The Sword of Intellect: Book - 2

The Sword of Intellect
Book - 2 Christ the Name
By: Mohammed Fareeduddin Siddique Book Number: 2 Document number: 2.05 Dated Updated: 21th March 2004.
CHRST THE NAME

[Who is the Christ?]
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It is a pity that most of the Muslims do recognize Jesus pbuh as Christ the Messaiah in essense. I happen to ask one of my muslim chat friend Is Jesus pbuh the Messaiah, who saves you He murmured meekly, Jesus is Massaiah Isa Maseeh....! We Muslims are well known to have names that have meaning, I know one of my friend who is named Mohammed Maseeh. Does that means he is the messaiah? Nope! t is only a name. The name Jesus Christ has a definative meaning in the Christendom, though the juglery of name transitions is a jewish tradition, Christians adopted it too. Quran clarifies this naming pendomonium in great details. One definative verse to beat the Messaiah saviour trap of the Christian missioneries is in Quran. Quran 003 l-'Imrn, Verse 45. (Remember) when the angels said: "O Maryam (Mary)! Verily, Allh gives you the glad tidings of a Word ["Be!" - and he was! i.e. 'Iesa (Jesus) the son of Maryam (Mary)] from Him, his name will be the Messiah 'Iesa (Jesus), the son of Maryam (Mary), held in honour in this world and in the Hereafter, and will be one of those who are near to Allh." Bolded emphasis added. Let us see how people name their children, the name Michael means the strong God does it means Mr. Michael is a strong God, nope! Did anyone of us ever ponder what the meaning of the word Israel is? It means Prince of God and I defeated God! Or I overpowered God! If Mr. Abdullah pronounces that word Israel he never means that he has defeated God! Nope! He never would mean that for sure. Like wise, naming Jesus Christ as Messiah does not makes him a Messiah the saviour. The word Christ orients from the Greek work Christos meaning Anointed, that is yet another human title. But where did this word Jesus sprung up from. Let us explore the history and origin of that word Jesus then. The name Jesus in these verses is the Latinized, Anglicized name of Joshua. The New Testament was written in Greek in which case the name Jesus would be Iesous. When the New Testament was translated into Latin and then into English from the Greek, the name became Jesus. Other names were Anglicized as well. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God is with us)." Isaiah 7:14 The famous claim of divinity of Jesus pbuh is the verse of 7:14 of Isaiah. However, it is very interesting to note that nobody ever in the life of Jesus called him by the name Immanuel. Once he was gone, people started calling him many other names, but that does not makes any difference because he was not with them to answer them. Name calling is a famous trickstery of the followers of Paul. Muslims are commanded in the Qur'an to believe in Jesus (pbuh) as a true and faithful prophet of God. For this reason, Muslims have no trouble believing that prophets of the Old Testament prophesied the coming of Jesus (pbuh). However, as we have already seen in chapter two, over the ages mankind continued to feel the need to embroider and improve
Page 2 of 6 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DISCLAIMER: This document in not intended to hurt any sects religious, emotional feelings. Any thing that is written by a human being is susceptible to errors (like the present day Bible). If there is any truth in this paper, then it is from Allh s.w.t, the typo errors (if any) are from myself, Allh s.w.t forgive me for my human / typo errors. I can be contacted at mailto:author@fareedsiddique.com. I will be happy to clarify any doubts from my Christian friends in particular and all others in general.
CHRST THE NAME

