Note 53 — Chapter I · ANNUNCIATION AND BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.
George Eliot translation
So that we stand here upon purely mythical-poetical ground; the only historical reality which we can hold fast as positive matter of fact being this:—the impression made by John the Baptist, by virtue of his ministry and his relation to Jesus, was so powerful as to lead to the subsequent glorification of his birth in connection with the birth of the Messiah in the Christian legend.53