Virgin Birth of Jesus

The virgin birth of Jesus (also referred to as the virginal conception) is a doctrine of Christianity and Islam which holds that Mary miraculously conceived Jesus while remaining a virgin. It was universally held by Christian groups by the 2nd century, and is included in the two most widely used Christian creeds, which state that Jesus "was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary" (the Nicene Creed) and was "born of the Virgin Mary" (Apostles' Creed). It was not seriously challenged, except by some minor sects, before the 18th century.

The earliest expressions of the doctrine are found in the gospels of Matthew (Matthew 1:18) and Luke, which say that Mary was a virgin at the time of Jesus' birth and that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. These gospels, later tradition and current doctrine present Jesus' conception as a miracle involving no natural father, no sexual intercourse, and no male seed in any form, but instead brought about by the Holy Spirit. In Roman Catholic and Eastern and Oriental Orthodox faith, the virgin birth is subsumed by the doctrine that Mary remained a virgin throughout her life, a belief first documented in the 2nd century.

The general Christian doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus (i.e., Mary's virginal conception of Jesus) is not to be confused with the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. This is thought to have occurred of two human parents in the normal way. The Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception holds that, when Mary herself was conceived, she came into existence without the "stain" (Latin, macula) of original sin.

Mary's virginity at the conception of Jesus is also a tenet of Islam. Muslims refer to Jesus with the matronymic Jesus son of Mary (Isa bin Maryam), a term repeatedly used in the Qur'an.