I think the question is, do you have any proof, other than faith, that it was a virgin birth?
To a non-believer, it would sound rediculous to say that your Savior was conceived by a virgin, because it is not a natural possibility.
The same with a snake convincing someone to eat an apple. Unless you are a Hoodoo practioner or old world relion practioner, you probably dont believe in anthropomorphism. You definitely dont believe it if you are a purely rational thinker, using empiricism. You have to have faith that this account is true, because so far, we have never recorded another animal talking to a person in a human language.
It is the same with Mormons. They have faith that their documentation is correct. They cant find the gold plates, we couldnt find Jesus’ body.
If you denegrate someone’s faith because you think it is silly, you have to be welcome to them doing the same to you.
Sam, what does this article say?
From the article? ...as May 15, 1999, the LDS Church News ran an article entitled "Hands-on opportunity." Speaking of Joseph Smith, it read, "He had also been instructed by an angel, Moroni, who had met with him each year for four years. On his last visit, he was entrusted with plates of solid gold, which he had been translating by the power of the Spirit."
So, #1, the LDS News says these were "plates of SOLID gold."
Then when you read this article to see how the Mormon apologists try to explain away the "solid gold" nature of these, you realize something: That even Lds apologists don't believe what the LDS News says: that these were "solid gold." They don't, by lack of faith, believe Smith could have run "at top speed" carrying solid gold plates. So they attempt to explain it away. Rather than the "by faith" argument you try to make...Mormon leaders are instead claiming in a round-about way, "Well, we don't believe it, either." (They try desperately to reduce the gold plate poundage)
Then, when you look at De Groote's article in the July 7 Mormon Times (linked in my first several posts of this thread) you realize that Mormons are still trying to "explain it away" -- by lack of faith -- that Smith wasn't really running at top speed with solid gold.
#2 Note the quote I gave above about Smith "translating" the plates. On this, yes, Mormons do express "faith" in this. But you -- and Mormons -- neglect the biblical principle of nobility re: this:
11Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11)
This principle shows that a noble person in God's eyes always compares new supposed revelations from God by the old ones. Mormons do just the opposite. If a supposed "new" revelation is at odds with an old one -- they just simply dump the old one. They did this with anti-polygamy revelations in the 1830s...then pro-polygamy revelations from the 1840s and 1850s...they dumped Adam as God seer statements from the 1850s-->1870s...they dumped racist doctrines they held for almost 150 years...etc.