Miraculous Conception

There are two accounts of the miraculous conception, one in the gospel according to St. Matthew, the other in the gospel according to St. Luke

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EXCERPT

The Unitarians, reject all that is related of the birth of Christ, as spurious and interpolated, and of course consider him as the son of Joseph and Mary, begotten in the ordinary way; and they give references to many scholars and inquisitive men, in whose works the curious reader will find a number of learned arguments against the stories of Matthew and Luke being received, and to these he is referred.

What follows is a short examination of the two stories on the principles of what is usually called common sense, in the way in which an ordinary man would investigate a tale in which he was interested in knowing the truth.

We will begin with Matthew, because he is admitted to have been the oldest writer.