In a previous post, we compared the so-called virgin births of mythical figures with that of Jesus. We saw that when looking at them carefully, they are nothing like what the New Testament says about Jesus.
However, it is not just mythical figures that claimed divine parentage. There are historical figures who supposedly had some god involved in their conception. Could these be the inspiration for the virgin birth of Jesus?
Like in the previous post, we need to ask: What do we mean by virgin birth? Matthew and Luke stress that Mary was a virgin and that God created the body of Jesus in Mary without intercourse by god or man.
Some of the possible contenders include: Alexander the Great, Augustus Caesar, Amenhotep III, Plato, Perseus, and Pythagoras.
Alexander the Great was the son of Philip II and Olympias. There were some legends suggesting that Alexander was actually the son of Zeus. This was following the Greek tradition of Zeus fathering heroes, something he often did. There is no reason to believe that Olympias was a virgin before the birth of Alexander. The rumour was meant to increase Alexander’s prestige. It should be noted that much of this comes from Plutarch, who wrote after the New Testament was already written.
Augustus may have suggested that Apollo was his father and yet that was not his main claim to divinity. He traced his lineage to Venus through his “ancestor” Romulus. Augustus was called “a son of a god” but not because he was conceived by a god. Rather he was adopted by Julius Caesar and after his death, he was given divinity by the senate. As his adopted son, Augustus could now be considered a son of a god.
Amenhotep III is said to be conceived with some involvement of the god Amun. This is based upon a carving depicting his birth rather than an actual narrative. It is difficult to know what is really being said here. Richard Carrier makes much of this. It needs to be understood in the context of every Pharaoh being considered a god. No Egyptian would have thought it strange or unique that a god was involved. They would be more surprised by the opposite.
Plato never spoke of a virgin birth. However, Plutarch and Diogenes Laertius, both writing after the time of the New Testament, suggested that Apollo fathered Plato. We have no idea how far back that tradition goes.
Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae. As mentioned previously, Zeus had a habit of getting both goddesses and human women pregnant.
There is very little we actually know about Pythagoras. Some dispute whether he even existed. There is much more and more recent evidence for Jesus than Pythagoras. His human parentage was known, but like with many wise men of the ancient world, he was also given Apollo as a father.
How does this fit with Jesus? There is no reason to think that most of the mothers here were virgins before this conception unlike Mary. The claim of divine parentage was used to boost prestige. Often it was a latter addition, sometimes after the time of the New Testament.
While Jesus is seen as the Son of God throughout the New Testament, his actual virgin birth is only found in Matthew and Luke and not is used to make people listen to him. Not only that, the divine parentage of Jesus, unlike the Egyptian, Greek and Roman examples, went against Jewish traditions. People expected Demi-gods in those contexts but those who heard that Jesus considered himself the Son of God wanted to stone him.
Jesus is not considered to be a demi-god in Christianity. He is not half human and half god. He is the Word made flesh, that is God incarnate. In some mysterious way, Jesus is both Son of God and YHWH in the flesh. There is nothing like this in the pagan world.
