The virgin birth of God into the world is perhaps the most amazing event ever described in any spiritual document. The notion of a virgin birth from an “immaculate conception” is so unfathomable to the human mind that it has caused many serious thinking men and woman to mock such a thing and embrace atheism or scientific secularism. Perhaps I can help offer a way to understand the Lord’s Advent that is more acceptable to human reasoning.
I will have to approach this topic from several directions. Each direction will be extremely challenging—especially within the limitations of a blog post.
Quantum mechanics suggests that nothing exists alone. This is also referred to as quantum entanglement. All finite things rely on something greater than themselves. If you follow the logical trajectory of such thinking you will have to conclude that finite things have their origin in the infinite—since anything limited must have come from something greater or less limited, and that ultimately, from something even greater and less limited as well (ad infinitum).
If you accept the premise that God is Infinite, then God is everywhere and sustains all things (theism). So the Lord God is equally and fully present in the ovary and eggs of a human female as with a giant galaxy containing billions of stars. However, according to scientist/theologian Emanuel Swedenborg, God’s Infinite activity is manifested in finite things according to their receptivity.
What does receptivity mean?
Swedenborg claimed that God’s creative spiritual action flows into (impregnates) matter with dynamic forms of usefulness. Physical matter simply provides a matrix for utility to emerge into actual form with greater and greater complexity (evolutionary process). Since Mary’s ovum is a matrix for human life, it already possessed the complexity to be more receptive to God’s living influence than other worldly structures. But even more importantly, since God focused on a particular female gamete, it would serve as a recipient form for the greatest of all uses—the glorification of the Lord and salvation of the human race.
This focus was a Divine seed, which fused with Mary’s haploid chromosome set, to allow the Lord to be born into the physical world and grow up to live among humans. Therefore, the Lord’s soul or spirit within this seed was Jehovah Himself, but His body was formed from Mary’s hereditary input.
To grasp what generative powers constituted the Divine seed we have to first ask ourselves “What is a seed?” Answer: A seed is a concept—a complete blueprint for something to take final shape. (For instance, a tree seed contains the complete idea and patterning principles of the mature tree). God’s seed contains the complete idea of His grand cosmic plan and purpose for creation—to create a heaven from the human race! (What else would be the “twinkle” in God’s eye?)
But the human race was on a downward trajectory. Divine intervention was called for.
The Divine seed and patterning principle that impregnated Mary’s ovum was nothing less than the Holy Word Itself. It was God’s Infinite Truth and living blueprint that, through Mary’s ovum, could become infused with a flawed human corporeal ego and its false sense of self. This human hereditary baggage would now be constantly matched against the ultimate Truth as the Lord grew up in the world.
By resisting human proclivities towards evil and the vanities and allurements of the world, the Lord’s life on earth served to bring what genetically belongs to man in harmony with what belongs to God.
What most traditional theologians are unaware of is that the narratives of Scripture (God’s Word) depict this combat between God and human imperfection when the natural meanings of its literal sense are distilled to reveal higher spiritual meanings. This higher-level exposition reveals profound details of the sacred process of how the Lord made the Word flesh by combating His human compulsions (and Hell’s influences) until He successfully united His Human essence with His Divine Essence. This is how the Lord Jesus became one with the Father and Glorified Himself as the Alpha and Omega. This is also why there was an empty tomb.
We all must go through a similar process to obtain salvation and eternal happiness. Our success can only come from imploring the help of the One who succeeded in overcoming all repugnant human traits. If we do this and adopt the spiritual principle of mutual love into our hearts, minds and lives we will indeed help God create a heaven from the human race!
TheGodGuy 
Maybe it’s because I’m Catholic, but the virgin birth does not really seem very weird to me. If you accept the reality of God, it seems sort of “yeah, whatever” – no more unusual than starfish or wood or any other thing in the world. But I agree with you, it’s a deal-breaker for a lot of people. Reminds me of the thought in reincarnation that it’s really strange to have several lifetimes – is it really that much stranger than to have one lifetime? Once you get over the utter strangeness of a lifetime, the rest is easy.
And, as a former Catholic yourself, you probably remember what event the Immaculate Conception refers to. Not to Jesus’s birth – at least not directly.
Dear Sue,
I have a fondness for using Swedenborg’s theology to help explain the most difficult topics. It is good exercise! I am impressed that you find this topic a “yawn.”
Spiritually yours,
TheGodGuy
Therefore, the Lord’s soul or spirit within this seed was Jehovah Himself, The Divine seed and patterning principle that impregnated Mary’s ovum was nothing less than the Holy Word Itself. I wanted to know is this seed that was placed in Mary, Jesus (which is also the word) or Jehovah (which is Yahwah the Father)? Because the Bible clearly say that if we preach anything other that Jesus coming from heaven is preaching a false doctrine.
