Jesus not the Messiah or God?

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Post by Anonymous »

Kurieuo:
"Unless you are playing on words to give the idea that you think Jesus is good, you don't actually seem to be a Noahide. As from that Noahide page I referenced it seems clear that they certainly don't see Jesus as good, but rather a deceiver."
Wow nice you just generalized a whole group of people. Not all Jews think Jesus was terrible, frankly I find Christianity to be a better alternative than Paganism.
"Actually you didn't follow my logic. God commanded the Jews to put false prophets who lead people astray from God to death. The Jewish leaders followed this believing Jesus to be a blasphemer by breaking the Sabbath and "making himself equal with God." (John 5:18) Now the reason for why Christ was put to death, adds significance to his resurrection. God rose up someone who had been put to death for their teaching. Therefore God justified Christ by raising Him up! It's that simple. Now you can deny it all you like, that's your perogative, but the statements (and logic) within my argument is far from flawed. Simply saying it is does not make it so. You have to do a lot more if you're going to convince me (and no doubt others here) that there is anything wrong with what I say about God justifying Christ by the resurrection."
No I actually did and its terrible logic. You constantly accusing me of having bad reasoning, when you fail to see the alternative reason God would resurrect a heretic and that being to test the Jews (a test which majority have passed even when threatened with death). You also use the Gospels to support your point here and that's a clear example of circular reasoning because obviously I don't view the gospels as being highly accurate.
"Now you've setup a strawman by attributing an argument to me I never made. I am truly astonished by your lack of candor is dealing with what I write, and instead preferring to tackle what you think. Now you may have once accepted the circular reasoning that: "Jesus is the Messiah, therefore OT prophecies have Messianic prophetic meaning, because Jesus is the Messiah." Yet because you were so silly to accept your reasoning, does not mean I am or that others here are. Infact if you really did once accept such reasoning, than I'm not sure anyone should trust your reasoning now since you have a track record of fallacious reasoning. "
Again here you go insulting and being a hypocrite. You use circular reasoning constantly everytime you use the NT to support your case because you assume your debater values that source. This is a debate if Jesus is the JEWISH messiah or haMoshiach, not the CHRISTIAN messiah.
"Now you want to go to the Jews... I'm quite fine with that. Don't you know many of the prophecies Christians attach to Christ within the OT have been considered as Messianic prophecies by Rabbis? Thus, we Christians are not wrongly reading prophecies back into OT Scripture by circularly beginning with presupposition that Christ is the Messiah. Much of the passages do truly have Messianic meaning! Attributing a strawman argument to us (which you perhaps once accepted?) in order to defame our position simply shows your failure to deal with the prophecies at any depth. Infact, how you continually refer to material offsite seems to reveal that your current beliefs are more based on having faith in the authority of others rather than on your own thoughtful thinking and reasoning of the issues at hand. So rather than listening to second-hand information from you, one would perhaps be better researching their own information through Google."
Wow, you just used outside sources to prove your point later in your post.
Again, all you do is claim i'm unreliable and that I've basically renounced my faith in Christianity just because of what someone has said, which isn't the case at all. I've shown more than enough to validate my knowledge of the topics at hand.
"Targum of Jonathan says: "And thou, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, little art thou to be reckoned among the thousands of the house of Judah; out of thee shall proceed in my presence the Messiah to exercise sovereignty over Israel; whose name has been called from eternity, from the days of the everlasting."

"Rabbi Jarchi comments, "Thou art little... out of thee shall come forth to me King Messiah."
Sorry but no go, you seem to show your lack of understanding on this
topic.
The term, ‘the Messiah’ simply does not appear in the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament). The last group of scholars to acknowledge this fact were conservative Christians, and now the very conservative New Testament specialist Professor George Eldon Ladd states, without qualification, that ‘the simple term “the Messiah” does not occur in the Old Testament at all.’ Of course, the title ‘the Anointed One’
denotes in the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament) a prophet, a priest, and especially a king.

So again we see that its not talking about the moshiach Ben Yosef or Jesus at all, this can simply be infered from the rest of the prophecy which states that this particular King will crush the Assyrians.
"Ahh... I see... it is flawed because of an emotional reason you have against the way it works. So you commit that same error you attribute to Christians who read the Gospels: "I began like most christians, reading the gospels first and feeling an array of emotions at various times, as that's what the gospels tend to bank on." BTW, could it be you didn't begin like "most Christians"? Could it be many Christians infact based their belief on sound reasoning rather than the emotions you seem to let dictate your beliefs?"
Mastermind and many other christians i speak with have shown the emotional aspects i speak about to be true. I mean we are merely having a discussion here, yet Mastermind felt the need to insult me "*****". This of course isn't anything new for me, as any christian I talk to will resort to some form of insult by the end.
"Again you fail to understand Christian theology. One is not saved by their belief for don't you know James 2:19 says, "Even the demons believe that-and shudder." Yet, if one loves Christ and thereby follows after Him, then Christ has promised to give us access to God."
Kurieuo i'd have expected you to understand what i meant. The premise of Christianity begins with belief, one cannot accept Jesus without believing various things about him.
"Are you serious? Name one person who had remained since ancient times? Did David? Did Solomon? Only One would possess such a quality."
Could you please clarify what your talking about as both David and Solomon are from ancient times. However both Enoch and Elijah are still alive if thats what you mean.
"In Isaiah 9:6 (9:5 in the Jewish Bible) we read: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." This passage is recognised as Messianic by Rabbis in the following texts:"
Finally, although I know you seem to have something against outside sources, there is a site that I think explains this very well:

http://hometown.aol.com/donluceano/isaiah9.html
"PS. You may have noticed I took a stronger stance here. Such is because I apply the same strength to my posts as I feel an opponent in a debate dictates themself or warrants it. Despite this all my words dealt directly with your own statements and responses."
Good, I have no problem with this and for a while I thought you were backing down from such an important discussion.
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Mastermind
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Post by Mastermind »

Where did I insult you?
Are you threatening me Master Skeptic?
Anonymous

Post by Anonymous »

I'd have to be a complete ***** to deny him now.

