Letter: Virgin Mary tougher than you think

Saturday 28 December 1996 00:02 GMT

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Sir: Daphne Hampson repeats that the description of Mary in Matthew's Gospel as a "virgin" is based on a mistranslation of the Greek text of Isaiah 7 from the original Hebrew. It is a non sequitur because the Gospel of Luke also says that Mary was a virgin and does not refer to it as the fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy. Further, scholars are satisfied that Luke's source was totally independent of Matthew.

ALAN PAVELIN

Chislehurst, Kent

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Letter: Virgin Mary tougher than you think

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