatzons.
So he proceeds to specify as agreeing in this faith the
churches of Germany, Spain, Gaul,the East, Egypt, Libya,
and Italy 1. In the creed of Tertullian, \vho represents
ROll1e and Carthage, a little later than Irenaeus,the Virgin
Birth holds the same secure and prominent place. 'The
rule of faith,' he says, , is altogether one, single, unalter-
able; the rule that is of beIieving in one God Alnlighty,
the maker of the \vorld; and His Son Jesus Christ, born
of the Virgin l\lary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, &c. 2 '
The summary of faith \vhich Irenaeus gave belongs, he
says, to all the churches, and is preserved by the epis-
copal successions every\vhere. But he lays special stress
upon the representative \vitness of t\\'o churches: upon
that of the Church of Rome, in \\Thich he enumerates
the succession of bishops froll1 the time of the founda-
tion of the episcopate by Peter and Paul; and upon
that of the Church of Polycarp, Smyrna, \vith the other
churches of Asia. For before Irenaeus came to I
ome he
had been brought up in .I.-\sia as the pupil of Polycarp,
j.La()T/TWV rrapaJ....aßovua T
V f:S Ëva ()ÛJV rraT'Épa rravTo"páTopa . . . rrícrTiv. ua2
fis Ëva XptUT('V 'IT/uovv, TÒV viòv TOV ()fOV, TÙV uaplíCJJ()ÉvTa iJ1TÈp T7]S -/jJ.lETÉpas
uCJJTTJplas. 1m2 Els rrvfvp.a ã'YLOV, TÒ liLà TWV rrpocþT/TwlI "f"T/PVXÒS Tàs oi"ovopias.
K02 Tàs fÀfl:UftS, "a2 T
V È" rrap()Évuv 'YtJlvT/ULJ', "a2 TÒ rra()os, "a2 T
rl t'YfpULV
È" Vf"PWJI, "a2 T
V f'llUap"OJl fÌs TOVS ovpavovs à'lláJ....T/tfLV TOV TJ'YorrT/p-Évov XPLUTOV
'IT/uov TOV "vpíov "'JAW'll, ,,02 T
V È" TW'II OVpaJ'WII Èv TV Mtn TOV rraTpòs rrapovuiav
aVTOV . . . TOVTO TÒ "
pu'YJ.LU rrapfLJ....T/cþvîa "a2 TaVTT/V T
V 1I'LUTLJI, ws rrpoÉcþapfv,
" E""J....TJuia, "aí7Tfp ÈII õÀrp Téj.: "óup.rp ðLEarrapp.ÉvT/, ÈrrLjA.fÀws cþvÀócrafL, ws Ë'IIU
ùUwv ol"ovuu. "a2 újA.oiCJJs 1TLUTfVfL TOVTOLS, WS' p-ia'll tfVX
v "a2 T
V aVT
v Éxovcru
"apUav, "at UVjA.
WJlCJJs TaVTa "TJPVUUfL "a2 ðLðáu"fL "o
nupa
íðCJJuLV, ws
v uTóp.a
"fKTTJJ1.ÉVTJ. "at 'Yàp al KaTa TÙV ,,{,O'p.ov ðLåJ....E"TOl åvújA.owt, åÀJ....à -/j
vvapLs
T1}S rrapaMufCJJs p.ía Ka2 " aVT';'.
1 COil. Daer. i. 10. 2. Cf. iii. ..... 2, where this i
repeated in sub
tance, and
the virgin birth still appears among the rudiments. In iv. 33. 7, a shorter
form is given, where only the Incarnation is actually specified.
2 See de Virgo Vdalld. i (written about A. D. 210).
The r-irgÙz Birtlz of our Lord. 45
\\"ho had himself belonged to the circle of the last of
the apostles. So that his testimony has value both for
the range \vhich it covers and for the source out of ,vhich
it springs. \Ve have evidence ho\vever of the truth of
\\"ha t he says from earlier \vitnesses.
(2) Justin l\Iartyr passed before Bar-cochba's revolt
(A. D. 132-6) from his Samaritan home in Palestine to
Ephesus, and from Ephesus to Rome. His sUlumaries
of Christian belief, \\'hich he gives in his Apologies (c. 150)
and Dialogue, have sometimes a creed-like ring: and in
these creed-like summaries the Virgin Birth holds the
same conspicuous place as in those of Irenaeus. ' For in
the nan1e of this very person,' he says to Trypho the Jew,
'the Son of God, and first begotten of all creation, and
born of a virgin and made passible man, and crucified
under Pontius Pilate by your people, and dead, and risen
from the dead, and ascended into heaven, every deulon
,,-hen exorcised is conquered and subdued 1.'