Well considering since i've denied Jesus, you sort of are implying something. Not that I should really make a deal of it as we are discussing a sensitive topic. However, I after reading it a couple of times I now know it was never meant to degrade me, just came out that way and I can understand what your feeling here thats for sure.

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Mastermind
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Post by Mastermind »

vvart wrote:I'd have to be a complete ***** to deny him now.

Well considering since i've denied Jesus, you sort of are implying something. Not that I should really make a deal of it as we are discussing a sensitive topic. However, I after reading it a couple of times I now know it was never meant to degrade me, just came out that way and I can understand what your feeling here thats for sure.
You're right. It had nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. If I wanted to call you an idiot, I wouldn't waste my time going around the issue and I'd just come out and say it.
Are you threatening me Master Skeptic?
Anonymous

Post by Anonymous »

For anyone who wants to know, Jesus also got a lot of his teachings from Rabbi Hillel and the Talmud(at the time it would have been considered the Oral Law) in general:

http://hometown.aol.com/donluceano/hillel.html
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Mastermind
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Post by Mastermind »

So Hillel has a monopoly on those(ignoring the fact that half of them need to be forced to resemble each other)? Or perhaps Jesus taught some of Hillel's teachings to the ignorant jews. Does it matter?
Are you threatening me Master Skeptic?
Felgar
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Post by Felgar »

Romans 9:14-18

What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

The only question I have is why you've been hardenned. I look forward to seeing how God is using you in His plan; at this point it's not at all clear to me.
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Kurieuo
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Post by Kurieuo »

vvart wrote:
"Unless you are playing on words to give the idea that you think Jesus is good, you don't actually seem to be a Noahide. As from that Noahide page I referenced it seems clear that they certainly don't see Jesus as good, but rather a deceiver."
Wow nice you just generalized a whole group of people. Not all Jews think Jesus was terrible, frankly I find Christianity to be a better alternative than Paganism.
I don't see any generalisation regarding Jews in what I said... infact I fail to see any real generalisation in my above words. :lol:
vvart wrote:
K wrote:"Actually you didn't follow my logic. God commanded the Jews to put false prophets who lead people astray from God to death. The Jewish leaders followed this believing Jesus to be a blasphemer by breaking the Sabbath and "making himself equal with God." (John 5:18) Now the reason for why Christ was put to death, adds significance to his resurrection. God rose up someone who had been put to death for their teaching. Therefore God justified Christ by raising Him up! It's that simple. Now you can deny it all you like, that's your perogative, but the statements (and logic) within my argument is far from flawed. Simply saying it is does not make it so. You have to do a lot more if you're going to convince me (and no doubt others here) that there is anything wrong with what I say about God justifying Christ by the resurrection."
No I actually did and its terrible logic. You constantly accusing me of having bad reasoning, when you fail to see the alternative reason God would resurrect a heretic and that being to test the Jews (a test which majority have passed even when threatened with death). You also use the Gospels to support your point here and that's a clear example of circular reasoning because obviously I don't view the gospels as being highly accurate.
I used the Gospel to support what point? The point you concede that Jesus was considered a heretic. I'd recommend taking the time to digest what I write if only to just avoid looking silly.

I still await a convincing response to why God would raise Christ from the dead, putting to shame the Jewish leaders who likely thought were obeying God's law by putting to death a false prophet. To simply say that God was putting Jews to the test seems rather weak, and then you just expect us to take your word for it that such is true...? Why would God directly participate in raising up a deceitful heretic who had been rightly put to death as Law required? I'm sorry, but I can't accept such a conclusion about God. You might be able to believe in a God who directly participates in confusing His own given commands and deceiving people, but I can't bring myself to.
vvart wrote:
K wrote:"Now you've setup a strawman by attributing an argument to me I never made. I am truly astonished by your lack of candor is dealing with what I write, and instead preferring to tackle what you think. Now you may have once accepted the circular reasoning that: "Jesus is the Messiah, therefore OT prophecies have Messianic prophetic meaning, because Jesus is the Messiah." Yet because you were so silly to accept your reasoning, does not mean I am or that others here are. Infact if you really did once accept such reasoning, than I'm not sure anyone should trust your reasoning now since you have a track record of fallacious reasoning. "
Again here you go insulting and being a hypocrite. You use circular reasoning constantly everytime you use the NT to support your case because you assume your debater values that source. This is a debate if Jesus is the JEWISH messiah or haMoshiach, not the CHRISTIAN messiah.
You are really trying at times, I mean just read your words here and almost every single one of your responses. You continually misapply fallacies, and continually go on the attack, and you rarely develop a case for your positions. Now, I'm not quite sure I understand what you're talking about with my being insulting. I never directly insulted you, and I it isn't my fault if you once accepted the circular reasoning you now attribute to Christians. If you never accepted such circular reasoning, then I fail to see how any insult could have been taken to anything I wrote. Additionally, I commented at the end of my post (which you responded was all good and didn't have a problem with): "I apply the same strength to my posts as I feel an opponent in a debate dictates themself... Despite this all my words dealt directly with your own statements and responses." Perhaps you do have a problem with this afterall?

