The birth of Christ foretold

Hear again how Isaiah foretold expressly that he would be born through a virgin. It was said in these words: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall say concerning his name, ‘God with us.’”

For things that were incredible and were thought impossible among human beings, God announced beforehand through the prophetic Spirit as things that would happen, so that when they happened they would not be disbelieved but believed because they had been foretold.

But so that some people, failing to understand the prophecy just quoted, may not accuse us of the very things for which we accused the poets—who say that Zeus came to women for the sake of sexual desire—we will try to make the words clear. “Look, the virgin shall conceive” means that the virgin would conceive without sexual intercourse. For if she had intercourse with anyone, she would no longer be a virgin. Rather, the power of God came upon the virgin and overshadowed her, causing her to conceive while still a virgin.

The angel of God who was sent to that same virgin at that time announced good news to her, saying: “Look, you shall conceive in your womb from the Holy Spirit and bear a son, and he shall be called Son of the Most High; and you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” This is what those who recorded everything concerning our Savior Jesus Christ taught, and we believed them, since the prophetic Spirit had also said through Isaiah, mentioned above, that he would be born in the manner we have described.

It is therefore not right to understand the Spirit and the power that come from God as anything other than the Logos, who is also the firstborn of God, as Moses the prophet mentioned above declared. This Logos came upon the virgin and overshadowed her, making her pregnant not through intercourse but through power.

The name “Jesus” in the Hebrew language means “Savior” in Greek. This is why the angel also said to the virgin, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” And I think even you will agree that those who prophesy are inspired by no one other than the divine Logos.