A response to 5.11

Who was "Immanuel"?


Isaiah 7:14 - "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)." 

Al Kadhi says, "over the ages mankind continued to feel the need to 
embroider and improve 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 thecitation of other ancient passages." 

Jesus said, "The measure with which you judge will be used to judge 
you."  All the accusations Islam makes against the Bible can be 
successfully rebounded to the Koran. Al-Kadhi tries to undermine the 
New Testament by saying they misunderstand the Old. But what is the 
Koran but a corruption of the Bible? The Bible has archaelogical,
scientific, historical, and internal proofs for its validity, but 
the Koran, which claims to supercede the Bible, and yet to accept it, 
has no proof for its validity as divine revelation.  Not only does it 
contradict the Word of God wrt Jesus' nature, but it paints God as a 
punishing, cruel and malicious God, who gives no love except to those 
who "deserve it". 
 While seeming to rely on Old Testament concepts, it conveniently erases 
or contorts parts thereof which are clearly in support of Jesus' mission 
and divinity. 

For example, the Deuteronomy 18:18 passage about "a prophet from amongst 
you", which is clearly referring to the Messiah is abused as Mohammedan.  
But it is not.
 
We read in John 1:45 - "Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, 
'We have found Him of Whom Moses in the Law and the prophets wrote, 
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.'"

Of Isaiah 7:14, Al-Kadhi further claims,"Biblical scholars have suggested 
that this prophecy 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."

Using personal bias, Al-Kadhi eliminates for his reader the true 
interpretation of the scripture.  The best interpreter of scripture is 
scripture:

Matthew 1:22-23 - "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled 
which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 'Behold, a virgin 
shall be child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His 
name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."

So then, the Bible itself reveals what Isaiah meant by this prophecy 
quite satisfactorily, Jesus, the Son of God born of the virgin Mary, 
having no earthly father. What need do we have have of any further 
analysis of names, or prophecies, when the gospel writer himself tells
us that Immanuel from Isaiah 7:14 is Jesus?


The Rebuttal to "What Did Jesus Really Say?"
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