Now it seems you just expect to state your views and everyone role over and accept them. Vvart, you've been given a chance at this board (perhaps more than most non-Christians) to reason out your position amidst the many shots along the way that you've taken at Christianity. It has become blatantly obvious that you are out of step with the board purpose, and my patience is beginning to wear thin with your continual vexing. So I'd recommend getting back to building your own arguments.
vvart wrote:
K wrote:"Targum of Jonathan says: "And thou, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, little art thou to be reckoned among the thousands of the house of Judah; out of thee shall proceed in my presence the Messiah to exercise sovereignty over Israel; whose name has been called from eternity, from the days of the everlasting."

"Rabbi Jarchi comments, "Thou art little... out of thee shall come forth to me King Messiah."
Sorry but no go, you seem to show your lack of understanding on this
topic.
The term, 'the Messiah' simply does not appear in the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament).
I never said the terms "the Messiah" did appear. For someone who prides themselves on Jewish thinking... well I'll let you off the hook and won't rub it in. You do understand what a targum is right? The above quotes come from Jewish rabbis. Thus, my previous argument stands that Christians aren't reading something into Micah 5:2 which has been long recognised by the rabbis as having messianic significance.
vvart wrote:
K wrote:"Again you fail to understand Christian theology. One is not saved by their belief for don't you know James 2:19 says, "Even the demons believe that-and shudder." Yet, if one loves Christ and thereby follows after Him, then Christ has promised to give us access to God."
Kurieuo i'd have expected you to understand what i meant. The premise of Christianity begins with belief, one cannot accept Jesus without believing various things about him.
I'm not a mind-reader. I can only understand what you write which was:
  • "... the case for Jesus being the Messiah is weak at best and frankly Christianity has the most flawed theology in which people are condemned not because of evil deeds, but because they simply have a different religion. Judaism however is very practical in such a situation and always has been in that they know one's beliefs cannot condemn them."
I'm quite happy for you to now change your mind on this by dismissing the reasons you previously thought Christianity had a flawed theology. ;)
vvart wrote:
K wrote:"Are you serious? Name one person who had remained since ancient times? Did David? Did Solomon? Only One would possess such a quality."
Could you please clarify what your talking about as both David and Solomon are from ancient times. However both Enoch and Elijah are still alive if thats what you mean.
David and Solomon in no way possess this quality. To quote Ankerberg and save myself some time:
The term "from ancient times" must apply to the ruler from the days of eternity. This ruler's activities are said to stem from the ancient past, yet his coming is still future.

The term "old" literally means from "ancient time, aforetime." The word "old" (qedem) is used of God Himself on occasion in the Old Testament (Deut. 33:27; Hab. 1:12). The words "from the days of eternity" (mee mai-oulom) literally mean from "ancient time or eternity." Both "old" and "ancient times" can thus refer to eternity. The Hebrew word for "ancient times" is used in Micah 4:7 where it says, "And Jehovah shall reign over them… forever [eternally]."

The fact that such terms were used of a future ruler indicates that Micah expected a supernatural figure. This harmonizes with Isaiah's expectation of the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6 where the future Messianic King is called "eternal" and "God" (El), a word Isaiah uses only of God. Hailey comments that the words "from old, from ancient times" "indicate more than that he descends from an ancient lineage; it relates Him to God, the Eternal One. His rule reaches back into eternity."


http://www.johnankerberg.com/Articles/A ... 103-13.htm
vvart wrote:
"In Isaiah 9:6 (9:5 in the Jewish Bible) we read: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." This passage is recognised as Messianic by Rabbis in the following texts:"
Finally, although I know you seem to have something against outside sources, there is a site that I think explains this very well:
Actually no it doesn't explain things very well given the references of rabbis that I previously gave revealing this passage has messianic meaning.

Secondly, why would I have something against outside sources seeing as it is obvious I use them myself? The issue I see is that you continually rely on outside sources. Your first post in this thread was one entire article which you never even referenced! No offense, but if I was quicker and sharper moderating, I would have never let this thread be dignified with responses considering how lazy you were spamming an unreferenced article. I also recall a previous discussion you tried having with me, which revolved around you posting the words of a Jewish person and trying to milk my brain rather than taking the time to reason through the issues yourself. It just seems to me that you never take the time to think for yourself, reasoning through the information you receive for the latest beliefs you stumble across.

Kurieuo.
"Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13)
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Post by Battlehelmet »

This thread gave me a lot of food for thought today..I pored over the skeptic claims. The more I pondered it, the more I realize that it only serves me to gain a deeper understanding.For you to throw out a large quote of skeptical blasphemy and not give a reference to the fellas writing these false proclamations makes one wonder.

Out of Egypt, I called my son.

The said skeptic claimed that was Jesus?

Who was the son sold as a slave from the original 12 tribes of Israel and was chosen by Pharoah to rule oversee his corrupt dictatorship?

Joseph. Thus, the exodus of Israel out of Egypt to the Holy land.God called His son back to His brothers into the tribe of Israel.

Was that from skepticsannotatedbible.com? I think I am banned from that forum.
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Post by Mastermind »

Battlehelmet, if you want a good skeptic to annihilate, I suggest you go trash the http://www.evilbible.com forums. The dude is pathetic, and so is his retinue of morons. Last time I wrecked havoc there I made him look like an idiot.
Are you threatening me Master Skeptic?
Anonymous

Post by Anonymous »

I don't see any generalisation regarding Jews in what I said... infact I fail to see any real generalisation in my above words.
Yeah, but you did generalize Noahide. Someone I know who is a Noahide also like me has no problem with what Jesus likely was (Rabbi, possible a Pharisee), we more or less have a problem with the Gospels.
I used the Gospel to support what point? The point you concede that Jesus was considered a heretic. I'd recommend taking the time to digest what I write if only to just avoid looking silly.

