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Document Details : Title: How Long Was Christ in the Womb? Subtitle: A Division of Opinion in The Fathers Author(s): ADKIN, N. Journal: Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses Volume: 70 Issue: 4 Date: December 1994 Pages: 394-397 DOI: 10.2143/ETL.70.4.556069 Abstract : The incarnation is a central doctrine of christianity. The Fathers of the Western Church can nonetheless be shown to have been divided on the question of the precise number of months Christ was in the Virgin Mary’s womb. Augustine twice reports a tradition according to which Christ’s birth occurred nine months and six days after his conception. In practice however the Fathers are inconsistent in their statements concerning the number of months which Christ spent in the womb: his sojourn there is sometimes said to have lasted for ten months and at other times for nine. The purpose of the present note is to document this diversity up to the beginning of the fifth century; the task has not been undertaken before. |
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