James Talarico's lesbian minister questions whether Jesus ever existed and rejects Virgin Birth

Read the original at Daily Mail ↗
Daily Mail · collected 2026-09-24 · by Samantha Loren

Quick Summary

Reverend Babs Miller, a minister at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Texas where Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico worships, has made controversial statements questioning fundamental Christian beliefs such as the existence of Jesus and the Virgin Birth. In an undercover interview with The Daily Wire, Miller dismissed traditional teachings about Jesus’ death and doubted his historical existence, comparing it to debates over Buddha's existence. Additionally, she questioned the concept of God sacrificing Jesus for humanity’s sins and suggested that Christianity itself might be a human invention.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-24, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

James Talarico's lesbian minister at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Texas has raised significant doubts about core Christian beliefs. Reverend Babs Miller, who knows Talarico from his childhood and served as a reference for him when he entered seminary, has questioned the historical existence of Jesus and the concept of the Virgin Birth. In 2014, she was ordained and now lists herself as 'Minister to the Parish' on the church's site. Miller argues that Jesus' historical presence is "ultimately unimportant" and dismisses traditional teachings about his death for sins, stating he died due to political reasons rather than divine purpose. She also expresses uncertainty about whether Jesus ever existed, suggesting these beliefs may be purely mythical or invented.

Written for “Religious Controversy Over Minister's…” on 2026-10-05, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
5%
1 of 22 hedged
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Correction & hedging signals
64.9
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-09-24 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Religious Controversy Over Minister's…
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Publisher

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Running correction rate · 12 correction(s)
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Clarifications and corrections

Who wrote this

Samantha Loren
24 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Vice President JD Vance also brushed aside the significance of the private remarks and said Republicans would continue backing Paxton. Paxton has also been forced to defend his record after the Texas Senate acquitted him of impeachment in 2023, following his historic impeachment by the state House on 16 articles.
🔮 Tillis sent Trump a series of blunt text messages earlier this year, accusing the president of failing and warning him that he would not tolerate what he described as Trump's 'b*******,' according to Politico Playbook.
🔮 He then described grabbing her and slamming her into their front door, while laughing In a since-deleted post, Marx wrote he would be posting the full unedited clip, writing, 'I have been accused of wife abuse and child abuse based on clips being circulated publicly.
🔮 In fact, Santos said he would rather see the 'entire leadership' replaced, floating his ideal candidates for speaker of the house: Florida congresswomen Laurel Lee, or Anna Paulina Luna, who he says has Freedom Caucus backing and would be the first female Republican speaker.
🔮 The event was partly organized by celebrity jeweler Alexis Bittar, one of the political fundraisers who helped propel New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani to victory in 2025.
🔮 - See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has unveiled a new strategy to combat antisemitism just one week after renewing his call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested.
🔮 - Sign up HERE to our DC Insider newsletter - your guide to what's rocking Washington, rattling the White House and setting tongues wagging on the Hill Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been noticeably absent from the campaign trail, and now several swing-state candidates have decided they would rather not have the progressive firebrand campaigning alongside them.
🔮 The conversation quickly turned to the question of whether either could end up running for president in 2028.
🔮 So do you wait that you will have dinner?
🔮 Asked what could make this Texas Senate race different from previous Democratic attempts to win statewide office, one conservative-leaning voter immediately answered, 'One word: Paxton.'
Also by Samantha Loren
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 24 articles by Samantha Loren →

Topics

Christian Hill Texas Washington the White House

Subjects

Jesus PERSON · 9× Talarico PERSON · 9× Christian PERSON · 6× Miller PERSON · 6× Babs Miller PERSON · 2× Christianity ORG · 2× Paxton PERSON · 2× Republicans NORP · 2× Texas GPE · 2× Washington GPE · 1×

Narrative

- Sign up HERE to our DC Insider newsletter - your guide to what's rocking Washington, rattling the White House and setting tongues wagging on the Hill James Talarico's lesbian minister at his Texas church has cast doubt on some of Christianity's most fundamental beliefs, including whether Jesus ever existed. Reverend Babs Miller, a minister at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, attended by the Texas Democratic Senate candidate, has made a series of provocative comments about core Christian beliefs.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-24
🔮 She was ordained in the church in 2014 and is photographed in an unconventional rainbow pride stole Talarico has frequently invoked the teachings of Jesus in speeches and sermons, particularly when discussing poverty, immigration, abortion, LGBTQ rights and the separation of church and state In 2021 while arguing against restrictions on transgender students he said, 'Modern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes; in fact, there are six' Miller has publicly stated she knows Talarico from his childhood and was influential in his development. A Texas Tribune report said Miller served as one of Talarico's references for seminary. Miller argued Jesus's historical existence was 'ultimately unimportant,' calling the vengeful God of parts of the Old Testament pure mythology - and went further, suggesting Christianity itself may have been invented outright. She was ordained in 2014, lists herself as 'Minister to the Parish' on the church's site, and calls herself an 'out chaplain lesbian,' posing in a rainbow pride stole.

