a real
living faith in Jesus. The simple and natural conclusion is
that Jesus was the child of Joseph and Mary, and had an
uneventful childhood." The German theologian, Soltau, says,
"Whoever makes the further demand that an evangelical
Christian shall believe in the words 'conceived by the Holy
Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,' wittingly constitutes
himself a sharer in a sin against the Holy Spirit and the
true Gospel as transmitted to us by the Apostles and their
school in the Apostolic Age."

And this then is the summing up of the contention between the
conservative school of Christian theologians on the one side and the
liberal and radical schools on the other side. We have given you a
statement of the positions, merely that you may understand the
problem. But, before we pass to the consideration of the Occult
Teachings, let us ask one question: _How do the Higher Critics account
for the undoubted doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood, as clearly stated
all through the New Testament_, in view of the proofs against the
Virgin Birth? Why the frequent and repeated mention of Jesus as "the
Son of God?" What was the Secret Doctrine underlying the Divine
Parentage of Jesus, which the pagan legends corrupted into the story
of the Virgin Birth of theology? We fear that the answer is not to be
found in the books and preachments of the Higher Criticism, nor yet in
those of the Conservative Theologians. Let us now see what light the
Occult Teachings can throw on this dark subject! There is an Inner
Doctrine which explains the mystery.

Now, in the first place, there is no reference in the Occult Teaching
to any miraculous features connected with the physical birth of Jesus.
It is not expressly denied, it is true, but the Teachings contain no
reference to the matter, and all the references to the subject of
Jesus' parentage speak of Joseph as being His father, and Mary His
mother. In other words, the family is treated as being composed of
father, mother and child just as is the case with any family. The
Occult Teachings go into great detail concerning the _Spiritual
Sonship_ of Jesus, as we shall see presently, but there is no mention
of any miraculous _physical_ conception and birth.

We can readily understand why the Virgin Birth legend would not appeal
to the Occultists, if we will but consider the doctrines of the
latter. The Occultists pay but little attention to the physical bod