I still await a convincing response to why God would raise Christ from the dead, putting to shame the Jewish leaders who likely thought were obeying God's law by putting to death a false prophet. To simply say that God was putting Jews to the test seems rather weak, and then you just expect us to take your word for it that such is true...? Why would God directly participate in raising up a deceitful heretic who had been rightly put to death as Law required? I'm sorry, but I can't accept such a conclusion about God. You might be able to believe in a God who directly participates in confusing His own given commands and deceiving people, but I can't bring myself to.
Here you go again, clearly you don't seem to understand these things.
First off regardless of whether Jesus resurrected ( personally don't think he did) or not it would still be a test for the Jews. Ok let me explain, before God has the Jews believe in Moses and the covenant that is to be made he says this:

19:9 God said to Moses, 'I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that all the people will hear when I speak to you. They will then believe in you forever.'

20:15 All the people saw the sounds, the flames, the blast of the ram's horn, and the mountain smoking. The people trembled when they saw it, keeping their distance.
20:16 They said to Moses, 'You speak to us, and we will listen. But let God not speak with us any more, for we will die if He does.'


The key words in this is that all the people(jews) were made aware of God's endorsing of Moses and thus validating the commandment he was to make with them. However Jesus was never endorsed by God before all the jewish people, but only a small minority. So Jesus really had no authority to make a New Covenant that would apply to everyone.
So Kurieuo its really silly to claim resurrection validates what Jesus said because for it to be a validation of anything than all the Jewish people would have had to witness it.
I never said the terms "the Messiah" did appear. For someone who prides themselves on Jewish thinking... well I'll let you off the hook and won't rub it in. You do understand what a targum is right? The above quotes come from Jewish rabbis. Thus, my previous argument stands that Christians aren't reading something into Micah 5:2 which has been long recognised by the rabbis as having messianic significance.
Ok lets go over this one more time cause i think you missed my point:

But as for (B)you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From (C)you One will go forth for Me to be (D)ruler in Israel
His goings forth are (E)from long ago,
From the days of eternity."
3Therefore He will (F)give them up until the time
When she (G)who is in labor has borne a child
Then the (H)remainder of His brethren
Will return to the sons of Israel.
4And He will arise and (I)shepherd His flock
In the strength of the LORD,
In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God
And they will remain,
Because at that time He will be great
To the (J)ends of the earth.
5This One (K)will be our peace
When the (L)Assyrian invades our land,
When he tramples on our citadels,
Then we will raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.
6They will (M)shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
The land of (N)Nimrod at its entrances;
And He will (O)deliver us from the Assyrian
When he attacks our land
And when he tramples our territory.

(Micah 5:2-6 NASB)

now lets compare it with matthew 2:5,6 (NIV):

5“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’[a]”


Ok now if we compare the two we see the author of Matthew took out the Euphratah, and assumed Micah was talking about a town. Now if we read everything Micah was saying we find that it wasn't really a prophecy at all.

And He will (O)deliver us from the Assyrian
When he attacks our land
And when he tramples our territory.


Right here Micah tells us the person who will be born from the clan Bethlehem Euphratah will defend Israel from the Assyrians. Now we must ask ourselves who fits this criteria? certainly not Jesus as he had nothing to do with the Assyrians nor can we say he was from the clan Bethlehem Euphratah. However King David fits both criteria being born of the clan and fighting off the Assyrian invasion. So just as a majority of Rabbi's/Talmud students would agree with me that this really isn't a prophecy at all. Now you and most Christians may hang on too a couple of words like "everlasting" and "ancient of days", but bottom line is Jesus fails to fulfill all that Micah spoke of. Those phrases could also refer to the idea that Israel would be everlasting, or that David's descendents would be everlasting.

Now lets see what you brought up to prove your point:
That the Jews recognized this as a Messianic prophecy is also evident from the fact that the priests and scribes of Herod’s day knew that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem on the basis of this prophecy (Mt. 2:5, 6). Thus, the common Jewish belief at the time of Christ was that they "unanimously regarded this passage as containing a prophecy of the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem."103 This is proven by Matthew 2:5, 6 and John 7:42.
No, Christian gospels don't prove anything about what the Jews recognized as being Messianic prophecy. The Sadducees didn't even accept Micah - so there is one key group of Jews who obviously didn't see it as being Messianic prophecy.
No, Christian gospels don't prove anything about what the Jews recognized as being Messianic prophecy. Remember, the Sadducees didn't even accept Micah - so there is one key group of Jews who obviously didn't see it as being Messianic prophecy
Considering that i'm studying Judaism, i would say I'm much more aware of what Rabbi's accept and don't accept. Some rabbis, like RaDaK (David Kimchi) interpreted virtually everything as being messianic, including many of the same passages that Christians use to support Jesus. I don't think this has ever been a popular, or majority view, though. Also its ironic how even those Rabbi's don't accept Jesus as being the Messiah.
I'm quite happy for you to now change your mind on this by dismissing the reasons you previously thought Christianity had a flawed theology.
No I never changed my mind, you seem to think one can be a Christian without believing Jesus is who the Gospels credit him as being. lets move on now.
You did read what "Immanuel" means right? It means "God with us"! So when Matthew 1:23 makes mention to the Isaiah prophecy he is pointing out something true about Christ. If it is not Christ's name what is it? It is the characteristic implied within the name Immanuel. Immanual in this way is considered a title just like the titles in the Isaiah 9:6 I previously brought up: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Given other Scripture (John 1:14; John 20:28; Col. 2:9), the idea that Jesus was going to be literally called "Immanuel" doesn’t really appear to be the case.
No, Immanuel is simply a name. Elijah means "God is my strength" People who attempt to somehow say that Jesus fulfilled a prophecy that named a person by name really don't understand how hebrew names work. I have a friend who has a friend, who's Hebrew name (which I cant remember right offhand) Means "Strong like God" - does this mean that he is as strong as god or can even be compared to God, or that it gives us a reason to worship him? No
It takes a lot of stretching to turn a prophecy that gives a specific name into not actually being somebody with the name. If a man makes a prophecy and says "His name will be Smith" - and a man comes along who is a blacksmith, and people say "Oh, he fits the prophecy! He's a smith!" does he really fit the prophecy?
No, because it is clear. It says his NAME will be Smith. Not 'he will be a smith'. Isaiah didn't say 'he will be God with us' he said 'his name will be Immanuel.
Targum Jonathan
The prophet announced to the house of David that: "A boy has been born to us, a son has been given unto us, who has taken the Torah upon himself to guard it; and his name has been called by the One who gives wonderful counsel, the Mighty God, He who lives forever: 'Messiah,' in whose day peace shall abound for us.

