The data at present at our disposal do not enable us to decide between these alternatives. We may argue _a priori_ that it is unlikely that St. Luke would have thought it worth while to introduce the Genealogy at all, if at the time when he wove it into his Gospel he had realized the necessity of interpolating the words “as was supposed”. In other words, we may say that had he known of the Virgin Birth from the first he would never have made use of the Genealogy. And further, we may argue that we best conserve St. Luke’s reputation as a skilful writer by supposing the phrase “as was supposed” to be a correction, introduced to make the best of a Genealogy, used in the first place under presuppositions which new information had now led him to discard. Short of excising the Genealogy altogether—we may say—he did the best he could. But such speculations, however attractive, do not lead to a conclusion which we can regard with confidence. It is better to leave iii. 23 to depend upon the conclusion to which we come with regard to i. 34 f. This is the crucial passage, and if this should prove to be a later insertion, then iii. 23 must also be regarded as such, introduced by the same hand at the same time and for the same reasons. (c) The Narratives of Lk. ii We have now to examine the narratives of Lk. ii, and to ask, _Under what presuppositions were they shaped?_ The incidents which call for special notice are the Purifying, the meeting with Simeon in the Temple, and the visit of Jesus to Jerusalem at the age of twelve. The five passages which speak of “the parents” of Jesus will be considered separately. There is no need to dwell on the story of the visit of the shepherds. It goes without saying that it nowhere presupposes the Virgin Birth. On the other hand, there is nothing in the presentation of the story which is alien to the doctrine.