It’s not free if someone had to die for it.
It's free in the sense that we are not saved by being a good person, but by what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.
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It’s not free if someone had to die for it.
I know. That’s why “virgin” isn’t really a good translation.
Septuagint or not, why translate 'almah as virgin at all? Wouldn’t Isaiah have used a different word if he really meantvirgin?
Here’s where it gets really interesting.
We already established that 'almah literally means “young woman” with the insinuation that the woman is a virgin. Nevertheless, why didn't Isaiah use a more specific word if he really meant virgin?
The question, then, is which word would Isaiah have used? Many point to the Hebrew betulah which means “maiden, virgin.”[5] But problems arise with this word too.
Similar to 'almah, betulah is not a literal term for virgin but instead denotes age and marital status. As Dr. Michael Brown, a Ph.D in Near Eastern Languages, said, "Betulah can refer to a virgin, but more often than not it simply means a young woman or maiden. In fact, more than three out of every five times the word occurs in the Old Testament, the most widely used Jewish translation renders it 'maiden.'"[6]
What did Jesus do?It's free in the sense that we are not saved by being a good person, but by what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.
So, it wasn’t really a virgin birth, according to the Gospels. And the “fact” that the Gospels report a “virgin birth” has nothing to do with Isaiah, since Isaiah doesn’t report a virgin birth. You need to improve your exegetical skills.The term betulah doesn't literally mean virgin either. AndrewGilmore.net: Did Isaiah Really Predict a Virgin Birth? Some Interesting Backstory to the Bible's Most Famous Prophecy (Part II)
Wait... so we are only saved by what “Jesus did?” That means that our belief, our faith, our baptism, have no bearing at all.It's free in the sense that we are not saved by being a good person, but by what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.
So, it wasn’t really a virgin birth, according to the Gospels. And the “fact” that the Gospels report a “virgin birth” has nothing to do with Isaiah, since Isaiah doesn’t report a virgin birth. You need to improve your exegetical skills.
What did Jesus do?
Wait... so we are only saved by what “Jesus did?” That means that our belief, our faith, our baptism, have no bearing at all.
Oh my what an epic fail. Sorry, but you make all prophecies worthless with this sort of defense. If you can reinterpret a prophecy in such a gross manner after the fact one can justify almost any belief.Immanuel is a reference to the name Jesus. Wasn’t the Messiah supposed to be named Emmanuel?
Nope. Excessive punishment is never "deserved". Why do you keep claiming that God is a sociopath?Jesus took on the punishment that we deserve for our sins.
Oh my what an epic fail. Sorry, but you make all prophecies worthless with this sort of defense. If you can reinterpret a prophecy in such a gross manner after the fact one can justify almost any belief.
You yourself are refuting the Bible with such poor arguments.
Nope. Excessive punishment is never "deserved". Why do you keep claiming that God is a sociopath?
Nope.Isaiah 7:14 says, "a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." That doesn't mean that the name of Jesus is literally Immanuel. It's similar to how the name of Jesus was really Yeshua, but English speakers call him Jesus. The name of Jesus wasn't literally Jesus, and his disciples didn't literally have English names.
The Gospelers did not. The two traditions cannot be reconciled the way you want them to be.If neither betulah or almah literally mean a virgin birth, what difference does it make? Isaiah used a term that referred to virgin whether he said almah or betulah.
You are ignoring the parts of the Bible that describe Hell as ever lasting. But then all Christians have to pick and choose which parts of the Bible to believe. You, for example, ignore all of the verses where Jesus says that he is not God. By the very same standards that you use to claim that Jesus says he is God he is even clearer that he is not God.How is eternal separation from God excessive punishment? If someone doesn't want to know God, why would they be with God in eternity?
Nope.
Maiden.
Try again.,
And yes, that does mean that his name will be Immanuel. That is what the supposed prophecy says.
If Jesus is God, that means that God punishes God’s Self.Jesus took on the punishment that we deserve for our sins.
You are ignoring the parts of the Bible that describe Hell as ever lasting. But then all Christians have to pick and choose which parts of the Bible to believe. You, for example, ignore all of the verses where Jesus says that he is not God. By the very same standards that you use to claim that Jesus says he is God he is even clearer that he is not God.
No, I showed that bethulah does mean virgin, you used a very poor source that only claimed that. That is because like it or not Isaiah does not have a prophecy about Jesus in it. It fails again and again.Neither almah or betulah mean virgin.
If Jesus is God, that means that God punishes God’s Self.
Was the Prodigal punished for his sins? Was the lost sheep punished for becoming lost?
No. A punitive God simply doesn’t fit the biblical profile. Substitutionary atonement is a rotten theological concept. Are you at all familiar with the principles of constructive theology?