How Will This Be? An African Interpretation of Mary and Virginity

How Will This Be? An African Interpretation of Mary and Virginity
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With the enormous growth of Christian churches in Africa, the divine incarnation of the eternal Son of God is in conflict with Protestant Christians in Africa. The question posed by Mary “How Can This Be”? Describe the human and divine nature of Jesus Christ in the mystery of virginity. The concept of virginity differs from celibacy. A woman’s consecration in virginity is through spousal love which affirms open communication with God and Christ as the pure virgin (2 Cor 11:2). Chastity is a decision for Christ. It reveals humankind’s yearning to unite with Christ. The author of Hebrews writes that God has made the divine presence known to us in the person of Jesus who came into the world with a body God prepared for him.

In Luke 1:34: “then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man? I know not a man, seem to import that she understood the angel of the present or past time, that she had already conceived, or should immediately conceive, against which she objects her not having any carnal knowledge of any man. Within the Roman Catholic Church, papal statements interpret the written statement that Mary had vowed virginity. This claim has no precedence in the Israelite community. It is very improbable that a Jewish woman should make such a vow, in which barrenness was looked upon as a curse. How could the Blessed virgin pledge espousal to Joseph mock him? Mary certainly understood the angel as speaking of a thing in being, or which presently should be through out of the ordinary course of nature. The Greek word γινώσκω ‘to know’ ‘to have sexual intercourse with’ so the clause ‘I do not know a man’ is affirming that I am a virgin.

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, 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.

The Holy Ghost (who is also called here the power of the Highest) shall come upon thee; it is a phrase which signified a particular and peculiar influence of the Holy Spirit: thus we read of the prophets, that the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, 2 Chron. 20:14. There is a general influence of God upon the forming of all children in the womb, Job 10:8; Psalm. 139:15. But yet that mass of flesh shall be a holy thing, because, though born of thee, and flesh of thy flesh, yet of thy flesh first sanctified, by the Holy Ghost coming upon and overshadowing of thee. Mary has faith but is perplexed by the angel’s statement ἐπεί ‘since’ that her pregnancy would come about independent of sexual union. This will come through the overshadowing ἐπισκιάζω of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will cause Mary to conceive. The Holy Spirit will accomplish this by using his divine power [The all-encompassing presence of the Most High is the power of the Holy Spirit

African interpretation of virginity

In the contemporary African society many young virgins conceive out of wedlock at their earliest age not having parental care and responsibility. African culture should look at the Virginity of Mary as a model of a new morality. The symbol of virginity is a beckon to African women captive of modern civilization to understanding the transformation of a lowly girl like them to be the child-bearer of Christ (God).

The stigma of childlessness meaning shame and pregnancy for an unmarried woman is more common or venerated in Africa than preserving one’s virginity until marriage. However, this ‘disgrace’ that would cause her to be stoned to death is what the angel promises to Mary because she has found favor with God (1:30). For in Mary’s case, she has not sacrificed her virginity; instead, the power of God was at work in her (1:35). This will help African nations witness the gift of life as a freedom that Mary gave based on her conviction despite the anxieties of overpopulation.

It is clear that Luke truly believes in a virginal conception. He regards Jesus as Joseph’s ‘supposed’ son (3:23). Theories that reject Luke's affirmation in a Greek failed to understand Jewish marriage customs of espousal and marriage. He didn't know that it involved two steps: a formal exchange of consent before witnesses that gave the couple marital status while the wife continued to live at her own family home for about a year, and then the bride’s moving to her husband’s home.

When the situation is entirely explained to her, Mary makes herself available to God (1:38), despite being in a position in which a pregnancy may appear to bring neither happiness nor blessing, and may be seen as a moral and legal offense. For Luke, it is essential that Jesus’ birth is from God and is accomplished by the Holy Spirit, and that Mary states her willing acceptance. In short, Mary’s virginity is seen as a favorable condition: instead of being a hindrance and a moral problem, it is an expression of election by grace.

Humanity of Christ for African understanding of Virginity

The omnipotent God, who is beyond space and time, chose to empty himself and come to us as a human being. Out of his great love for you and me, he comes as a baby born into poverty that night in Bethlehem. There in the manger lies our God who will surrender his body, his very life, for your sake and for mine. The one Mary holds and nurses; the one who cannot walk, talk or even hold up his head; the one who will need his diaper changed is God in the flesh come to make us holy. One day soon, when he is grown, this authentic human being will choose to be fully obedient to God, even when it means giving his whole body over to be crucified. Through his painful sacrifice, we are made whole. In Jesus, however, we learn that God is not unknowable, distant and unconcerned with human affairs. We learn that the God who created the heavens and the earth is intimately involved in creation to the point of coming to walk among people in person. A God who becomes human is a God who must be reckoned with, and that makes this baby dangerous to the way the world works typically.

We cannot consign him to heaven because he has come to earth. We cannot push him aside as a figment of our imagination because he has come with a human face. He is a God who has entered fully into the human mess, living in poverty, living as a refugee and living with people who have significant issues. When he lived among us, he associated with outcasts and gave help to the poor, the sick and the broken. He cared about immigrants and strangers. He didn't care that much about money, sex or power.

Believing in a God who becomes human will cause all kinds of problems, however. If the birth of Jesus defines what it means to be entirely God, it also explains what it means to be fully human. In Genesis 1, God makes humans "in his own image" and calls this creation "very good" (1:26-31). No other created thing gets that designation. God is pleased with this human creation, which is a reflection of God's being, character, and love. If we embrace the identity God gave us from the beginning, however, we become the people God created us to be, full of purpose and vocation. Jesus revealed what it meant to be fully human and, at the same time, entirely indwelt and one with the Divine.

The manger-laid child Jesus would one day be dangled above a city street -- not in a cage but on a cross. Because of the cross, we are reconciled to God, given the light of God's Spirit dwelling in us, to be lived out in our fully human lives that are meant to reflect and hold together both the human and the Divine. This is the life he came to bring us. This is both the danger and the opportunity represented in the manger. It's a danger because it challenges us in our less-than-human ways of life, and it brings hope because we see that real human life is a gift that God has gone to great lengths to redeem.

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