Pereq Shalom
R . Yose the Galilean said: "The name of the Messiah is Peace, for it is said, "Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Midrash Mishle, S. Buber edition
T he Messiah is called by eight names: Yinnon, Tzemah, Pele ["Miracle"], Yo'etz ["Counselor"], Mashiah ["Messiah"], El ["God"], Gibbor ["Hero"], and Avi 'Ad Shalom ["Eternal Father of Peace"]
This is regarding Isaiah 9, which as the website states and majority of hebrew scholars will agree that its in the past tense.
In the Hebrew, this passage is in the past tense! For example, the word which the Christian Bibles render as "his name shall be called" is the two words "vayikra shemo," which properly translated, should be "called his name" or "his name was called." The word "vayikra" is the first word to appear in the book of Leviticus, and a quick check will show that all Bibles render "vayikra" there properly, in the past tense.
It seems to be the minority view that it is messianic, but lets assume that it is for now. Did peace abound in Jesus' day like the Targum Jonathan said? It said 'peace in his day', now, if Jesus is everlasting, this would imply that we should have always had peace, because it was always 'in his day'. Furthermore, since he was here the first time, that was also 'in his day' so we should have at least had peace there too. Even with the second coming, according to the interpretation in the Targum Jonathan, Jesus didn't fit.
The issue I see is that you continually rely on outside sources.
Nope, as i've demonstrated I don't. Although your right, I have made mistakes in the past. But now I have made it a hobby to study this from multiple viewpoints and come to an informed conclusion.

Ok to add more to what you seem to think is a "weak" case on my part:

Matthew 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My son. (KJV)

Hosea 11:1 When Israel [was] a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt. (KJV)


Hmm the subject of Matthew appears to be the messiah, but the one in Hosea is Israel. Again, I don't know how many times I have to say how unreliable the Gospels are.
So Hillel has a monopoly on those(ignoring the fact that half of them need to be forced to resemble each other)? Or perhaps Jesus taught some of Hillel's teachings to the ignorant jews. Does it matter?
No mastermind, actually much of Jesus's teachings are found in the Talmud,\. In fact a good portion of his teachings really have never been foreign to Judaism. Jesus was just an educated Jew in those days and like many other Jews was privy to the Oral Torah. Also there were actually many sects of Pharisees at the time of Jesus and they sometimes argued with eachother, so phrases like "sons of snakes" was quite common back then. Again saying "ignorant Jews" only shows the anti-semitic nature of the Gospels and the whole Pharisees are the "bad guys" is a total misconception. For all we know Jesus could have been a Pharisee.
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Mastermind
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Post by Mastermind »

The key words in this is that all the people(jews) were made aware of God's endorsing of Moses and thus validating the commandment he was to make with them. However Jesus was never endorsed by God before all the jewish people, but only a small minority. So Jesus really had no authority to make a New Covenant that would apply to everyone.
So Kurieuo its really silly to claim resurrection validates what Jesus said because for it to be a validation of anything than all the Jewish people would have had to witness it.
So what if both Jesus and Moses were endorsed? We know for a fact that despite all that, people still disobeyed moses and were put to death for it. They turned from God to worship idols even though, according to the OT, they knew He existed and that Moses was his prophet. Does the fact that the people still turned from Moses mean the OT is a load of crap? By holding moses to the same standard, and if dissent means the prophet is false, then moses must be false as well. We don't know if God endorsed Moses any more than we do if He endorsed Jesus. If anything, Jesus has a stronger case.
Ok lets go over this one more time cause i think you missed my point:

bla bla bla


now lets compare it with matthew 2:5,6 (NIV):

5“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6“ 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'[a]”

Ok now if we compare the two we see the author of Matthew took out the Euphratah, and assumed Micah was talking about a town. Now if we read everything Micah was saying we find that it wasn't really a prophecy at all.

And He will (O)deliver us from the Assyrian
When he attacks our land
And when he tramples our territory.

Right here Micah tells us the person who will be born from the clan Bethlehem Euphratah will defend Israel from the Assyrians. Now we must ask ourselves who fits this criteria? certainly not Jesus as he had nothing to do with the Assyrians nor can we say he was from the clan Bethlehem Euphratah. However King David fits both criteria being born of the clan and fighting off the Assyrian invasion. So just as a majority of Rabbi's/Talmud students would agree with me that this really isn't a prophecy at all. Now you and most Christians may hang on too a couple of words like "everlasting" and "ancient of days", but bottom line is Jesus fails to fulfill all that Micah spoke of. Those phrases could also refer to the idea that Israel would be everlasting, or that David's descendents would be everlasting.

