Pastor's Circle - Jerry Horner

Jerry Horner has been a university professor and administrator since 1962. He currently functions as the Executive Director of New Creation Ministries. He joined the Pastor's Circle to talk about the Virgin Birth. .Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

Is the Virgin Birth important?

Absolutely. In the birth of Jesus, the chain of cause and effect was broken.

The Apostle Paul builds heavily on this. In his letter to the Romans, he gave a contrast between the old humanity, headed by Adam, and the new humanity, headed by Jesus Christ.

By birth, we are under the old humanity, characterized by sin and death. But Jesus Christ is the new Adam. He is the beginning of a new humanity. And without the Virgin Birth, that is not possible.

Christian belief builds heavily on such doctrines.

How important is it that we believe in it?

That is the key. If a person said he doesn't believe in the Virgin Birth, I would not question his salvation, but I would question his view of Scripture. 

The entirety of Christian doctrine rests on the veracity and reliability of the Bible.

If one part of Scripture is suspect, what about the rest of it? If I'm at liberty to cut out one part out of the Bible, why not any other part?

If I'm a judge of Scripture, Scripture is no judge of me. It comes down to submission to the Word of God.

What is one major part of the Christmas narrative that we miss?

I don't think that we can get away from the all-encompassing love of God. The Christmas Story is a love story. I think John 3:16 is the greatest commentary on the Christmas Story. What more could God give?