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upon the word of God? This was not restricted to merely inserting, deleting, or changing words as seen in previous chapters, rather, they even went so far as to try to "prove" their innovations through the citation of other ancient passages. There are many examples of this. One such example shall be studied here. When members of the clergy read to their flock the verse of Isaiah 7:14, they then go on to explain to them: "Do you see? Prophet Isaiah prophesied the coming of the God Himself. Immanuel means 'God is with us,' so this is not only a prophesy of the coming of God but also a prophesy of the 'incarnation' of God Almighty in the form of Jesus". It is true; Immanuel does mean "God is with us." However, this is a prime example of how the evangelists manage to constantly base their arguments on catch words or phrases and then quickly gloss over the details. The phrase "a virgin" which we find in our English Bibles does not appear in the original Hebrew text. The word used is 'almah {al-maw'} meaning "a young woman of marriageable age". The Hebrew word for "virgin" is bthuwlah {beth-oo-law'}. When the Hebrew text is translated into Greek in the NT, it uses the word parthenos {per-then'-os}, which has a dual meaning; a young girl or a virgin. The translators have mistakenly chosen the latter. More recent and accurate versions of the Bible such as the Revised Standard Version present this verse as follows: "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel" Isaiah 7:14 (RSV) Biblical scholars have suggested that this prophesy was concerning the second son or possibly the third son of Isaiah by a Jewish maiden. It does not relate to Jesus or his virgin birth. If Jesus (pbuh) was indeed intended by this prophesy, then why was he named "Jesus" and not "Immanuel" as this prophesy requires? Notice that the prophesy states that "his NAME shall be Immanuel." It does not say that "HE shall be Immanuel." There is a big difference between saying "His name shall be 'God is with us'" and between saying "He shall be God with us." "Immanuel" is not the only name in the OT that contains the word "El" (God). There are hundreds of Hebrew names that consist of "El" and another noun. For example, "Ishmael" which means "God hears." Did God's sense of hearing come down to earth and live among us in the form of a man? Was God's sense of hearing "incarnated" in the form of a man?. There is also "Israel" (prince of God), and "Elijah" (my God is Jehovah), and so forth. As we can see, it was a very common occurrence for Israelites to have such names. Neither prophet Isaiah, nor King Ahaz, nor any Jew ever thought that this prophesy was for God himself to come down and live among them. In Genesis 28:19 we read "And he called the name of that place Bethel (house of God)". Since the place was named "house of God," does this mean that God lived inside this house?
CHRST THE NAME

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In Genesis 32:30, we are told that Jacob (pbuh) called a piece of land "Peni-el" (Face of God). The actual text states: "And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel," is this the same as saying: "And Jacob said this place is Peniel"? Was the patch of land the actual face of God? Was the face of God "incarnated" in this piece of land? Gabriel, the name of the angle of God, has been interpreted in Biblical references as having the general meaning of "Strength of God." So, does this mean that the angle Gabriel is the "incarnation" of the "strength of God"? "The name Immanuel could mean 'God be with us' in the sense 'God help us!'" Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible, V2, p. 686. Jesus (pbuh) was given his name by the angel Gabriel even before his birth (Matthew 1:21). Never was he named "Immanuel." King Ahaz was in danger. His enemies were closing in. This is when a promise was made to show him a sign, a pregnant woman, not a virgin Mary (pbuh) who would not show up until many centuries after he had turned to dust. Can we see how the Trinitarian doctrine of incarnation was forced upon the message of Jesus (pbuh) through "bending" of the prophesies and general glossing over of the "trivial details"? It is also interesting that in Pauline and Gentile Christianity some of the expectations connected with the Messiah are retained but the term Messiah itself is emptied of its contents so that Christ (latinized Greek equivalent of Messiah) became a mere name. Already in Pauls writings Christ is nothing more than a name. As for Islamic sources, they do not mention a King-Messiah who restores the kingdom of David or a Priest-Messiah who restores the temple rites. Not only the Quràn does not mention the King-Messiah or the Priest-Messiah, but it also does not give much importance to the institutions of kingship and priesthood. The really important figures in the Quràn are prophets (ambiya`) and messengers (rusul) not kings or priests. Even when the Quràn talks about the two greatest Jewish kings, David and Solomon, it does not stress their kingship. David is probably presented in 17:55 as a prophet who was given a book (zabur, or Psalms) and in case of both David and Solomon it is their wisdom and spirituality that is prominent in the Quràn rather than their kingship. The primacy of the Prophet/Messenger means the primacy of knowledge and revelation. It is a recognition that human beings need a message from God for their spiritual and moral development. Institutions such as kingship and priesthood are of secondary importance, if at all. Jesus is called al-masih (Messiah) both in the Quràn and the Hadith but the term is used as a name, the Quràn explicitly makes al-masih a part of the name of Jesus: Mary is given glad tidings of a son whose name is al-masih, Jesus son of Mary. This corresponds exactly to the usage of Christ in much of the Christian tradition. Beyond the use of the name al-masih the Quràn and the Hadith do not link Jesus with early messianic expectations. He is not given any of the functions of the kingly or priestly Messiah. Some ahadith present him as a just ruler bringing extraordinary prosperity during his second coming, but there is no indication that this is meant in any traditional messianic sense.
CHRST THE NAME

