The question of the veracity of the virgin birth is of fundamental importance, because if this particular miracle isn’t to be believed, why should any of the other miracles related in the Bible be believed either? And if these are not to be believed, especially those relating to Jesus’s divinity, his sacrificial death for the redemption of our sins, and his resurrection from the dead, then the whole theological foundation of Christianity is destroyed (Quarter of clergy do not believe in the Virgin Birth, 22 December 2002).

You quote one vicar as saying that writers at the time used to stress a person's importance by ‘making up stories’ about their early life. That is putting it very tactfully. Put more bluntly, what he is saying is that they told lies. The “Gospel Truth” it seems is the “Gospel Lie”!

To claim that the veracity of the Gospels, of which miracles are an essential part, is not important is nonsense, except perhaps for the vicar who doesn’t want to lose his job.

On the contrary, it is very important - because of the extent to which Christianity permeates our history and culture and still contributes much to what we are. It is also important because of the spiritual vacuum its demise leaves behind - a vacuum that Islam, which doesn’t make such absurd claims for its founder, is only too eager to fill.

Not all, but much of what is written in the Bible is manifestly nonsense. It contains some wisdom, of course, and is of great historical and literary value. But as a source of knowledge, spiritual inspiration and moral guidance in the modern world, it is "holy" inadequate.

We need to face up to this, so that we can replace it and fill the vacuum (the cause of most our social ills) with something better, something far less dogmatic and much more rational.

How about a Religion and Philosophy of Sustainability, which while not promising us a life in the hereafter, may at least offer hope for our children and coming generations here on Earth . . . ?