Dear Kevin,
Yes, Jesus’ heavenly spirit was Jehovah. His (flawed) earthly body came from the mother. This created a need to harmonize outer and inner. Jesus and Jehoval are not two separate individuals. The “only-begotten” represents divine truth born of divine love. During His planetary existence and temptations, Jesus unified (Glorified) His human nature with His divine nature, making Him the Alpha and Omega. What is not clear in the Bible is that it contains three levels of meaning – the literal/nature level, the spiritual level, and the divine level. There is no other way to contain infinite wisdom within a limited physical book. Please get your hands on my award-winning book “Proving God,” which addresses this huge topic.
Spiritually yours,
TheGodGuy
I did like your explanation – the matrix, the receptivity, the flawed ego, the combat. It works as an answer for ‘why did the Lord come into the world?’.
Dear Sue,
I am simply pointing out the superiority of Swedenborgian doctrine to explain mysteries that other faith systems cannot even touch. Generally speaking, the ecclesiastical trajectory of the Swedenborgian Church shies away from such a bold approach. However, I am seeing signs of some new “stirrings.”
Spiritually yours,
TheGodGuy
I love the story of the Virgin Birth- It is a golden thread in the fabric of the divine cosmology that if you ry to pull this thread out exclusively, it doesn’t happen- the rest comes with it… unraveling the whole cloth along with it.
I like that you have used scientific words. We’ve just created some literature on the Virgin Birth for Christmas season. I think it is a story of much beauty when understood this way, and for me, it was the missing thread, which helped me believe that Jesus could have been God incarnate.
What makes sense to me is that with an ordinary birth, we get something from our earthly father, propensities, some loves etc. Yet, with Jesus, as you said, he got the propensities of the Divine Father – or Divine Love Itself –
For a while I couldn’t figure out how Love translated to the Word?
Thoughts are articulated affections. Similar to that the Holy Spirit of Truth which overshadowed Mary was the articulated form of the Divine Love– a kind of Celestial DNA — or the WORD which would be made flesh – which as you so well described came to overshadow, indwell, and unfold and be unified with his natural over His lifetime. To me this divine constellation -The Morning Star! – is the divine matrix is the womb from where Charity Itself is born.
So the way I describe it to myself, is Jesus Christ wasn’t soul-sourced via an earthly father as others’ soul material comes (that he would have had two fathers/ two souls — doesn’t make sense). His soul was as you said the inflowing divine Love/ Word into the ultimates.
And the Virgin Birth also only makes sense to me if it were considered a cosmic event, not just an earthly event: The Lord’s salvific love was/ is extended the same to all human beings everywhere in the cosmos: it is unlimited, and is flowing out in fullness on every individual and throughout all dimensions.
And as you described both births, the Lord’s and ours (spiritual growth / regeneration) Jesus related both births in the same verse in Scripture – The Living Word. As you say that quantum, multi-dimensional bio-dynamic document:
“He came into His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them he gave His power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.” (John 1:11-14)
Dear Carla,
Thank you for sharing your comments and thoughts. I wrote this post (and others) to show that Swedenborg’s revelations can be looked at from many angles. This requires a new kind of mental effort that goes beyond mere reading comprehension.
Spiritually yours,
TheGodGuy
the only issue I have with this assertion is that the prophecies before his comming all had to do with “the seed of David” thus giving him a Judite lineage, and Mary was a “daughter of Aaron” ie a Levite.
Dear David,
Great observation!
There is a deeper or spiritual level of meaning within the sacred words of Holy Scripture. With that said, what does the ovum of a Levite have to do with heavenly “seed.” Jesus removed Himself from His mother’s lineage and took on the lineage of His “Father in Heaven.” This process is called the GLORIFICATION between the Lord’s human nature and His divine nature.
Spiritually yours,
TheGodGuy
very well done, great post.
Thanks – I like to take on difficult topics!
Spiritually yours,
TheGodGuy
Hi Ed,
Nice piece. Just one small correction: the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth are two entirely different things. The Immaculate Conception is the Catholic dogma (not based on the Bible) that Mary was conceived from her mother Anna free from the stain of original sin. The Virgin Birth is the Bible-based doctrine that Jesus was conceived from his mother Mary without a human father. I’d suggest you edit out the reference to the Immaculate Conception in case any folks who know their Catholic doctrine happen by. (Even most Catholics think that the Immaculate Conception is the same as the Virgin Birth. But any run-of-the-mill Catholic priest knows the difference.)
Dear Lee,
Thanks for the Catholic distinction. If some knowledgeable Catholic stumbles onto this blog site they will read your corrective reply. My intent was to tackle the much larger issue of how Jesus could have been conceived by an Infinite God and a finite woman. Swedenborg offers rational insights to the spiritual “science” behind such a conception and the importance of Mary’s inherited evils to the Lord’s Glorification..
Spiritually yours,
TheGodGuy