Although I am a staunch Methodist, I believe that Jesus was not the child of a virgin birth. Why if it was truly a virgin birth would only a few people of Bethlehem know it, especially when three wise men from afar and shepherds were supposedly there to honor the babe? Why would they not wonder why the star of Bethlehem shone there so brightly (if there truly was one)? And why would there be only one mention of Jesus as a young boy and not again until he was almost 30? And why would Matthew begin by describing “ The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,..” with all of the begats leading to Joseph, when Joseph was not the father? It makes no sense!
I also believe that there is no God in a Heaven who responds to prayer. To me, the only God is the God within each of us. If, as most Christians believe, there is a loving God, a God that sees all, knows all, why then would that God allow a two year old child playing hide and seek with its older siblings, allow that child to dash across a busy road into the path of an oncoming car and be struck dead, a car driven by a woman with due care and obeying the speed limit,? That happened close to my home a few weeks ago. I cannot believe a caring God would allow that poor driver to live the rest of her life grieving over what she did through no fault of her own.. I cannot believe that a caring God would allow the parents of that child to spend the rest of their lives grieving and blaming themselves for allowing it access to the road. I cannot believe that a caring God would allow a young woman , the daughter of a close friend, to be the first to arrive on the scene and observe the body of that bloody, crushed body lying on the road. She too will remember and grieve over the horror of it for the remainder of her life.
What I do believe is that Jesus was the most moral, most caring, most concerned about his fellow human beings than any before or after his life on this earth. I believe that he taught us to truly “Love our neighbors as ourselves,” not the neighbors next door, but our neighbors throughout the whole world no matter their nationality or their religious persuasions. I believe that I am called to “Go and do likewise.” That is what I believe and that js why I do all I can to help the poor in our own country and throughout the world.. I believe that comes from the God within me and not from a God in Heaven