Sunday, December 21, 2014

Nature's foreshadowing?

Some theologians, in their attempts to define the distinct roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Trinity, have referred to Christ as the form or pattern of creation.  If this is correct, perhaps the pattern of parthenogenesis (virgin birth) found in nature represents a foreshadowing of the ultimate parthenogenesis:  the virgin birth of Christ.

From Wikipedia, here are some relevant passages on parthenogenesis:

Parthenogenesis /ˌpɑrθənɵˈɛnɨsɨs/ is a form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization. In animals, parthenogenesis means development of an embryo from an unfertilized egg cell and is a component process of apomixis.

The word parthenogenesis comes from the Greek παρθένος, parthenos, meaning "virgin" and γένεσις, genesis, meaning "birth".[1] The term is sometimes used inaccurately to describe reproduction modes in hermaphroditic species that can reproduce by themselves because they contain reproductive organs of both sexes in a single individual's body.
Parthenogenesis occurs naturally in many plants, some invertebrate animal species (including nematodes, water fleas, some scorpions, aphids, some bees, some Phasmida and parasitic wasps) and a few vertebrates (such as some fish,[2] amphibians, reptiles[3][4] and very rarely birds[5])

There are no known cases of naturally occurring mammalian parthenogenesis in the wild. Parthenogenetic progeny of mammals would have two X chromosomes, and would therefore be female.
In 1936, Gregory Goodwin Pincus reported successfully inducing parthenogenesis in a rabbit.[74] In April 2004, scientists at Tokyo University of Agriculture used parthenogenesis successfully to create a fatherless mouse.
On June 26, 2007, International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCC), a California-based stem cell research company, announced that their lead scientist, Dr. Elena Revazova, and her research team were the first to intentionally create human stem cells from unfertilized human eggs using parthenogenesis.

On August 2, 2007, after much independent investigation, it was revealed that discredited South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-Suk unknowingly produced the first human embryos resulting from parthenogenesis...This made Hwang the first, unknowingly, to successfully perform the process of parthenogenesis to create a human embryon and, ultimately, a human parthenogenetic stem cell line.

While admittedly speculative, perhaps the pattern of parthenogenesis in the natural world prefigured the most unique virgin birth of the most unique person, of the most unique species, to have ever walked the face of the earth.  After all, wasn't it JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis who often pointed to the old nature mythologies of 'gods dying and rising' as foreshadowings of Christ, the real God-Man, dying and rising from the dead?

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