Herman Bavinck

The Virgin Birth of our Lord Herman Bavinck

A concise examination on the question of hermeneutics and the believability of the Virgin BirthBrilliant Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck tackles the foundational question between traditional Christianity and the scientific or modern worldview: does knowledge come exclusively through scientific inquiry or does the Christian doctrine of revelation provide an equally potent means of knowledge within the domain of religion?In this relatively brief article, Bavinck brings this question to bear on the question of the Virgin Birth. He argues that scientific or "analytical" methods of inquiry must dismiss any miraculous event (much less the Virgin Birth itself) as an a priori, a move that belies even the implementation of their own scientific inquiry. On the contrary, a "synthetic" approach, one that approves both science and revelation, produces a more coherent and realistic interpretation of the biblical witness. Includes a new Foreword for contemporary readers.