Who Should We Believe?

The Annunciation is one of the most significant events in salvation history. It was at the very moment that Mary said yes to God’s plan that Jesus was conceived in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why the Church places the solemnity of the Annunciation on March 25, exactly 9 months before the celebration of Jesus’ birth.

Unfortunately, many skeptical postmodern theologians do not believe in angels, the incarnation, or the virgin birth. To them the whole story is a bit of Christian mythology which can be explained in purely natural terms since supernatural miracles simply cannot happen.

St. Luke however, begins his gospel by telling us that he will present the truth about Jesus based on eyewitness accounts. Who should we believe?
Scholars are right to remind people to read the Bible with a proper critical sense; because, there are stories in the Bible that were intended to make a point rather than be a record of actual historical events. However, the general dismissal of all miracles as fictional stories is itself the result of an unjustified belief in scientific naturalism.

If God exists, then miracles are possible. God does not work miracles randomly or simply to amaze people, but sometimes God must intervene in order to accomplish his plan for creation. For the Incarnation to occur, God had to first tell Mary what was going to happen and seek her consent. To have simply have imposed upon Mary without any explanation would have been an act of violence and disorder inconsistent with the character of any moral being let alone God.

My conclusion is that if Christianity is true at all, then the Annunciation is an essential part of that truth. One need not be naïve or a fundamentalist in order to believe that the Annunciation was an actual historical event. One only has to believe that Jesus truly is the Son of God.