What did Thiering teach about the virgin birth story?
The virgin birth story was written at the level of a miracle for those for whom the idea of a virginal conception had symbolic power. She placed it on the Gospels’ level for ordinary believers while claiming the Dead Sea Scrolls yielded a hidden reality.
Les explains that Dr. Thiering, laboring at the University of Sydney and committed to studying the Dead Sea Scrolls, proposed the Gospels were written on two levels. One level was for ordinary people who need help believing; the other was a hidden reality she claimed only she could extract from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Within that framework, she said the virgin birth story is written at the level of a miracle for those for whom the idea of a virginal conception had symbolic power. Les notes this comes from a book review, not the view of Biblical Archaeology Review, which does not agree with it.