The key question: Who was Jesus of Nazareth?

2 months ago
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Contradictory accounts of Jesus’ birth parallel those of his death. Believers in Jesus maintain that he is the “Seed of the Woman” (Targum Jonathan on Genesis 3:15 & Bukhari 63:163) and the New Adam (Qur’an 3:59). The Islamic canon correspondly describes the men and women of Eden (that is, the 72 nations or the body of Adam restored) as 30- or 33-year-old virgins like Jesus and Mary (Tirmidhi 38:23 & Luke 3:23). Contradictory accounts of Jesus’ death, on the other hand, imply that he could have survived attempts to kill him. This could in turn explain how incredulous people claim to have seen him 'in the flesh' afterwards (e.g., Luke 24). Jesus' brothers James and Simeon, moreover, succeeded him as leaders of the Church of Jerusalem, which would have foundered if he was actually or putatively dead. He may have also been married to Mary Magdalene, who might have been slandered like his mother, since the pericope adulterae (John 7:53-8:11) was forged. In addition, a 30-year-old rabbi like Jesus (John 1:38 & Luke 3:23) would not be single (Yevamot 63a & Kiddushin 29b) or keep close company with a female disciple who is not his wife or relative (Matthew 27:61). That Jesus’ mother was not stoned for adultery on any account could be explained by the fact she was married to Joseph the Carpenter. Thus, from a judge’s perspective, she and Joseph might have seemed to claim their child is a miracle, who could in turn claim special status as a prophet, for example, or a king if he lives up to the premonition. Muhammad (ish hamudot in Daniel 9:23 & Qur’an 61:6) died in 632 (Tirmidhi 49:15 & Mishkat al-Masabih 29:99); that is, 600 years AC (Bukhari 63:172). The Hijra in 622, which marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, corresponds to 70 weeks of years (Daniel 9:24) after the Bar Kokhba revolt, the last stand against the Romans, in 132 CE (Luke 21:24, Qur’an 17:4-8 & JT Berakhot 2:3:34). The Hijra, where Muhammad migrated to Medina “the Menorah” under Mt. Sela (Mishkat al-Masabih 29:14 & Isaiah 42) to fulfill the vision of Daniel (an-Nasa’i 25:92 & Daniel 7) and deliver the Holy Land from Roman (Western) occupation, took place during the reign of Heraclius: a type of antichrist like Antiochus IV (see, e.g., Secrets of R. Shimon b. Yohai) who declared that he would exterminate circumcised people, notably Jews and Arabs. See Bukhari 7:1 & Walter Kaegi, Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium (UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003) at 194. The Qur’an claims to be the testimony of Gabriel (Qur’an 16:102 & 81:19-21), who would have been the only witness to the annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), in the angelic tongue (Qur’an 16:103, Kiddushin 32b:5 & Bava Metzia 86b:16).

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