A Christmas podcast recorded nearly two years ago is putting Adam Hamilton's theology under fresh scrutiny as the United Methodist pastor campaigns for the U.S. Senate. At the center of the controversy is a question with implications far beyond election season: Must someone believe in the virgin birth to be a Christian?
Hamilton, the Democratic challenger to Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas, personally affirms the virgin birth. The dispute concerns his argument that someone who struggles to accept it can still follow Jesus-a distinction his campaign is emphasizing as critics challenge his teaching.
According to The Christian Post's October 20 report, the controversy followed Protestia's circulation of an excerpt from the December 17, 2024, episode of Hamilton's Making Sense of Faith podcast, "Ask Adam ANYTHING! Christmas Edition." The original episode addressed listeners' questions about the Nativity, including its supernatural elements.
Hamilton's explanation combined a personal profession of belief with an invitation to those who remain unconvinced. "I choose to trust and believe in the virgin birth," he said, according to the supplied report. Yet he also argued that uncertainty about Jesus' conception should not prevent someone from becoming a disciple.
"I just want you to follow Jesus," Hamilton said. He pointed to Jesus' invitation to his disciples, arguing that their call to follow did not begin with a requirement to affirm an account of his conception.
That reasoning is the flashpoint. As reported by The Christian Post, Protestia challenged whether rejecting the virgin birth could be separated from rejecting the biblical accounts that describe it. Hamilton's position therefore raises a sharper question than whether churches should welcome people with doubts: What should those churches teach people to believe as they follow Jesus?
The doctrine has an established place within Hamilton's own denomination. The United Methodist Church's Articles of Religion affirm that the eternal Son took human nature in Mary's womb, while an official denominational explanation describes the virgin birth as essential to Christian doctrine. Those statements establish its theological importance, although they do not by themselves settle the separate question Hamilton raises about an individual's salvation.
Hamilton also described the Gospel birth narratives as emphasizing theology over biological explanation, according to the supplied report. That formulation invites examination of what he means: Emphasizing a narrative's theological purpose does not necessarily deny its historical claims, but readers will want to know how he understands the relationship between the two.
His campaign's response sought to clarify his intent. A spokesperson told The Christian Post that Hamilton believes in the virgin birth and does not want a person's doubts to block an initial step toward following Christ.
The supplied report also connects the discussion to Hamilton's broader approach to Scripture. In passages from Making Sense of the Bible provided by his campaign, Hamilton affirms Jesus' miracles, bodily resurrection, atoning death, and virgin birth while rejecting biblical inerrancy. His treatment of this particular doctrine therefore sits within a larger argument about how Christians interpret biblical authority.
That context makes precision essential. Describing Hamilton as personally denying the virgin birth would misrepresent his stated belief. Equally, his affirmation does not answer critics' concern about whether he treats acceptance of the doctrine as optional for other Christians.
With his pastoral teaching now receiving attention during a Senate campaign, Hamilton faces questions about both the content of his theology and how accurately excerpts represent it. The most revealing issue is the distinction he draws between the beliefs Christianity teaches and the beliefs a person must hold to begin following Christ.
