From the early stages of Christianity, belief in the virginity of Mary and the virgin conception of Jesus, as stated in the gospels, holy and supernatural, was used by detractors, both political and religious, as a topic for discussions, debates and writings, specifically aimed to challenge the divinity of Jesus and thus Christians and Christianity alike. In the 2nd century, as part of the earliest anti-Christian polemics, Celsus suggested that Jesus was the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier named Panthera. The views of Celsus drew responses from Origen, the Church Father in Alexandria, Egypt, who considered it a fabricated story. How far Celsus sourced his view from Jewish sources remains a subject of discussion. COUNT 5
QSN1 Who suggested that Jesus was the son of a Roman soldier? ANS1 Celsus QSN2 What was the name of the Roman soldier said by Celsus to be the father of Jesus? ANS2 Panthera QSN3 Origen was a Church Father in which Egyptian city? ANS3 Alexandria QSN4 In which century did Celsus suggest that Jesus' father was a Roman soldier? ANS4 2nd QSN5 For what purpose did detractors use the idea of Mary's virginity and the virgin conception of Jesus? ANS5 to challenge the divinity of Jesus