Shouldn’t Pro-Lifers Celebrate Jesus’ Conception?

Last updated on: December 25, 2019 at 5:59 pm by D. G. Hart

Shouldn’t Pro-Lifers Celebrate Jesus’ Conception? 2019-12-25T17:59:09-04:00 D. G. Hart

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The incarnation technically started inside the womb of the Virgin Mary. Indeed, God veiled in human flesh happened well before the nativity scene in Bethlehem. So if you want to celebrate the incarnation — which many people are doing (not the Milwaukee Bucks or Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers) this day — you may want to look for a holy day somewhere in late March, to mark the nine months that Jesus likely spent in the womb. Unfortunately, that would mean celebrations of the incarnation would compete with the NCAA’s March Madness (the NBA gets around this by simply scheduling two games for Christmas Day, background noise perhaps between ham or turkey and pie).

Rome is no help here. It does have a holy day for the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Why not one for the equally immaculate conception of Jesus? At least the Bible records pre-birth and delivery narratives for Jesus. It says nothing about Mary’s conception of delivery.

Rome also has a holy day for the Annunciation, the day when Mary learned what God had in store:

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1)

Roman Catholics celebrate this day on March 25. You can see what they do there — December 25 minus 9 months equals March 25. But they call this the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They do not call it The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Jesus. This is another of those data points where it seems for Romans Mary outshines Jesus.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Orthodox Churches also observe the Feast of the Annunciation and in Greece March 25 is both Annunciation Day and Greek Independence Day. For those fearful of Christian nationalism, beware.

For those who argue, quite plausibly, that the life inside a pregnant mother is not simply a fertilized set of cells, or merely an embryo or fetus, but is human, the life of Jesus before birth should matter, maybe even more than his delivery. Most pro-life Christians have little trouble understanding that before birth, the life Mary carried inside her was fully human; Trinitarians may also want to say the life inside Mary’s womb was fully God and fully man.

So why let the birth of Jesus dominate considerations and celebrations of the incarnation? To overestimate the birth’s significance, partly owing to the festivity of festivals that surround Christmas, is to play into pro-choicers’s hands. Something amazing happened when the Holy Ghost conceived Jesus in the womb of the virgin Mary. And as lowly as the circumstances of Jesus’ birth are and remain, even more lowly is the reality that Jesus was entirely dependent on all the biological systems that transpire to bring a fertilized egg to the point that he or she can be delivered and drink mother’s milk.

If Christians thought more about the lives of children inside mothers’ wombs that pro-lifers defend, they might insist on a feast day for the Immaculate Conception of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Image

Immaculate conception

incarnation

pro-choice movement

pro-life movement

Previous Post

December 24, 2019

Would You Treat a Colleague This Way?

Next Post

December 25, 2019 It's a Long Season

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2016 Presidential Election 2020 Presidential Election Apocalypse Bible in American Life Biblical authority Books and culture Calvinism Church Life Civil Religion Culture Wars Doctrine evangelicalism Gullibility Heaven and Hell Intellectual life Jesus Ministry modernity moralism Nationalism New Testament Old Testament Otherworldiness Otherworldliness Paul Peter Piety Popular culture Protestantism Psalms Puritans Race Roman Catholicism sacred/secular distinction Sex Shameless Self Promotion Sports Ten Commandments U.S. politics Uncategorized vulgarity worship

Select a Month January 2022 October 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz