The theme of a baby being born from a virgin is related to a baby being born of a barren woman. Its an old idea.
About the barren woman version, I read somewhere that there was possibly a custom in ancient Judaism where travelling holy men would impregnate women that their husbands couldn't impregnate(ie barren women). And so this was considered a divine pregnancy as the holy men were representatives of God.
I don't know how this applies to Mary. If God impregnated Mary without her consent, then by definition he raped her. Of course, in those days, consent of a woman was probably never required. |