For most of us the virgin birth isn't something we think about daily. But it must have been important to the Founder of Christian Science, because at the time of the building of the Original Edifice of The Mother Church, the question came up. Mrs. Eddy invited several of her students to contribute one thousand dollars to the building fund. The money was donated, but when Mrs. Eddy learned that one of the donors did not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, she sent the thousand dollars back.See Robert Peel, Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Authority (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977), p. 69
Why did Mrs. Eddy return the gift in this case? We cannot know just what she perceived in the thought of the giver. But certainly there was clear need for the true idea of Church to be built first and foremost in the understanding of the members, before the physical structure of a church could be raised. And for this spiritually mental construction an understanding of the virgin birth would be a basic building block.
An understanding of the virgin birth should be dear to the heart of any Christian, since it can help one grasp the truly divine origin of Christ Jesus, the Son of God. It also shows that the Christ ideal, the perfect man, of whom Jesus was the highest human concept, is forever the offspring of divine Spirit.
