Capitals are used for emphasis.
1 Nephi 11:14-21 reads: "14. And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou? 15. And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins. 16. And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God? 17. And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children: nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things. 18. And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the MOTHER OF THE SON OF GOD; after the manner of the flesh. 19. And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away [to where?] in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me saying; Look! 20. And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a CHILD in her arms. 21. And the angel said unto me: Behold the LAMB OF GOD yea, even the SON OF THE ETERNAL FATHER!"
Isaiah teaches: "behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14) "The Book of Mormon is an additional witness that MARY, the mother of the SON OF GOD, was indeed a virgin, and that the means by which the SON OF THE HIGHEST was conceived and born was miraculous and transcendent." (McConkie-Millet p. 78) "Can we speak too highly of her whom the Lord has blessed above all women? There was only one CHRIST, and there is only one MARY. Each was noble and great in the preexistence, and each was foreordained to the ministry he or she performed. We cannot but think that the Father would choose the GREATEST FEMALE spirit to be the mother of His Son, even as He chose the MALE SPIRIT like unto him to be the Savior." (McConkie pp. 326-27) "Without overstepping the bounds of propriety by saying more than is appropriate, let us say this: God the Almighty: the Maker of and Preserver and Upholder of all things; God the Almighty ..who is infinite and eternal, elects, in his fathomless wisdom, to BEGET A SON, an ONLY SON, the ONLY BEGOTTEN in the Flesh. God, who is infinite and immortal, condescends to step down from this throne, to join with one who is finite and mortal in bringing forth, after the manner of the flesh, the Mortal Messiah." (McConkie pp. l:314-15).
"The Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title Elohim, is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race." (Clark, p. 26) And Christ himself declares "Behold I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (D&C 11:28) "There is no impropriety, therefore, in speaking of Jesus Christ as the Elder Brother of the rest of human Kind .He is essentially greater than any and all others by reason (l) of His seniority as the oldest or firstborn; (2) of His unique status in the flesh as the offspring of a mortal mother, and of an immortal, or resurrected and glorified, father." (Clark p. 34)
The first edition of the Book of Mormon (1830) reads as follows; "behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh." ..Joseph Smith changed this phrase to "MOTHER of the SON OF GOD" in the 1837 and 1840 editions of the Book of Mormon, and all subsequent editions have retained the alteration. Joseph Smith exercised his prophetic-editorial right to clarify and explain what had previously been written." (McConkie-Millet p. 79).
During the translation of ancient Coptic Papyri Finnegan ran onto an unusual statement regarding the sonship of Jesus Christ that confirms the above:
"In a later Saying (No. 82, Plate 119, 3-15), where the author professes to utter a mystery, he speaks of Jesus (Line 12) and seems to present his SONSHIP quite literally by saying that the FATHER OF THE ALL UNITED WITH THE VIRGIN, who came down. So, he adds, his [Jesus] body which came into being on that day, came out of the BRIDAL CHAMBER, as one who came into being from the BRIDGROOM [God the Father] and the BRIDE [Mary]. Here, since it is The FATHER OF THE ALL who acts, the bridal chamber also called (in Line 7) the GREAT BRIDAL CHAMBER, may be nothing less than the Pleroma [the Celestial] itself." (Finegan p. 280).
These documents come from the oldest surviving Christian Church, the Coptic Church of Egypt and would date back to at least the second century AD. Thus, the intimate relationship of Mary to the Father and to the Son was known early on.
The most respected and prolific Catholic Church writer, Dr. Raymond E. Brown, in his study on Mary and the Virginal Conception, was aware of Mormon teachings on the subject, no doubt obtained from his friend Dr. Truman Madsen, states:
"Of note is the Mormon belief that God the Father is human and corporeal (and masculine) in formsince we were created in His image and likenessand that HE BEGOT HIS SON OF MARY." (Brown page 42).
"The evangelists regard the virginal conception as an act of divine power. For them it is important that God was acting out of the ordinary way in bringing about the birth of His son." (Brown p. 29) "When a human being is begotten by a father and mother, a new personality comes into existence; but in classical Christian thought the conception of Jesus involved a Pre-existent person." (Brown p. 43).
To all of this we would agree. Brown got it right. It is extremely interesting that some great scholars know where the LDS stand. And what the doctrines are.
How could all the later Christian Churches get it all so wrong? The Book of Mormon provided profound understanding of the connection between Mary, Christ and the Father. The Prophet Joseph Smith, in restoring all the ancient doctrines and knowledge about the Father and the Son, and the Plan of Salvation, provided important detail on this ancient doctrine, lost for so long, now an important doctrine of the Restored Church: GOD, through MARY, BEGOT HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, JESUS CHRIST.
Majella Fransmann has made two studies of great importance for interpreting the early Christian and Gnostic beliefs about Jesus, her latest is Jesus in the Manichaean Writings, in her first, Jesus in the Nag Hammadi Writings, she points out that the ancient documents assert that Jesus is the SON of ONE FATHER, and the SON of TWO MOTHERS, one in the pre-existence as the First Born of All Creatures, and [as it has been pointed out ] Jesus is the First Spirit Man, [of the first mother] and then the SON of MARY, [his second mother] as the ONLY BEGOTTON SON IN THE FLESH. (Franzmann, Nag Hammadi) Also see my CD: Jesus in the Nag Hammadi, and in this WEB series: Joseph Smith, Ancient Documents and the LDS Plan of Salvation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOK OF MORMON, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, copyright 1981, Desert News Press
Brown, Raymond E., The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus, Paulist Press, New York, 1973
Clark, James R., Messages of the First Presidency, Vo. V, Bookcraft Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, 1972
Finegan, Jack, Hidden Records of the Life of Jesus, Pilgram Press, Philadephia, 1969
Franzmann, Jaella, Jesus in the Nag Hammadi Writings, T&T Clark, Edinburg, 1996
McConkie, Bruce, Mortal Messiah, Vol. 1, Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1979
McConkie, Joseph Fielding, & Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Book Craft, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1987