Is It Necessary to Believe in the Virgin Birth?

[BecauseIKnow]

Yes I know that. I was just starting off trying to be nice so we can interact with each other more beneficially. It takes decades just to understand the manners of religion. Let alone know what we need to ask God for. I go by Islam so we have many things we ask God for, and God asks us to always ask him during prayer. During each of the 5 prayers per day. We also do Sunnah prayers and there are prayers during the night. We can't let God anything. You mean if we call on him. God is The Lord. Not us. We need him. He doesn't need us.

 

[Avatar4321]

Yes I know that. I was just starting off trying to be nice so we can interact with each other more beneficially. It takes decades just to understand the manners of religion. Let alone know what we need to ask God for. I go by Islam so we have many things we ask God for, and God asks us to always ask him during prayer. During each of the 5 prayers per day. We also do Sunnah prayers and there are prayers during the night. We can't let God anything. You mean if we call on him. God is The Lord. Not us. We need him. He doesn't need us.

Im not trying to be unkind. Im of the belief that we can and must have good dialogue, even if we disagree on matters. There no reason we cannot get along simply because we disagree on matters. I have no doubt that God will guide us according to His will.

Call upon Him. He is great and merciful and can teach us all things.

 

[BecauseIKnow]

Trust me. I call upon God more than you would think. If you knew me in person.......

 

[Avatar4321]

Trust me. I call upon God more than you would think. If you knew me in person.......

I have no doubt that you do since you say you do. I have no evidence to the contrary.

My responsibility is just to encourage people to pray more and use prayer more effectively. It's amazing how many people dont ask for things they could have if they simply asked. Im sure there are lots of things I could ask for that I dont even think to. That's one of the reasons to seek the Holy Ghost's promptings.

 

[BecauseIKnow]

Well we pray differently, that's the thing.

 

[Avatar4321]

Im sure we do. And im sure we could learn alot from each other in the manner in which we pray to make it more effective.

BTW to go back to the original question. I don't think it's necessary to believe in the virgin birth. It's true. But, the key to being a disciple of Christ is to believe He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah. If you put your faith in Him for your salvation, covenant with Him to follow Him and strive to do so the best you can, I am confident God will accept your faith, even if you don't know or necessarily believe every aspect of His life. After all, there are tons of things we do not know about Christ. So much if everything was written it would fill the whole world.

The key is to always seek more knowledge and be believing rather than doubting. Not an easy choice to make sometimes though.

 

[there4eyeM]

Jesus taught in parables. Take the rest in the same way, and you have a fine view of the universe.

Fine view doesn't necessarily equate to a correct view.

Personally, id much rather have a correct view. Which is why it's so important to seek out and understand the truth to the best of our abilities. If we build our lives on things we like that aren't correct, instead of the truth, then our lives are built on shaky foundations. It's like Christ's story about the wise man and the foolish man who were building their homes.

Personally, you prefer a 'correct' view. Great, but interpreted by whom to be 'correct'?

By you! You have chosen. That is all my post says; read, understand for yourself, choose. The thinking you propose leads to burning people for 'error'.

 

[there4eyeM]

Well we pray differently, that's the thing.

That's not the only difference. As has been pointed out before (and never addressed from a representative of your chosen faith), the Koran and Jesus disagree, and that poses the insurmountable problem of Koranic error.

 

[YoungRepublican]

Jesus taught in parables. Take the rest in the same way, and you have a fine view of the universe.

Fine view doesn't necessarily equate to a correct view.

Personally, id much rather have a correct view. Which is why it's so important to seek out and understand the truth to the best of our abilities. If we build our lives on things we like that aren't correct, instead of the truth, then our lives are built on shaky foundations. It's like Christ's story about the wise man and the foolish man who were building their homes.

The correct view is the one that you interpret.. You have no better evidence for your Christian beliefs than I do for mine. I thinks The bible is stories told to guide your life. No one thinks the world is only 4000 years old and God flooded it one tome to kill all the evil off anymore. Let the man believe how he wishes.

 

[blackcherry]

The virgin birth story is no longer tenable -- assumes some scholastic knowledge of the subject .
However , it was required in order to carry through the Egyptian , Horus story/myth which the whole of the NT desperately tries to reproduce.

 

[hortysir]

I consider myself to be a Christian, but I do not place much importance on the idea of a virgin birth. After all, if Jesus did not have any other chromosomes, he would have been a female clone of Mary. This also raises the question of whether Jesus was a human being who died on the Cross or a representation of God with a temporary mortal body. If the latter, why was his body removed from the Tomb and how did it ascend into Heaven?

