God's Wonders: How Was Jesus Conceived?

I don’t pretend to know exactly how God does His wonders, but I do like to wander through the labyrinthic stacks of supposition and theory, grasping at elusive concepts and morsels of clues bedecked with promising dewdrops of glittering affirmations.

With that said, I’ll continue onward and upward with the issue at hand: How was Jesus conceived? Well, I really don’t know. But . . . what if . . .

The Bible isn’t too specific on this topic, except to say that Mary was conceived of the Holy Ghost: Matthew 1:20: “But while [Joseph] thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”

In Luke, it’s worded slightly different: Luke 1:35: “And the angel answered and said unto [Mary], The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

From these two scriptures, we have a hint that Mary’s conception is by the Holy Ghost (Note that each scripture says “by” and “of,” not “from.” But according to Luke, the resulting child is “the Son of God.” In addition, all other scriptures in the New Testament describing the sonship of Jesus, name Him as the Son of God, or the Only Begotten of the Father. Many religions believe that God is one and the same with the Holy Ghost, so this isn’t a problem in their minds. But the question still arises: “Why was the Holy Ghost mentioned in these two scriptures? Why not just use the name of the Father?” Both references to the involvement of the Holy ghost was only concerning the conception.

Looking at it from the viewpoint of Mainstream Christianity, about the only conclusion we can draw from it, is that it’s a mystery; a miracle. Simply said, it is “the Immaculate Conception.”

When I decided to look at it through the eyes of LDS doctrine (in other words, doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), then something started to click: Actually, the LDS Church does not have a particular view on this, except to simply say that Jesus is the Son of God. LDS speakers have said a little more than this, but it isn’t scripture, so I should stop right there and just say that we think Jesus has the same attributes and appearance as God. This suggests that Jesus has the same genes as the father. (Now remember; I’m not talking doctrine; this is my own opinion, and I’m not speaking for the LDS Church. But at least the Bible hints that Jesus may have the same genes, as noted in John 14:9: “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”)

Now, I began to say that something started to click when I applied Mormon (LDS) doctrine to the scriptures I quoted above. The reason it clicked, starts with the fact that the LDS believe that God has a body. Stay with that thought while I paint the bigger picture:

So here is the scenario: God has a body of flesh and bone. God wants to beget a son on the earth with a physical body. This will be easy, as God the Father already has a physical body from which He can “reproduce” this offspring. He requires that His Son have a physical body so that he can make a special and unique sacrifice called the “Atonement.” That sacrifice involves suffering and dying. Only a person with a physical body can suffer and die.

The Son that God has in mind must be perfect, in order for the Atonement to be effective. And in order to be the picture of perfection and purity and cleanliness, the Son needs to be born of a virgin.

Now, a problem presents itself: If God has a body of flesh and bone, how is He going to transfer His DNA to Mary’s womb, and still have Mary as a virgin?

It doesn’t take long for God to figure this out, because with God, anything is possible: According to LDS doctrine, the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit, else He could not dwell in us. So God calls the Holy Ghost into His office, and gives him another calling (He surely has many callings, already, three of which are to testify of truth, and of the Father and of the Son Jesus Christ, and to give comfort): God tells the Holy Ghost, “Since you are a spirit, you can enter into people’s bodies. But you also can manipulate physical matter by giving it commands, just like Jesus can command the sea to be still. I want you to carry an embodiment of my DNA into Mary’s womb.”

This is completely consistent with the scripture: The Holy Ghost comes upon Mary to do His implant, while God the Father stands nearby, having just recently donated the embodiment of His DNA. Thus, His “shadow” is over Mary for being so close to her.

Thus, the Immaculate Conception of Mary is achieved, Mary having felt nothing, except for the remarkable and incredible Warmth, Comfort and Love of the Holy Ghost.

One reason why I tend to reduce God’s miracles to “natural processes” is because of my belief that God was once a man like you and I are. I try to imagine myself as being a god, some day, and in doing so, I cannot picture myself creating something ex-nihilo, or bringing off an “immaculate conception” by just clicking my fingers.

So now, you’ve just had a trip through my brain, my soul, and you may have a slight idea as to the makeup of SamboRambo, aka Sam Antone, aka Samuel Richardson. I’m not asking you to believe the things I present; I’m only sharing part of myself with you, the reader.