Born Divine: The Births of Jesus & Other Sons of God

In this study of the birth & infancy of Jesus, Miller separates fact from fiction in the gospel narratives & relates them to stories about the miraculous births of Israelite heroes & of Greek & Roman sons of God. Born Divine analyzes the Christian claim that the birth & childhood of Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. The historical & theological dimensions of the virgin birth tradition are discussed with honesty & insight. This wide-ranging book also presents additional infancy gospels from the 2nd century thru the Middle Ages.
Preface —
Acknowledgments —
Abbreviations —
Introduction —
Biblical Infancy Narratives: —
Infancy narratives —
Luke 1 —
Luke 2 —
Genealogies of Jesus —
Matthew 1-2 —
Moses Haggadah —
Pagan Sons Of God: —
Hellenistic infancy narratives —
Historical And Theological Questions: —
Did Jesus fulfill prophecy? —
Are the infancy narratives historical? —
Born Of A Virgin?: —
What is a “virgin”? —
Is there a virgin birth in Matthew? —
Is the virgin birth historical? —
Was Jesus illegitimate? —
Understanding The Virgin Birth: —
Son(s) of God in the Bible —
Virgin birth in context —
Meaning of the virgin birth —
Infancy Gospels: —
Infancy gospel of James —
Infancy gospel of Thomas —
Two docetic birth stories —
History of Joseph the Carpenter —
Arabic infancy gospel —
Gospel of pseudo-Matthew —
Appendix: Births of Aeneas and Jesus —
For further reading —
About the translations —
Translations consulted —
Works consulted —
Index of quotations —
Index of topics