Dear Mr. Kristof,<br><br>The virgin birth of Jesus is certainly a spectacular miracle. I suppose for those who approach this subject with a mindset pre-concieved against the possibilities of things supernatural, a belief in the virgin birth must seem very naive. Personally, I find it hard to concieve of any logical person looking around himself and trying to explain the existence of anything without having to eventually lay hold of something supernatural.<br><br>I think the real question here comes down to the trustworthiness of the Bible. How can a person who is sceptical of things supernatural, take seriously a book which claims so many miracles. Well sir, honestly, it is by faith that I believe in, and have been rescued by God and it is by faith that I am able to appreciate and love His Scripture. So how does my faith help you to overcome your doubt of the virgin birth? Well sir, I would say you need to examine very carefully what it is that my faith is based on. I am convinced that the Bible goes beyond being generally reliable and is in fact the infallible Word of God. If I could give you the faith I have in order to convince you I would, but that faith comes only from God Himself. I can however give you an outline of a procedure of examination which might bring you close enough to consider asking God for just such a faith.<br><br>Apply the same unbiased academic standards to an examination of the historical veracity of the Bible as you would to any other ancient document. When this is done (without bias) you will at least appreciate the fact that the Bible is a reliable and trustworthy document. That is premise A.<br><br>Premise B: On the basis of this reliable document you will find sufficient evidence to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.<br><br>Premise C: Jesus Christ being the Son of God is an infallible authority.<br><br>Premise D: Jesus teaches that the Bible is more than generally trustworthy; it is the very Word of God.<br><br>Premise E: The word, in that it comes from God, is utterly trustworthy because God is utterly trustworthy.<br><br>Conclusion: On the basis of the infallible authority of Jesus Christ, the Bible is utterly trustworthy---and, the Bible tells us that the virgin birth of Christ was a real, actual, event in history.<br><br>Mr. Kristof, you will note that this progression does not involve circular reasoning. The conclusion is not present in the first premise. There is a linear pattern of development. The argument is of course not infallible as each premise involves matters of inductive or deductive reasoning that is done by fallible human beings. But there is no subjective leap of faith found in the method. Rather the process involves careful historical, empirical investigation as well as logical inferences.<br><br>So start there Mr. Kristof--and I will be praying for you.<br><br><br>[]Paul, I believe the above would be considered classic apologetics. At least that is what Dr. R.C. Sproul considers himself to be, and I sort of paraphrased most of this from him. If you would like to read an interesting counter to classic apologetics, try reading the first 100 or so pages of "A New Systematic Theology of The Christian Faith" by Dr. Robert Reymond. Dr. Reymond is a staunch pre-suppositionalist.<br><br>God bless you Paul,<br>Stucco