However, I also think that the above questions in no way diminish the authenticity of His teachings. Where have I gone wrong? Am I still a Christian?

 

[G.T.]

I think that, if the Bible isn't COMPLETELY fabricated, Mary and Joseph lied to protect Mary from shaming her family.....but they bumped and grinded and she got pregnant.

 

[editec]

There no shortage of Christian Brands, kiddo.

And if you can't find one that suits you you can always MAKE UP YOUR OWN version of it.

Christianity is like the world's most adaptable religion.

I've been tinkering with my version of it for decades and it's pretty sweet now that I've reduced it down from that Lutheran bloated software version of it down to its essential elements.

Not only does it give me a far better ride, but it's mighty low maintenance, too.

 

[Unkotare]

There no shortage of Christian Brands, kiddo.

And if you can't find one that suits you you can always MAKE UP YOUR OWN version of it.

Christianity is like the world's most adaptable religion.

I've been tinkering with my version of it for decades.

Your version?

 

[konradv]

I consider myself to be a Christian, but I do not place much importance on the idea of a virgin birth. After all, if Jesus did not have any other chromosomes, he would have been a female clone of Mary. This also raises the question of whether Jesus was a human being who died on the Cross or a representation of God with a temporary mortal body. If the latter, why was his body removed from the Tomb and how did it ascend into Heaven?

However, I also think that the above questions in no way diminish the authenticity of His teachings. Where have I gone wrong? Am I still a Christian?

It's not even necessary to believe Jesus is God to be Christian. You're right, it's the message that's of ultimate importance.

 

[PratchettFan]

He had Chromosones from His Father: God.

Christ's body is immoral. The resurrection is meaningless if it was a temporary body. And the resurrection is key for a fullness of joy.

I see little reason to doubt the virgin birth. Science could impregnate a virgin today. Why would it be unthinkable that God could do it 2000 years ago?

I was hoping for a reasoned discussion:

1. Was Jesus a human being? If so, wouldn't he have a full set of human chromosomes?

2. If his resurrected body ascended into Heaven, is Heaven a physical place?

3. Science can create a clone from an unfertilized egg. Otherwise, it must have another set of chromosomes/DNA.

What if Jesus was simply the greatest of all prophets? Would that negate His teachings and destroy the Christian religion?

Responding only to that last question. No, it would not negate his teachings. Yes, it would destroy the Christian religion. Christianity is not based upon the teachings of Jesus but upon the divinity of Jesus.

 

[Avatar4321]

Personally, you prefer a 'correct' view. Great, but interpreted by whom to be 'correct'?

By you! You have chosen. That is all my post says; read, understand for yourself, choose. The thinking you propose leads to burning people for 'error'.

The Holy Spirit, of course. He is the only one that provide a correct view of the scriptures. While we can do our best to understand the context and history behind the text, it's only the Spirit can teach us the true meaning. Which is precisely why we need to be prayerfully studying the text as often as we can.

Who said anything about burning people for error? I mean other than you.

 

[Avatar4321]

The correct view is the one that you interpret.. You have no better evidence for your Christian beliefs than I do for mine. I thinks The bible is stories told to guide your life. No one thinks the world is only 4000 years old and God flooded it one tome to kill all the evil off anymore. Let the man believe how he wishes.

No. The correct view is the one that is actually meant. Which can be revealed by the Holy Spirit. The evidence I have for what I believe in the scriptures is merely what the Spirit tells me. I am sure I could interpret something wrong on my own, but I have complete confidence that as strive to come closer to God, that the Spirit will correct me as I go.

The Flood is real. It's the only reasonable explanation for their being flood myths in cultures on both sides of the planet. As for the world being only 4000 years old, the Bible doesnt suggest that.

 

[Avatar4321]

The virgin birth story is no longer tenable -- assumes some scholastic knowledge of the subject .
However , it was required in order to carry through the Egyptian , Horus story/myth which the whole of the NT desperately tries to reproduce.

As I've pointed out before, modern science could impregnate a virgin. If anything, the virgin birth is far more tenable now than it ever was.

 

[G.T.]

The virgin birth story is no longer tenable -- assumes some scholastic knowledge of the subject .
However , it was required in order to carry through the Egyptian , Horus story/myth which the whole of the NT desperately tries to reproduce.

As I've pointed out before, modern science could impregnate a virgin. If anything, the virgin birth is far more tenable now than it ever was.

But modern science could not impregnate a virgin with god's jizz, bro.