Can you still be a Christian if you don't believe in the virgin birth and/or resurrection?

That's a good question. I question things now that I'm older that goes against how I was raised which was to not question the bible etc. But as an adult... you have to question everything and there's nothing wrong with that. I believe in God and I believe in the bible but I believe that there are some things that are questionable. Could they be true? Maybe? Maybe not? People get things wrong and change details even today when they hear a story and retell it. So who knows.

But I don't think it makes you any less of a Christian if you do. I don't buy the whole Eve eating the apple story and that caused the downpour of guilt and reason why women are 'less than men'. I don't buy it.

So I think you can still be a Christian... it just makes you a more advanced Christian than the other people who hear something and automatically hold it as supreme truth. That in itself, isn't healthy and I think it's what's wrong with the world now.

Without going too far into it... you can do a quick check of history to find how, and why (more importantly), the Catholic church (recently) adopted the notion that Mary was a virgin... The short version of it is that the church was just trying to maintain some power... having lost most of it's political power, it focused on things such as Papal infalibility in order to secure & strengthen it's metaphysical authority/power. With the new authority, the Pope had to make an infalible statement; just one of which was that Mary was a virgin. Pointedly, it's a detail which really isn't worth much reconing...

Your second point is more interesting; as Christian churches place supreme importance on the understanding that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead. Still, I would say yes, you can still be a Christian even if you don't accept that dogma. My rationale being that it was Jesus' apostles & other followers that made such a point of his resurection. I have not read in any version of a bible where Jesus himself said, "Make a big deal out of the fact that I rose from the dead, and insist people believe it..." To be a Christian, I would say that all you need to do is attempt to follow Jesus' teachings... He was, after all, (if you accept it) the Christ. If you follow him, you're Christian. Following what his followers dictate would make you a Johnathan, or Mathewian, or Catholic, or Protestant... but you needn't be any of these things in order to be Christian. Make sense?

The foundation of Christianity is that:

1. We are all separated from God by our sins.

2. A sacrifice is/was needed for our sins.

(so far, this parallels Judaism as well)

3. The Messiah came in the person of Jesus. Christians hold that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies.

4. Jesus, being also God and infinite, lived a perfect life and did not deserve to die, since death is the ultimate penalty for sin.

5. However, Jesus willingly gave his life as an offering for our sins, and our forgiveness.

The importance of the resurrection is that it demonstrated that Jesus conquered death, and now has authority over it. It demonstrated that he was God, as he claimed. So I don't see how someone can be a Christian without also accepting/believing in the resurrection. If Jesus was not resurrected, then how would a dead person be able to rescue us as promised? (look up "resurrection" in a concordance - mostly in Acts, for some background)

As for the virgin birth, that was a fulfillment of prophecy as well. See Isaiah 7:14. The theological significance is that for Jesus to be without sin from the beginning, God had to intervene and break the chain of all people being born as a son of mankind. It's a central belief of Christianity as well.

I suppose they are fine points of the whole Christian beliefs, things that must be true to be consistent with equating Jesus as divine and having the authority and power to forgive sins.

The resurrection is part and parcel of what it is to be a Christian. It is part of the Gospel message, and it confirms the validity of who Christ was and is. You cannot be a Christian and deny a major tenant of the Christian faith anymore than you can deny the number 4 and still expect to find an answer for 2+2. The following is a primary passage of Srcipture explaining the necessity of the ressurection to the believer:

"If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.

But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

(1 Corinthians 15:13-22 NIV)

I think you are looking for a meaningful answer, so I'll do my best. I'll get there. To answer your question, you really need to answer the question: "What is a Christian?"

A hypocrite?

Soneone who more or less adheres to the teachings of Christ, such as the golden rule?

Someone who was baptized when they were a baby and confesses their sins once in awhile?

A church goer, a do-gooder, etc.?

The key word in your question is "believe", since it is possible to believe something about someone, or something, without proof. As you know, people believe in all kinds of things which turn out to be false. And let's face it, in the light of knowledge and reason, it is difficult to believe that Jesus Christ is the the resurrected Son of God, and in the virgin birth. Most people don't believe and some do, so it becomes a matter of 'faith'. But there may be another group.

You'll probably recall the story of Saul (who later became the apostle Paul) who had been a chief opponent of Christianity but, according to his own account, "Christ" confronted him on the road to Damascus and he became Christ's chief proponent. And of course the four gospels in the New testament give account of Christ's miracles. Now one can believe these accounts or disbelieve them, and for various reasons. But it is clear that unless Christ can prove himself to you personally as he is reported to have to these individuals then there is no point in believing in a resurrected Christ or in a virgin birth. At least at the personal level, without a resurrected Christ, Christianity is reduced to a chosen moral philosophy.

Biblically, the answer to your question is: you cannot be a Christian without believing in a resurrected Christ, and in Christ as the Son of God. And God must be the source of this faith, as he was with Paul, his disciples and others. If one believes in the resurrection of Christ and that Christ performed miracles then the virgin birth is not that hard to believe in, and if Christ was the "Son of God" then the virgin birth would seem to be necessary. But nowhere in the bible does it state specifically that "salvation" depends on believing in the virgin birth. But it does say in Roman's 10: 9,10: "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God has raised him fom the dead you will be saved."

if there is no resurrection, there is no victory over death, there is no christianity, we will be still scared to die for any reason instead of giving ourselves wholeheartedly to the cause of Jesus christ, the virgin birth is an old testament prophecy made come true in the new , there is not ONE prophesy not true in the bible or else is not valid at all, so if you dont believe , you are probably not a christan if you can accept God's word as the truth. Know christ= know life, no christ = no life.

No! In order to believe in Christianity one must believe in both the virgin birth (otherwise Jeuss is no different than you or me, so how then could his death achieve anything for us. And in order to be resurrected same thing. He proved His divinity through the resurrection

Yes. Early Christians didn't believe these things. They were tacked on later.

Early Christianity saw the new age of Pisces as revealing a previously hidden secret - that the kingdom of heaven lies within us all. It's a state of being, not a place you go when you die. Christ was symbolic for intentionally humbling oneself and was seen as the way to the kingdom.

This is what Christianity still means to a lot of people.

No, you can't. Because if you do not believe that Mary was a Virgin, you do not believe that Jesus was divine. Christianity is the belief that Jesus rose from the dead to that man could go to heaven. Before Christ, souls stayed trapped in Sheol, something like purgatory. If you don't believe in those things you are not Christian.

that kinda defeats the purpose doesn't it? Jesus was born from a virgin. That was the first miricle that lead to him becoming who he was and is. The resurrection is the most important part of being Christian or Catholic. IF you don't believe in His resurection after three days in hell than you don't believe that he DIED for your sins and came back to life three days later and assended into heaven. Ask yourself what you believe, then ask the "Big Guy upstairs" to show you and He will.