“Just
as Jesus is literally the Son of Mary, so he is the personal and
literal offspring of God the Eternal Father. … Matthew’s statement, ‘she
was found with child of the Holy Ghost,’ properly translated should
say, ‘she was found with child by the power of the Holy Ghost.’ (Matt. 1:18.)
… Alma perfectly describes our Lord’s conception and birth by
prophesying: Christ ‘shall be born of Mary, … she being a virgin, a
precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.’ (Alma 7:10.)” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:82).
Elder James E. Talmage of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“That
Child to be born of Mary was begotten of Elohim, the Eternal Father. …
In His nature would be combined the powers of Godhood with the capacity
and possibilities of mortality. … The Child Jesus was to inherit the
physical, mental, and spiritual traits, tendencies, and powers that
characterized His parents—one immortal and glorified—God, the other
human—woman” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 81).