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He is never called a king or son of David or otherwise associated with the establishment or restoration of the Israeli kingdom. Nor is he presented as a priest of the end-time, as in some New Testament books. Moreover, while the Gospels go to great lengths to show that Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies, the Quràn and the Hadith do not even state in anything like a clear way that the coming of Jesus was in fulfillment of earlier prophecies. Such a statement would have provided a strong basis to view Jesus as a messianic figure in some traditional sense. Earlier Biblical prophecies are recognized in the Quràn but mostly as predictions of the coming of a prophet and the victory of truth and righteousness. This is somewhat similar to the fact that the Torah does not talk about the coming of the Messiah but it does talk about the coming of a prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15-19). Interestingly, it is the Prophet Muhammad who is said by the Quràn and the Hadith, in the clearest terms, to be prophesied in the Torah and the Gospels (Quràn 7:157, 17:107-108, 61:6; Mishkat al-Masabih, 26/18/1, 26/18/2, and 26/20/3 in James Robsons translation). Therefore, in the light of the Quràn and the Hadith, the figure that comes closest to fulfilling earlier messianic or eschatological prophecies and thus being a messianic figure is the Prophet Muhammad. The belief in Muhammad as the last prophet also gives him an eschatological or messianic character. Thus if Islamic sources provide any positive basis for affirming any type of Messiah, it is the Prophet-Messiah, and he should be identified with the Prophet Muhammad. But in the Quràn and Hadith there is no insistence that the Prophet Muhammad is the only messianic figure and so it is possible to accept more than one Prophet-Messiah. Therefore in view of the use of al-masih as a name of Jesus in the Quràn and the Hadith, absence in them of any kingly or priestly role for him, and their presentation of him as a prophet and a messenger of God we can regard him as a second Prophet-Messiah if we are so inclined for some reason. Indeed, it will be at least consistent with the Quràn to talk of three ProphetMessiahs, the third being Yahya or John the Baptist. O my Christian reader! Respond to your Lord before a Day comes from Allah [S.W.T], which cannot be turned back. On that Day you will have no hiding-place and no means of denial. (Noble Quran, Surat ash-Shura: 47) Except for those who are steadfast and do right actions. They will receive forgiveness and a large reward. (Surah Hud, 11) I invite you now, O my Christian reader, to use your intellect and be a true believer, a truthful submitter to your and my God Allah [ .] May Allah [ ] bestow upon you his mercy and help you understand the fallacies of the Christian Pauline religion of Saul of Tarus...Ameen, ya Rabbal Izzah. Color codes: Red italics are the words of the present day bible.
CHRST THE NAME

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Blue italics are the Holy verses of Quran Al-Kareem, Translations by Yousuf Ali / M. Pickthal. Normal blacks are my words.

The Sword of Intellect: Book - 2

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The Sword of Intellect: Book - 2

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The Sword of Intellect

Book - 2 Christ the Name

CHRST THE NAME

CHRST THE NAME

CHRST THE NAME

CHRST THE NAME

CHRST THE NAME

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