Major Christian
Doctrines - Part 2

The following are additional major doctrines of the Christian faith.

Also see Basic Christian Doctrine at http://www.carm.org/doctrine/basicdoc.htm

Jesus was born of a virgin.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Luke 1:30-31, 34-35, 37 [30] But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. [31] You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. [34] "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" [35] The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. [37] For nothing is impossible with God."

Mattthew 1:20-23 [20] But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.   [21] She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."  [22] All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: [23] "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us."
 

"Oh, c'mon!  You can't prove that Mary was a virgin!"

That is true.  Nobody can prove Mary was a virgin.  But consider this:

• Under Jewish custom at the time, once a woman was betrothed, she was considered a wife even though the marriage had not taken place.
  (See The Marriage of Jesus and The Elect)

• If the couple wanted to break off the engagement, the husband had to give the wife a divorce.  (Jewish women could not divorce their husbands.)

• If the woman had sexual intercourse with anyone other than her husband-to-be it would be considered adultery.

• By law the penalty for adultery was death by stoning.

  John 8:3-5a [3] The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group [4] and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. [5] In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women."

• By law the husband-to-be was required to throw the first stone.  (This was why Joseph wanted to "divorce her quietly")

• When Mary finds out she is pregnant, the first person she goes to is her relative Elizabeth -- the wife of the High Priest.
   
  Luke 1:39-40 [39] At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, [40] where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.
   

• Zechariah, the High Priest, had two choices:

  1. Have Mary arrested and stoned to death.

  2. Believe that an angel visited Mary and the Holy Spirit made her pregnant.

• Zechariah,  the High Priest, father of John the Baptist (Jesus' cousin), knew Mary was telling the truth -- an angel had told him!

  Luke 1:8-9, 11, 13, 17 [8] Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, [9] he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. [11] Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. [13] But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. [17] And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous -- to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

God is: (see The Personality of God )

• Gentle
• Loving
• Kind
• Compassionate
• Faithful
• True
• Loyal
• Trustworthy
• Forgiving
• Meek
• Humble
• Merciful
• Perfect
• Good
• Unchanging
• Just
• Fair
• Impartial

There is no purgatory.

Despite what Roman Catholicism teaches, there is nothing in Scripture to support a belief in purgatory.  The Catholic teachings of obtaining salvation by doing good works, participation in Catholic sacraments, penance, indulgences, and time in purgatory are "another gospel."

See The Catechism of the Catholic Church Compared to the Bible.

The Holy Spirit is the inspiration for all true prophecy.

2 Peter 1:20-21  [20] Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. [21] For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.