Claims (22 extracted, 1 hedged)

- Sign up HERE to our DC Insider newsletter - your guide to what's rocking Washington, rattling the White House and setting tongues wagging on the Hill James Talarico's lesbian minister at his Texas church has cast doubt on some of Christianity's most fundamental beliefs, including whether Jesus ever existed. Reverend Babs Miller, a minister at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, attended by the Texas Democratic Senate candidate, has made a series of provocative comments about core Christian beliefs. asserted
Miller → sign → beliefs
In undercover footage recorded by the Daily Wire, Miller questioned traditional Christian teachings about Jesus' death and the Virgin Birth. asserted
Miller → record → death
Miller dismissed the traditional Christian teaching that he died for our sins. asserted
he → dismiss → sins
Jesus was put on that cross not to save us, they killed him. asserted
they → put → him
He didn't die to save our sins,' she said matter-of-factly. asserted
she → die → sins
She likewise rejected the idea that God sacrificed Jesus for mankind, saying she found the traditional explanation difficult to accept. asserted
explanation → reject → mankind
Miller also questioned the biblical account of the Virgin Birth, suggesting that the story was influenced by ancient pagan traditions. asserted
story → question → traditions
More strikingly, she expressed uncertainty about whether Jesus even existed at all, comparing the question to debates over the historical existence of Buddha. asserted
Jesus → express → Buddha
Talarico's minister, Reverend Babs Miller at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church refers to herself as an 'out chaplain lesbian,' in the church's website bio. asserted
minister → refer → bio
She was ordained in the church in 2014 and is photographed in an unconventional rainbow pride stole Talarico has frequently invoked the teachings of Jesus in speeches and sermons, particularly when discussing poverty, immigration, abortion, LGBTQ rights and the separation of church and state In 2021 while arguing against restrictions on transgender students he said, 'Modern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes; in fact, there are six' Miller has publicly stated she knows Talarico from his childhood and was influential in his development. A Texas Tribune report said Miller served as one of Talarico's references for seminary. Miller argued Jesus's historical existence was 'ultimately unimportant,' calling the vengeful God of parts of the Old Testament pure mythology - and went further, suggesting Christianity itself may have been invented outright. She was ordained in 2014, lists herself as 'Minister to the Parish' on the church's site, and calls herself an 'out chaplain lesbian,' posing in a rainbow pride stole. uncertain
She → ordain → stole
The controversy adds to scrutiny of Talarico, a professed Christian studying at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary who hopes to become a minister. asserted
who → add → Seminary
He regularly cites Jesus's teachings on poverty, immigration, abortion, LGBTQ rights and church-state separation, and has drawn conservative fire before, notably declaring 'God is nonbinary' on the House floor in 2021 while opposing restrictions on transgender students. asserted
God → cite → students
That same year while fighting for transgender students he said, 'Modern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes in fact, there are six.' asserted
science → fight → fact
Republicans have repeatedly highlighted the shorter quotes while arguing that Talarico rejects traditional Christian doctrine. asserted
Talarico → highlight → doctrine
Those remarks have now become a central weapon in Republican attacks against him. asserted
remarks → become → him
Talarico's opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Republicans have repeatedly focused on Talarico's theology in speeches and campaign advertising, portraying his views as evidence that he is hostile to traditional Christianity. asserted
he → focus → Christianity
A spokesperson for Paxton's campaign told the Daily Mail, 'His own church has called our Lord and Savior a social justice warrior and can't even declare He existed. asserted
He → tell → Lord
What else would you expect from the man who bills himself as 'a Christian who hates Christianity'?' asserted
who → expect → Christianity
One recent Paxton advertisement went so far as to use AI-generated imagery and stitched-together excerpts of Talarico's past comments, including his 'God is nonbinary' remark. asserted
God → go → remark
Miller discussed Talarico's political evolution in separate footage. asserted
Miller → discuss → footage
'I can guarantee you that once he gets elected, he'll change his tune back to where he was.' asserted
he → guarantee → tune
Talarico's campaign did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment. asserted
campaign → respond → comment
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