I Dial. 85 KUTà 'Yàp TOU ùvóp.aTo'J aVTov TOVTOV TOU viov TOV (}fOV Kaì
1TPWTOTÚKOV 1Táu7j'!; KTLUfCJJ'!;, Kaì liLà 1Tap(}Évov 'YEVJl7j(}l VTO,!; Kaì 1Ta(}7jTOV 'Yf'Vop.ÉJlOV
àV(}pW1TOV, Kaì UTal'pCJJetvToS È1Tì llOVTLOV llLÀáTOV V7TÒ TOV Àaov vP.WJI Kaì à7TO-
(}UVÚVTO'!;, Kaì àVaUTáJlTo'J ÈK VfKPWJI Ka
åvaßá"To'!; fl'!; TVV oupavúv, 1Tâv
ðaLp.Ó'IILO'II È(OpKL(ÓP.f'llOJl JltKâTaL Kaì V1TOTáuufTaL. Here we have, no doubt,
a reflection of thefor1/lula if' exorcism; d. Origen c. Cds. i. 6 ou "'(àp KaTa-
KÀfJUfULJI laxúfL'II ðOKOVUL'II àÀÀà Tfp ùJlúp.an 'I?]uov J.Lf.Tà T1]'!; à1Tu,),'YEÀ[as
TW'II 1T
pì atJTòJl IUTopLw'II. But the formula of exorcism is not likely to
differ in the facts recited from the creed of baptism. Other summaries in
Justin are A pol. 46 ðLà 1Tap(}lJlov å'll(}PCJJ1TO'!; Û.1TfKV
()T} Kaì 'IT}uov'!; È1TCJJJlop-áuBT}
Kaì UTUVpW(}fì'!; å-rro(}aJlwJI àVÉUTT} Kaì ò.VfÀfJÀV(}E'II fÌs- oupa'llú'll. Aþol. 31 'Yf'llJlW-
P.fJlOJl
Là 1Tap(}Évov Kaì àv:5pOVP.EJlOJl KU
(}Epa1TEVO'llTU 1Tâua'll JlÚUO'll . . . Kaì
<<þ(}O'llOVP.E'IIOJl Kaì à"'(JlOOVP.f'llOJl Kaì uTavpovp.f'llOV . . . Kaì à1TO(}'II
UKO'llTU Kaì
à'llU"(fLPÚP.f.'II0'll Ka2 Els ovpal ov
t..'IIEPXÚP.E'IIO'll (this is a summary of the pro-
phecies about Christ). In all the above quotations virgin birth, incarnation,
crucifixion, death, resurrection, ascension, are the chief points of belief
about Christ.
4 6
Dzssertations.
(3) Still earlier, Ignatius. \vho must have become
bishop in Antioch by the very beginning of the second
century, as he passes through the churches of Asia on his
,vay to his martyrdonl, about A. D. I 10, gives the same
\\"itness as Justin. 'The virginity of Mary and her child-
bearing and in like manner the death of the Lord,' that is,
the atoning value of the death, are' three nlysteries of loud
proclamation \vhich \ver
,vrought in the silence of God.'
That is to say, hidden as \vere the original transactions,
they have become part of the loudly proclaimed message
of the Church 1.
(4) The Christian philosopher Aristides of Athens is
not so ,videly representatÌ\re a man as those hitherto
mentioned, but he and Quadratus are the earliest Christian
apologists. And in his recently recovered Apology 2 the
Virgin Birth is mentioned, and in such a manner as to
1 Ign. Eþh. 19 1} 1Tap6EJlía Mapías lCa
J 'TOICE'T6S aVT
s, ðP.OLCJJS ICU
J 6åJluros
rov ICVpLOV. 'Tpía p.va'T
pta ICpav"(ijs ä'TLJla ÈJl1}avxíq. 6EOV È1TpåX6T}: cf. cc. 7, 18.
Smyrll. I "fE"fEJlJl7]P.ÉJlOJl àÀT}6ws ÈIC 1Tap6fJlOV, ßEßa1T'TLap.ÉJlOJl Imò 'JCJJáJlJlov. . .
àÀ7]6ws È7T
TIOJ''TLOV ntÀá'Tov lCaì 
