Excerpt from The Virgin-Birth: One of the Principal Foundations of the Christian Faith; An Account of Some of the Various Ways in Which It Was Explained, Defended, and Devoutly Expounded by Doctors of Theology and Doctors of Medicine at Different Periods of the Church's History I DO not pretend to enter into any controversy in the following pages, and there will be no reference to any Manifesto of the Clergy, or of others, and no discus sion on the Higher Criticism, for by this time the public must begin to be heartily tired of such matters. It is my purpose to state clearly, from duly authorised books, and from the words and writings of learned and orthodox men, and of saintly and most reverential women, how this Wondrous Work of the virgin-birth was begun, continued and finished. Some of the statements and opinions may seem strange and almost shocking to modern ears, and therefore it must be always remembered that they have in every case proceeded from-orthodox men and women, thoroughly devoid of prurience, and full of faith and reverence. If any be offended in this twentieth century, these last facts should exculpate both the writers and myself. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.