I don’t think belief in the virgin birth is necessary. I think it’s orthodox. I’m with Andy Stanley on this one. If the inability to accept the literal historicity of the virgin birth is the one thing keeping a person from Christ, I think we should remove that barrier for them. It isn’t the heart of the gospel. It’s supposed to be a sign, not a stumbling block.
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Christy, again many thanks for the links. I can sympathize with Andy Stanley who surely does not wish to threaten anyone’s Faith, but still wants them to concentrate on what is truly important in Jesus’ message. And in that link was the link to Elizabeth Bruening’s account of her experiences that seemed at first to cause her to loose her Faith, but in the end made it truer and stronger. That is precisely what I’ve said all along (and I think you will agree): ‘You cannot reason your way to a belief in a good God, but if you carefully examine the experiences in your own life, you will find subtle evidence that He cares and will manage things so they work out for the best–perhaps not in the way you prayed for, but OK in the long run.’
I am willing to accept Elizabeth’s finding a discarded medal as a miracle–minor, perhaps, but a miracle nonetheless, in that a discarded symbol of God’s goodness could be ‘resurrected’ to perform the uplifting force for which it was designed. I envy the people who, like Mother Teresa, see God’s Image in the homeless, discarded people in the streets, and give them a sense of self worth that they deserve.
Al Leo