Even though Isa was born
a Jew and taught Jewish religious concepts, the Jewish religious
leaders refused to accept him and his teachings.
Isa spoke the people in the Temple at
Jerusalem, why did the Jewish Leaders allow him to do that if they
didn't agree with his teachings?
Isa also spoke to the people at their
level - in the synagogues all around Judah, Israel, and the sea of
Gallilee. Is what he said truth or not?
Isa's followers became great in number
- sometimes more than 15,000 to 20,000 people would listen to him
for hours upon hours. Was what he was telling the
truth?
Have you read about Isa and wondered
about such ideas?
What do you think the answers might be
for some of these questions?
Let us just look at the true history
of this man named Isa and what actual history tells about him as
well as what others have said.
First, let us find that Muhammad
knew about Isa and talked about him. Where did he get his
information that he recited to his followers? He said that
Gabriel came to him directly and gave him his revelations.
But, beyond any doubt, Muhammad also gained great knowledge and
information through his travels as a trader and merchant in the
Middle East. Having started his business when he was young, he
traveled amongst the peoples of Arabia and other nearby
countries doing business. And, in that time of history,
it was more than a common practice to sit around a table or
fire and tell stories, listen to others tell stories, and asking
questions about things they had heard in other cities and places
where they had visited.
Surely, Muhammad was the same
way. And, this would only help him understand more of what
Gabriel was trying to tell him when he saw his visions.
So, when Muhammad recited what he knew
about Isa, he was telling what he knew and understood about this
great prophet.
But, was Isa such a great
prophet? As Muhammad recited his stories, he told his
followers that Isa was one of the greatest prophets; yet, Isa said
things that - if we said they were not true - then Isa would have to
be the least of the prophets - not the greatest. And, if we
say that because Isa's followers must have changed the truth to make
it look like Isa was such a great prophet, then Isa could not have
been so great - since the stories that his followers wrote about
much be false!
So, what do we believe? Isa
truly said what was reported OR Isa didn't say those things because
they were falsely reported. And, then how much that was known
or told about Isa was true at all? Perhaps none? Or, could it
be that ALL was true and no false reporting was made by anyone at
that time?
Arguments that the time between when
Isa was alive and when the stories were written was far too long for
the information to be true and accurate.
WAIT! Some of the writings only
were about 15 to 20 years after Isa was alive. That is better
than the writings we have of other people and events before and
after Isa's life. In fact, the oldest manuscripts that matches
perfectly the manuscripts dated even later was written by the men
that say and witnessed Isa's life and all the events in his
life.
That is far better than the
manuscripts we have of the Quran and the life of Muhammad. The
oldest known manuscript of the Quran has been dated to have been
written somewhere around 250 years AFTER Muhammad died. How
many errors could have found their way into this manuscript since
all previous manuscripts had been burned, lost, or destroyed by that
time.
Therefore, we have to look at the
stories told about Isa by these men that knew him
personally.
Isa said he was virgin born - a well
documented fact even by Josephus (the historian). No one else
in history can prove they were born of a virgin. That fact
alone makes Isa a great prophet and honored by God (Yahweh).
He said that he and the Father
(Yahweh) were one and the same. If that one statement were
true, then he would be the greatest of all prophets. If not
true, then he just made himself the least of all prophets and ALL
the others things he said and taught cannot be trusted. We
can't have it both ways - he was either the greatest prophete or the
least prophet. And, Muhammad is reported to have said that Isa
was the greatest prophet.
In the Injil, the book of the Acts of
the Apostles, Isa proved to his followers that he had been the
person on the cross and that he was now alive - having been raised
from the dead by God (Yahweh), was walking around, talking with the
people, eating food, and proving that he was the fulfilling the
prophetic scriptures of the Old Testament. Was he lying here
or was he telling the truth?
Again, remember that the person
writing this book was an eye-witness to all these events.
Would he write these things, then defend his writings, even to the
point of death? --- especially if they were NOT THE
TRUTH? No, he would have recanted his story to save his own
life - had they been lies. But, instead, he stood by his story
until he was killed for these teachings.
Another thing to look at. Isa
said that we would be held by the leaders of Israel, tortured and
beaten, hung on a cross until dead, and then raised from the dead in
3 days. And, according to history, all these things came to
pass exactly as Isa had foretold.
The definition of a true prophet is
that whatever he says will come to pass actually comes to
pass. In other words, he tells about events in the future and
those events actually happen. Isa did that. Everything
he said as a future event DID HAPPEN. That means he didn't lie
about it; and it means that the other things he said and taught must
be the truth, also.
This makes him a GREAT PROPHET; and
according to Muhammad, the GREATEST PROPHET ! And, since Isa
said he was born of God (Yahweh) by the act of God (Yahweh), as the
Son of God (Yahweh), then he truly must be the Son of God (Yahweh)-
because he always told the truth or else he never told the
truth.
Which is it? Was he the Son of
God (Yahweh) as he said or was he a liar and a False Prophet?
If he was a false prophet, did why did Muhammad call him the
greatest prophet and told us to look for Isa's return to earth in
the last days? Was Isa truthful or did Muhammad make a mistake
about Isa's true nature and teachings?
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