8. The miracle of birth from a virgin existed long before the birth of Christ, in ancient traditions
Zoroaster, whose name is an adaption from the Greek Zoroastres, was a priest, one of the learned which in his time would have been called one of the Magi, though not one of the Magi which tradition has visiting the manger to worship the newly born Jesus in Bethlehem. Zoroaster lived approximately 1200 years before the events of the first Christmas, teaching in the region which is now eastern Iran. The religion which he espoused is monotheistic, and shares with Christianity the concepts of life after death, an eternal reward for earthly deeds and/or misdeeds, a day of judgment, and the eventual destruction of evil. Zoroastrianism also includes the belief in one god, the Supreme Being, and that the chief promulgator of beliefs in the religion was born of a virgin.
As with Christianity, the belief in the virgin birth as a central tenet in the religion was one which evolved over time in order to comply with earlier prophecy among some sects. The change of belief, in which the virgin birth became an important part, appeared around the time the followers of the religion were dispersed and displaced by Alexander the Great, and Hellenistic dogma began to merge with what remained. The miracle of a virgin birth, making the founder of the religious system uncorrupted by necessarily corrupt man, is one which predates the miracle of the virgin birth which so many believe is presented in the Bible. Zoroaster is but one of many such examples of a virgin birth occurring before that of Jesus of Nazareth.