Let's take the prophecy literally for a second:

David was not peace when the assyrians invaded (unless you wish to imply that the jews turned into ghosts and drank their coffee as the invaders had their way with the lands). You have no trouble interpreting the fact that the one who comes has always existed as non-literal(and do a poor job showing it, because Israel has not existed since forever and david's line starts with adam who also has not existed forever). Let's take it even more literally. It talks about the "ends of the earth". Clearly the author believed the world was flat! With your logic and taking everything literally, we might as well assume the writer was a liar.

No, Christian gospels don't prove anything about what the Jews recognized as being Messianic prophecy. The Sadducees didn't even accept Micah - so there is one key group of Jews who obviously didn't see it as being Messianic prophecy.
The Sadducees were idiots. I highly recommend you stop bringing them up to support your views. They didn't go extinct for no reason.
No, Immanuel is simply a name. Elijah means "God is my strength" People who attempt to somehow say that Jesus fulfilled a prophecy that named a person by name really don't understand how hebrew names work. I have a friend who has a friend, who's Hebrew name (which I cant remember right offhand) Means "Strong like God" - does this mean that he is as strong as god or can even be compared to God, or that it gives us a reason to worship him? No
It takes a lot of stretching to turn a prophecy that gives a specific name into not actually being somebody with the name. If a man makes a prophecy and says "His name will be Smith" - and a man comes along who is a blacksmith, and people say "Oh, he fits the prophecy! He's a smith!" does he really fit the prophecy?
No, because it is clear. It says his NAME will be Smith. Not 'he will be a smith'. Isaiah didn't say 'he will be God with us' he said 'his name will be Immanuel.
For somebody who flaunts K's supposed lack of logic, you sure aren't very bright. The lack of a mention of Jesus being called Immanuel means nothing. People were not limited to one name, and if Jesus's middle name was Immanuel, we'll never know. And anyway, if the apostles were liars, why not mention him being called Immanuel a few times to make this more authentic? And solomon was also given two names. His other name is only mentioned once. Does that mean he didn't have a second name?

It seems to be the minority view that it is messianic, but lets assume that it is for now. Did peace abound in Jesus' day like the Targum Jonathan said? It said 'peace in his day', now, if Jesus is everlasting, this would imply that we should have always had peace, because it was always 'in his day'. Furthermore, since he was here the first time, that was also 'in his day' so we should have at least had peace there too. Even with the second coming, according to the interpretation in the Targum Jonathan, Jesus didn't fit.
Jesus brought peace with God, as he himself stated. If you expected peace between the nations of this world, there is nothing I can do to change your mind.
Hmm the subject of Matthew appears to be the messiah, but the one in Hosea is Israel. Again, I don't know how many times I have to say how unreliable the Gospels are.
Actually, I don't see why we automatically have to assume that the child WAS the nation of israel. In fact, based on the grammar of the english bible, it's safer to assme God WASN'T talking about Israel. But nevertheless, let's look even further. It says God shall deliver them back to the Egyptians. That never happened. Does this mean Hosea was written by a liar as well?
No mastermind, actually much of Jesus's teachings are found in the Talmud,\. In fact a good portion of his teachings really have never been foreign to Judaism. Jesus was just an educated Jew in those days and like many other Jews was privy to the Oral Torah. Also there were actually many sects of Pharisees at the time of Jesus and they sometimes argued with eachother, so phrases like "sons of snakes" was quite common back then. Again saying "ignorant Jews" only shows the anti-semitic nature of the Gospels and the whole Pharisees are the "bad guys" is a total misconception. For all we know Jesus could have been a Pharisee.
In other words your previous comment was a cheap shot at Jesus and are now wasting my time with worthless rethoric and baseless assumptions. For all we know Jesus was a bloodthirsty warlord. Why are you so selective about what you choose to believe from the gospels?
Are you threatening me Master Skeptic?
Anonymous

Post by Anonymous »

So what if both Jesus and Moses were endorsed? We know for a fact that despite all that, people still disobeyed moses and were put to death for it. They turned from God to worship idols even though, according to the OT, they knew He existed and that Moses was his prophet. Does the fact that the people still turned from Moses mean the OT is a load of ****? By holding moses to the same standard, and if dissent means the prophet is false, then moses must be false as well. We don't know if God endorsed Moses any more than we do if He endorsed Jesus. If anything, Jesus has a stronger case.
You really need to read things more carefully.
19:9 God said to Moses, 'I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that all the people will hear when I speak to you. They will then believe in you forever.'

