# Is there a standard term for Jesus' conception? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723 "2018-01-29T15:03:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/1 "2018-01-29T15:03:10Z")
As we know, the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Mary, Jesus’ mother. The birth of Jesus is known as the Virgin Birth. So we’ve got terms of art for Mary’s conception and Jesus’ birth. I’ve never heard one for Jesus’ conception that I can recall. There’s the Annunciation, but that’s Mary being told that she _would_ conceive Jesus. Close, but no cigar. A bit of Googling turns up the term ‘virgin conception’ for Jesus’ conception. But it isn’t clear just how generally accepted it is, or whether any major church or religious organization uses it. (And since I’ve never heard it before, I’d expect blank looks or their equivalent if I ever used it in conversation, or on a message board or in blog comments or wherever.) Anybody got more of a clue here than I do? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/2 "2018-01-29T15:04:46Z")
The Incarnation. “The Word became flesh”. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/3 "2018-01-29T15:08:10Z")
“Lordgasm” 😃 Seriously - “Incarnation” seems to best fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/4 "2018-01-29T15:48:27Z")
Well, I’m going with “Lordgasm” from now on. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/5 "2018-01-29T16:21:44Z")
Just as a data point, the Spanish name “Encarnación” (as in MLB player Edwin) is in fact a reference to the Incarnation. That is the term I learned in my early church school days. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/6 "2018-01-29T17:41:59Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > “Lordgasm” 😃 > > Seriously - “Incarnation” seems to best fit the bill. My Googling says that the Incarnation is celebrated by Christians at Christmas, so the connection between the Incarnation as a theological concept and the event of Jesus’ _conception_ specifically seems a bit fuzzy at best. I do like ‘Lordgasm’ though. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/7 "2018-01-29T20:03:31Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Well, I’m going with “Lordgasm” from now on. But technically, that wouldn’t be accurate either (though close). The OP asked about ‘conception’, which is when the sperm combines with the egg. This takes place something like 45 minutes (minimum) to 12 hours after ejaculation. So that’s still not a completely accurate term. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/8 "2018-01-29T20:10:55Z")
“It must have been the finger of God!” “I’ve heard it called many things, but never that before…” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/9 "2018-01-29T20:30:50Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > But technically, that wouldn’t be accurate either (though close). > > The OP asked about ‘conception’, which is when the sperm combines with the egg. This takes place something like 45 minutes (minimum) to 12 hours after ejaculation. So that’s still not a completely accurate term. To be accurate, this was a case of Metaphysical Artificial Insemination-That sperm may have just appeared in the egg. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/10 "2018-01-29T20:59:41Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > My Googling says that the Incarnation is celebrated by Christians at Christmas, so the connection between the Incarnation as a theological concept and the event of Jesus’ _conception_ specifically seems a bit fuzzy at best. > > I do like ‘Lordgasm’ though. 😛 March 25th is the Feast of the Annunciation. As in “I announce to you that you’re gonna have a baby” “uh… you know, I didn’t study biology but I’m reasonably sure that’s not how it works” “girl, God says you gonna have a baby” “ok then but I still think this is kind of weird!” The feast is set on that day by the method of “ok, nine months before the birth, March 25”. We just don’t have separate names for the conception, the implantation, the Holy Placenta… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/11 "2018-01-29T21:23:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > To be accurate, this was a case of Metaphysical Artificial Insemination-That sperm may have just appeared in the egg. Inconceivable! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/12 "2018-01-29T21:32:34Z")
I don’t think that word means what you think it means. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/13 "2018-01-29T21:52:20Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > March 25th is the Feast of the Annunciation. As in “I announce to you that you’re gonna have a baby” “uh… you know, I didn’t study biology but I’m reasonably sure that’s not how it works” “girl, God says you gonna have a baby” “ok then but I still think this is kind of weird!” The feast is set on that day by the method of “ok, nine months before the birth, March 25”. We just don’t have separate names for the conception, the implantation, **the Holy Placenta…** Maybe not, but that last one has a [theme song.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0KX_Wr_kAo) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/14 "2018-01-29T22:34:27Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > March 25th is the Feast of the Annunciation. As in “I announce to you that you’re gonna have a baby” “uh… you know, I didn’t study biology but I’m reasonably sure that’s not how it works” “girl, God says you gonna have a baby” “ok then but I still think this is kind of weird!” “Be it done unto me according to thy weird.” ---
**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:** [January 29, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/15 "2018-01-29T23:23:47Z")
The Incarnation mostly gets attention around Christmastime, because that’s when we’re doing the Origin Story of Jesus, so to speak. It doesn’t mean that it actually happened at Christmas. Heck, Christmas probably didn’t happen at Christmas, either. Doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/16 "2018-01-29T23:50:15Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I don’t think that word means what you think it means. +1 “Ching” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/17 "2018-01-30T15:36:14Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > My Googling says that the Incarnation is celebrated by Christians at Christmas, so the connection between the Incarnation as a theological concept and the event of Jesus’ _conception_ specifically seems a bit fuzzy at best. > > I do like ‘Lordgasm’ though. 😛 Haven’t thought about this in forever, but seeing “Lordgasm” took me back to a joke from one of those old Truly Tasteless Jokes books: Q: What’s white and falls from the sky? A: The coming of the Lord. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/18 "2018-01-31T18:52:08Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Q: What’s white and falls from the sky? > > A: The coming of the Lord. Mind your manna, we’re talking about sacred stuff here. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/19 "2018-01-31T21:52:07Z")
“Lordgasm” would be an awesome name for a metal band. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723/20 "2018-02-02T14:14:58Z")
How about “Nativity”? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-standard-term-for-jesus-conception/807723.md?page=2)