(2) As regards c. ii, it is true that what is there related can, if necessary, be understood without presuming the story of i. 18‐25. Nevertheless, the chapter is quite congruous with what is told in that passage, and, indeed, agrees better with the presupposition of the Virgin Birth. In a narrative written from the standpoint of Joseph, we may note that, while Mary is spoken of no less than five times as the mother of Jesus (ii. 11, 13, 14, 20, 21), wherever Joseph is mentioned, we have invariably the quite neutral expression “the young child” (ii. 13, 14, 20, 21). Also the quotation, “Out of Egypt did I call my son” (ii. 15), by the very reason of its exegetical violence, is more intelligible if the Evangelist has already narrated the story of the supernatural birth. To have real weight, Schmiedel’s objection should be able to point to more than the fact that c. ii can be read “without the presupposition of the virgin birth”. If i. 18‐25 is an interpolation, we might reasonably expect statements in c. ii inconsistent with that passage. And, moreover, it would be gratuitous to say that they have been carefully suppressed, in view of those which survive in Lk. i, ii to which we have called attention in Chapter II. (3) That Bethlehem is not mentioned until ii. 1 is true. But as an objection to i. 18‐25 this fact would be of significance, if the latter were simply a narrative of the birth of Jesus. But to assert this is to mistake its character, which is didactic and apologetic. Joseph rather than Jesus is the central figure of the section; the birth is not announced until the closing words. The reference to Bethlehem in ii. 1 is certainly abrupt, but it would have been quite as abrupt in i. 25. Nothing in i. 18‐25, if we have regard to its character, requires a reference to Bethlehem within the passage. The onus of proof really rests upon those who deny the genuineness of i. 18‐25. It may not be without advantage, however, to set down reasons which lead us to believe that the passage comes from the Evangelist’s hand.