The key is that it says 1.) all the people heard God endorse Moses 2.) Yes people were disobedient, but as God stated they would always believe. For example one can do an act against God but doesn't mean they no longer believe.
David was not peace when the assyrians invaded (unless you wish to imply that the jews turned into ghosts and drank their coffee as the invaders had their way with the lands). You have no trouble interpreting the fact that the one who comes has always existed as non-literal(and do a poor job showing it, because Israel has not existed since forever and david's line starts with adam who also has not existed forever). Let's take it even more literally. It talks about the "ends of the earth". Clearly the author believed the world was flat! With your logic and taking everything literally, we might as well assume the writer was a liar.
Actually, David was peace. David was the one who firmly established Israel. It doesn't say that David was eternal, either. It states, "One whose origin is from of old, from ancient times." During the time of Micah, in reference to David, this was one from old and ancient times. Plus Jesus just doesn't fit, no point in squeezing him in their based on 1 or 2 words.
You are also mistaken about Israeli history, as well. When David conflicted with Assyria, David won. The Assyrians didn't come and "have their way" with Israel, David squashed all conflict by his death and the reign of Solomon was living in complete peace.
The Sadducees were idiots. I highly recommend you stop bringing them up to support your views. They didn't go extinct for no reason.
I think the reason that they went 'extinct' was because the only Jews to survive the Jewish revolt were a few Pharisees that escaped, and those living outside of Israel. Sadducees lived mostly if not completely in Judea or Jerusalem. Then, after this, Judaism was banned by the Roman empire. Only ONE rabbinic school was sanctioned, and it was run by a Pharisees. So it doesn't make much sense to say that because a group of people faded away that they were 'idiots'. Virtually all cultures and groups fade away after time. However, if by the same reasoning (i.e. proliferation of a group proves legitimacy and 'intelligence'). Frankly by your logic we could say that Islam is just as good as Christianity, because Islam is so big and survived so long.
For somebody who flaunts K's supposed lack of logic, you sure aren't very bright. The lack of a mention of Jesus being called Immanuel means nothing. People were not limited to one name, and if Jesus's middle name was Immanuel, we'll never know. And anyway, if the apostles were liars, why not mention him being called Immanuel a few times to make this more authentic? And solomon was also given two names. His other name is only mentioned once. Does that mean he didn't have a second name?
Yes they did, for example Jesus's name would be Yeshua Ben Yosef, Jesus son of Joseph. However if Jesus was ever called Immanuel that would be quite important and i'd expect the writers to add it in. Although the Messiah was never to be called Immanuel anyway. You also seem to enjoy insulting my intelligence when you can't disprove something.

Ok but lets go to Isaiah 7, which again is mis-used by christians:

13 Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you [c] a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and [d] will call him Immanuel. [e] 15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. 16 But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. 17 The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah-he will bring the king of Assyria."

This also isn't messianic if we look at it from historical context. It isnt a prophecy for a messiah. The child was simply to be a sign, nobody special. It says (by the time he learns to reject the bad and choose the good, people will be feeding on curds and honey). Furthermore, this implies that at one point Immanuel would reject the bad and choose the good. Also there is an implication that the boy would be bad at some point, then reject it and turn back to the good. It goes on to state "before the lad knows to reject the bad and choose the good, the ground whose two kings you dread shall be abandoned". It doesn't relate to jesus, except for the fact that the authors of the gospels just decided to suddenly claim that it was a prophecy about jesus. That is, just the one verse "A virgin(young woman) will bear a child" etc. they completely ignore the parts that say two kings would be disposed that were enemies of Israel, and that the people would be on a diet of curds and honey. However, we don't see any historical parallels to this, either.
Actually, I don't see why we automatically have to assume that the child WAS the nation of israel. In fact, based on the grammar of the english bible, it's safer to assme God WASN'T talking about Israel. But nevertheless, let's look even further. It says God shall deliver them back to the Egyptians. That never happened. Does this mean Hosea was written by a liar as well?
First off tell me where it says God shall deliver them back to Egypt.
Frequently prophets act as warning systems. They say, "God will do this... if you don't clean up your act", but we need to actually look at the verse instead of jumping to conclusions. However the Hosea one that I showed you is pretty clear, I mean it says its talking about Israel and Israel was taken out of Egypt. I can't possible see how you could turn that into some kind of messianic prophecy and if you did that would be quite a stretch.
Ahh wait I found it, Hosea 11:5? well its a warning.
In other words your previous comment was a cheap shot at Jesus and are now wasting my time with worthless rethoric and baseless assumptions. For all we know Jesus was a bloodthirsty warlord. Why are you so selective about what you choose to believe from the gospels?
Clearly you think everything in opposition to Jesus is a waste of time.
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Post by Mastermind »

vvart wrote: You really need to read things more carefully.
19:9 God said to Moses, 'I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that all the people will hear when I speak to you. They will then believe in you forever.'
How does this answer my question? Many of them strayed from moses. Not all of them believed in moses forever. Repeating something as if a meaning should be obvious isn't enough.
Actually, David was peace. David was the one who firmly established Israel.
Irrelevant to my point.
It doesn't say that David was eternal, either. It states, "One whose origin is from of old, from ancient times." During the time of Micah, in reference to David, this was one from old and ancient times.
No, my version and your own quote says eternal. Provide me with something that refutes this point that isn't your opinion.
Plus Jesus just doesn't fit, no point in squeezing him in their based on 1 or 2 words.
Yes actually, there is. There is more to it, of course, but my point here isn't to explain whether Jesus fits in or not. It's to show that david does not fit a literal meaning of the texts and thus, a figurative one will do. After you have conceded this, then we can discuss whether there is a figurative meaning by which Jesus can fit in.
You are also mistaken about Israeli history, as well. When David conflicted with Assyria, David won. The Assyrians didn't come and "have their way" with Israel, David squashed all conflict by his death and the reign of Solomon was living in complete peace.
The "have their way" with israel was sarcasm... My point was that war =/= peace. David waged war. That's not peace. To say peace came AFTER him is to not take it literally.
I think the reason that they went 'extinct' was because the only Jews to survive the Jewish revolt were a few Pharisees that escaped, and those living outside of Israel. Sadducees lived mostly if not completely in Judea or Jerusalem. Then, after this, Judaism was banned by the Roman empire. Only ONE rabbinic school was sanctioned, and it was run by a Pharisees. So it doesn't make much sense to say that because a group of people faded away that they were 'idiots'. Virtually all cultures and groups fade away after time. However, if by the same reasoning (i.e. proliferation of a group proves legitimacy and 'intelligence'). Frankly by your logic we could say that Islam is just as good as Christianity, because Islam is so big and survived so long.
no actually, the sadducees still existed until the rise of islam. And you missed my point. I don't care how many members a religion has. But when they all get wiped out, it's usually a very good sign that they were wrong.
]
Yes they did, for example Jesus's name would be Yeshua Ben Yosef, Jesus son of Joseph. However if Jesus was ever called Immanuel that would be quite important and i'd expect the writers to add it in. You also seem to enjoy insulting my intelligence when you can't disprove something.
It is you who has to prove that Jesus was never called immanuel(and no, it not being mentioned in the gospel does not count, not only because ommision does not mean it never happened, but also because it would make no sense for a bunch of liars NOT to mention it again as part of their master plan to die for a made-up religion). As for the writers saying Jesus was called Immanuel, it does happen once. In addition, I'm farily certain they had better things to worry about than Jesus's middle name.
Ok but lets go to Isaiah 7, which again is mis-used by christians:

