# Do any other religions have holy folks born to virgins? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 15, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852 "2006-09-15T16:59:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/1 "2006-09-15T16:59:07Z")
In Cecil’s _Aphids Born Pregnant_, he makes a brief reference to humanity’s “one known case” of virgin birth. It seems a safe bet to say he was talking about one Jesus of Nazareth. A safe bet, that is, from a Christian point of view; don’t some other religions have a holy personage born to a virgin? [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_223.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_223.html) In 1968, when I was a foolish and naive university student, I took a first level philosophy course. Our prof zipped through a fast-paced tour of a passle of the world’s religions, laying out the tenets and casts of characters faster than I could write them down. At the end of all that, he told us of Zoroastrianism and Taoism, which he said were more or less atheistic religions. Somewhere in that breakneck tour, I seem to remember there were at least a couple (other than Christianity) where the hero was born to a virgin. I think he said there was even one born to a **virgin cow**. :eek: That must have been a shock to some long-ago rancher. Can anyone fill in the details I forgot in 1968? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/2 "2006-09-15T17:16:44Z")
[Perseus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus) was conceived by a “shower of gold,” and many individuals interpret the story being that of a virgin birth (saying Danae was a virgin when she was locked up). I don’t know that it’s explicitly stated anywhere, though. There’s [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_virgin_births) list on Wikipedia, but I’m a little shaky on my world mythology, so I can’t verify any of it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/3 "2006-09-15T17:28:19Z")
Virgin births were fairly common in pre-Christian pagan traditions. Horus was born to the virgin Isis. Perseus and Dionysus were conceived in virgins by Zeus through non-sexual means (by a lightning bolt and a “golden shower” respectively). Buddha and Krishna had virgin birth legends. The similarities between Christian and pagan mythical motifs are ofetn overplayed but the motif of a god conceiving a child with a virgin was commonplace. > [@](#): > > At the end of all that, he told us of Zoroastrianism and Taoism, which he said were more or less atheistic religions. Taoism is a nontheistic religion but Zoroastrianism definitely is not. Zoroastrian theology is all about a battle between a “good” god (Ahura Mazda) and a sort of evil anti-god (or “evil spirit” similar to Satan). It is technically monotheistic, though, since only Ahura Mazda is “God.” Zoroastrianism was extremely influential on Judaism and Christianity. It introduced the eschatological concepts of a cosmic battle between good and evil, an “endtime” and final judgement, immortal souls, a resurrection of the dead and heaven and hell. These ideas entered Judaism during the Babylonian exile and subsequently infomed Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/4 "2006-09-15T17:40:49Z")
Donm’t forget **Mithra** : > [@](#): > > By at least the 3rd century BC, Mithra was identified as the progeny of Anahita, a mother-entity who is not mentioned in the Gathas of the very early Avesta texts, but is described in the fifth Yasht of the newer texts as “the wide-expanding and health-giving”. The largest temple with a Mithraic connection is the Seleucid temple at Kangavar in western Iran (c. 200 BC), which is dedicated to “Anahita, the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithras”. > **[Mithra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithra)** > > Mithra (Avestan: .mw-parser-output .script-avestan{font-family:Alphabetum,Ahuramazda,Avestan,"Noto Sans Avestan",serif,sans-serif;font-weight:normal}𐬨𐬌𐬚𐬭𐬀, Miθra; Old Persian: 𐎷𐎰𐎼, Miθraʰ‍) is an ancient Iranian deity (yazata) of covenants, light, oaths, justice, the Sun, contracts, and friendship. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth (Asha), and the guardian of cattle, the harvest, and the Waters. The Romans attributed... Some have Mithra being born of a rock. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/5 "2006-09-18T04:49:11Z")
Many thanks to all of you, so far. When I was in high school, there were rumors of a girl in my school having been ruled by her doctor to have been a virgin, and by a court to have been impregnated by sperm in the water of a public pool. There seemed to be a lot of holes in the story, as well as (supposedly) the young lady’s hymen. All I know for sure is, I never boinked her. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/6 "2006-09-18T19:51:00Z")
Of course, there’s always Anakin Skywalker. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/7 "2006-09-22T14:44:09Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] When I was in high school, there were rumors of a girl in my school having been ruled by her doctor to have been a virgin, and by a court to have been impregnated by sperm in the water of a public pool. [/quote] Ah, yes, the [pool/sperm myth.](http://www.snopes.com/pregnant/swimsprm.htm) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/8 "2006-09-22T15:23:14Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] Ah, yes, the [pool/sperm myth.](http://www.snopes.com/pregnant/swimsprm.htm) [/QUOTE] Well, sure. But, like I said: > [@](#): > > There seemed to be a lot of holes in the story, as well as (supposedly) the young lady’s hymen. All I know for sure is, I never boinked her. The rumors at the time were just about balanced between the pool story and the one that said she was humping everyone she dated. At the time, there was one public pool in the area that wasn’t chlorinated. It was built in the bed of Fall Creek, and the creek ran through it. The flowing water would have made the “conception in a pool” nearly as unlikely as in a chlorinated pool. To some folks, though, it’s just about as likely that a young virgin was impregnated by God. Is there a Snopes entry on that one? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/9 "2006-09-22T17:20:34Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] The flowing water would have made the “conception in a pool” nearly as unlikely as in a chlorinated pool. To some folks, though, it’s just about as likely that a young virgin was impregnated by God. [/QUOTE] And to some folks (like me), the impregnated by sperm in a river-fed pool story seems a lot _more_ likely. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/10 "2006-09-22T23:55:20Z")
Tibetan Bonpo religion has lama’s born from a flower rather than a human mother. I have heard this personally from believers. I can’t remember if Tibetan Buddhists have the same belief or if this is limited to the followers of the Tibetan indigenous pre-buddhist Bon faith ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/11 "2006-09-24T20:10:09Z")
> [@](#): > > The rumors at the time were just about balanced between the pool story and the one that said she was humping everyone she dated. Or maybe both stories are true: Being impregnated in a public pool is not inconsistent with the possibility that she happened to be humping someone at that moment. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/12 "2006-09-25T18:48:57Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Or maybe both stories are true: Being impregnated in a public pool is not inconsistent with the possibility that she happened to be humping someone at that moment. [/QUOTE] As is, she was humping every guy in sight, _at the pool_? God, where was this chick when _I_ was in high school? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/13 "2006-09-25T18:55:27Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Horus was born to the virgin Isis. [/QUOTE] I thought Horus was born after Isis put the bits of Osiris back together and made him a clay willy and had sex with his corpse. No? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/14 "2006-09-25T19:05:58Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I thought Horus was born after Isis put the bits of Osiris back together and made him a clay willy and had sex with his corpse. No? [/QUOTE] Well, if it was a clay willy, wouldn’t she still have been a virgin, technically? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/15 "2006-09-25T19:22:05Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Well, if it was a clay willy, wouldn’t she still have been a virgin, technically? [/QUOTE] I think the idea was that it was clay from the Nile - symbol of life and fertility - and imbued with Osiris’s “essense” as Isis did bring him back to life (or at least an erection) for the deed. So it’s sorta questionable. But I think she and Osiris were mated before that, so even if Horus wasn’t the result of DNA exchange (and really, when you’re a God, who is?), Isis wasn’t a virgin. She’s usually depicted as a very mothery goddess. And Osiris is definitely depicted as Horus’s father, until later on when Horus becomes a reincarnation of Osiris. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/16 "2006-09-26T03:44:27Z")
Hey… what if a nun really wants a kid. Can she be artificially enseminated? ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/17 "2006-09-26T03:45:33Z")
Also, is she allowed to go through the sperm bank to find a guy named Jesus? ---
**Author:** ![oy\_vay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/258eb7/32.png) [@oy\_vay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oy_vay)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/18 "2006-09-28T00:41:16Z")
Wouldn’t virgin births be possible with artificial insemniation? Even then. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out how to get the semen in the vagina without inserting tab a into slot b. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/19 "2006-10-01T21:15:14Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] As is, she was humping every guy in sight, _at the pool_? God, where was this chick when _I_ was in high school? 🆒 [/QUOTE] I don’t know when you were in high school. This drama played out circa 1966 in Anderson, Indiana, which was not exactly a wild, cosmopolitan place in those days. The creek-fed pool was down the road at Pendleton. Fall Creek is now too polluted to swim in, so the pool was closed years ago. I apologize for not tending my own thread, but I’ve been on vacation for a week. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852/20 "2006-10-01T21:34:52Z")
[QUOTE=oy vay] Wouldn’t virgin births be possible with artificial insemniation? Even then. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out how to get the semen in the vagina without inserting tab a into slot b. [/QUOTE] It depends on the definition of virgin birth, and of virginity. If it means “no penis in vagina contact,” then you’re right. We’ve seen in several threads that a lot of people say you can have oral, anal, or mutual manual sex without “having sex.” All of those delights have the chance of semen going astray, resulting in conception. Artificial insemination surely fits into that category; a syringe is not a penis. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-religions-have-holy-folks-born-to-virgins/372852.md?page=2)