13 Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you [c] a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and [d] will call him Immanuel. [e] 15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. 16 But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. 17 The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah-he will bring the king of Assyria."

This also isn't messianic if we look at it from historical context. It isnt a prophecy for a messiah. The child was simply to be a sign, nobody special.

Please provide me with the historical context so that we may discuss it. Until then it remains opinion.
It says (by the time he learns to reject the bad and choose the good, people will be feeding on curds and honey). Furthermore, this implies that at one point Immanuel would reject the bad and choose the good. Also there is an implication that the boy would be bad at some point, then reject it and turn back to the good.
No, there is no such implication. All it states is he wil know the difference. He does not need to have an opportunity to reject evil, nor does it mean that he HAD to be bad(how you managed to get this out of the text is beyond me).
It goes on to state "before the lad knows to reject the bad and choose the good, the ground whose two kings you dread shall be abandoned". It doesn't relate to jesus, except for the fact that the authors of the gospels just decided to suddenly claim that it was a prophecy about jesus. That is, just the one verse "A virgin(young woman) will bear a child" etc. they completely ignore the parts that say two kings would be disposed that were enemies of Israel, and that the people would be on a diet of curds and honey. However, we don't see any historical parallels to this, either.
I'll deal with this tomorrow, I have to go to bed soon and I don't have time to write out an explanation for all of this now. I will tomorrow unless K deals with it..
First off tell me where it says God shall deliver them back to Egypt. {/quote]

Hosea 11:5: They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.
Frequently prophets act as warning systems. They say, "God will do this... if you don't clean up your act", but we need to actually look at the verse instead of jumping to conclusions.
No, this is as straight up as it can be: God will send them back to egypt and be ruled by Assyria because they refused to return. It doesn't say IF they refused to return to Him.

However the Hosea one that I showed you is pretty clear, I mean it says its talking about Israel and Israel was taken out of Egypt. I can't possible see how you could turn that into some kind of messianic prophecy and if you did that would be quite a stretch.
You don't get it. I'm not defending Jesus. i'm using your logic to discredit Hosea altogether.
Clearly you think everything in opposition to Jesus is a waste of time.
No, you basically said Jesus decided to rip off hillel one day. It's not what you said, it's the way you worded it.
Are you threatening me Master Skeptic?
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Post by Anonymous »

Sure it was. David brought peace in Israel, through the means of war.
There's no figurative meaning to this as Assyrians means Assyrians, please your again trying to squeeze Jesus in.
How does this answer my question? Many of them strayed from moses. Not all of them believed in moses forever. Repeating something as if a meaning should be obvious isn't enough.
Yes, can you please not blatantly blurt something out in anger, look they strayed from him, but as i stated, that doesn't mean they didn't believe. We don't know if they did or not and frankly God said they would forever and i see no reason to argue that.
David was not peace when the assyrians invaded
Irrelevant to my point.
No, you've shown you clearly can't read:
it states "He will be our peace". not that David himself had anything to do with peace.
But when they all get wiped out, it's usually a very good sign that they were wrong.
Wow i can't say how false this statement is. There are still people who believe the earth is flat and likely always will be, doesn't mean its true.
It is you who has to prove that Jesus was never called immanuel(and no, it not being mentioned in the gospel does not count, not only because ommision does not mean it never happened, but also because it would make no sense for a bunch of liars NOT to mention it again as part of their master plan to die for a made-up religion). As for the writers saying Jesus was called Immanuel, it does happen once. In addition, I'm farily certain they had better things to worry about than Jesus's middle name.
Messiah wasn't suppose to be called Immanuel so its not like it matters. In fact Messiah could be called george for all we know. Immanuel as it states was just a sign of what was to come not some kind of god-man savior figure.
I'll deal with this tomorrow, I have to go to bed soon and I don't have time to write out an explanation for all of this now. I will tomorrow unless K deals with it..
Yes deal with me, cause you know i'm a plaque and christianity can't possible be wrong. Sorry, but Buddhists think everyone who doesn't believe in buddhism is an idiot and just about every religion subscribes to something like that, so really you haven't shown anything new.
You don't get it. I'm not defending Jesus. i'm using your logic to discredit Hosea altogether.
Right cause you know when it specifically mentions Israel and how God took Israel out of egypt, its gotta be messianic cause Jesus could fit that.
No, you basically said Jesus decided to rip off hillel one day. It's not what you said, it's the way you worded it.
NO! , just doesn't make Jesus any different then other Jewish teachers at the time, which Christianity is so obsessed with. Thats what i meant.
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