So the question is can you honestly convince yourself that Jeremiah had a pre-human existence before his earthly birth?
It is not about what I can convince myself - I am convinced by what the Qur'an says. Since you believe in the Bible and the Bible says that both pre-existed, you gotta accept that. And then neither is so special to be God. Additionally, according to Job 38:4 and 21, God addresses Prophet Job as follows: “4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding... 21 You Know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!” ... So there's one more example that nullifies any special deity status to Jesus(pbuh).
Similarly in the Qur‘an, Chapter al-A‘raaf(7:172), God informed that man existed in the spiritual form before the creation of the physical world.“When your Lord gathered all of Adam’s descendants [before creation] and made them bear witness for themselves, saying: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They all replied: Yes indeed, we bear witness. [That was] so you could not say on the Day of Judgement: ‘We were unaware of this.’ ” So does that make everyone of us that Special Son of God or God ?
No, not so fast. If they were sinless, and God is sinless, then how is God at the highest level of purity? Unless you are stating that God is at a highest level because it is impossible for God to sin, in contrast to the Prophets who could sin, but didn't sin? That is a fundemental difference. If that is the case then, you are saying that Jesus could sin, but he didn't sin...so my question is, would any one of the other Prophets death be sufficient as a atonement of sins for mankind?
God is the most Holy, the most Pure and all sin is done against Him - so God does not sin, human beings sin. Similarly all Prophets could sin but they didn't since they are the representative of God and best examples for mankind. That includes Prophet Muhammad(pbuh), Prophet Jesus(pbuh) etc.
So now to answer your question about 'would any one of the other Prophets death be sufficient as a atonement of sins for mankind? '
God doesn't need anyone's atonement to Forgive sin. No one shall bear the burden of others.
[Ezekiel 18:20] “The soul who sins is the one who will die.
The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son.”
And ...
[Deuteronomy 24:16] “
The fathers shall not be put to death for the children,
neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.”
Not according to Bruce Metzger, who is a bible scholar and a texual critic. He said in his interview with Lee Stroble in Lee's book "The Case for Christ", regarding this very question is...
1. This is not a problem that is unique only with the Bible, but also with other ancient writings.
2. The difference between the Bible and other ancient writings in this regards is the fact that the bible has much more copies that has survied.
3. He said "the more copies you have that agree with each other, especially if they emerge from different geographical locations, the more you can cross-check them to figure out what the original document was like. The only way they'd agree would be where they went back genealogically in a family tree that presents the descent of the manuscripts.
When Lee, playing the devils advocate, said asked "What about the age of the documents? Certainly that is important, isn't it?
4. Bruce said that the age of the documents is something that actually favors the NT, because "we have copies commencing within a couple gnerations from the writing of the orignals, whereas in the case of other ancient texts, maybe five, eight, or ten centuries elapsed between the orignal and the earliest surviving copies.
5. In additon to the Greek manuscripts, we have translations of the Gospels into other languages at a early time...from Latin, Syriac, Coptic, and later translations from Armenian and Gothic..and also Georgian and Ethiopic.
So in other words, I will go with what Bruce said.
You cannot compare Bible with other ancient writings. If it is from God, one mistake/contradiction is one too many. And as Bart Ehrman said, we don't even have copies of copies of copies. Moreover, it is widely accepted that all the Gospels are written by unknown authors.
If it is from God, it shouldn't have any contradiction or inconsistencies let alone attempts to hide some facts. There are inconsistencies related to some of the major doctrinal concept. I will give you one example here. This is related to
how the translations have been manipulated and how they are inconsistent in different versions. The scenario(Matthew 27) occurs before the crucifixion and
most of the Bible translations read as follows :
17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you:
Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
...
20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!”
However,
in NIV translation, it reads as follows :
17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you:
Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
...
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered. 22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.They all answered, “Crucify him!”
From :
From Jesus to Muhammad: A History of Early Christianity - YouTube (min 19)
Points to note:
1. 'Barabbas' in the first translation and 'Jesus Barabbas' in 2nd translation
2. Jesus who is called 'the Christ' in the first translation and the Jesus who is called 'the Messiah' in the 2nd translation.
So what's the difference ? Huge difference. See the NIV translation : “Which one do you want me to release to you:
Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” So there were
actually two people named Jesus ?
Jesus Barabbas means - Jesus "son of the father". Barabbas in hebrew is not a name but means 'son of father'. On the other hand, Jesus the Messiah simply means ' Jesus' the anointed one and that word is used for others in the Bible (notice it didn't say Christ) also.
So read the verses from the 2nd translation again and you'll find out that they released 'Jesus the son of the Father' and crucified 'Jesus the anointed one'.
If you don't believe me, take it to one of your Christian Scholars who knows the language and familiar with earlier manuscripts. And the reason, NIV at least uses Jesus Barabbas because it goes to a earlier manuscript for translation.
Just listen to Dr. Jerald Dirks [youtube]phvGGeoPOPg[/youtube]
From Jesus to Muhammad: A History of Early Christianity - YouTube
and you'll know how divided even the early christians were on major doctrinal concepts and how inaccurate the translations are. Dr. Dirks has a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School.
Matthew is focusing on the prophecy that was fulfilled, and in the prophecy (Zech 9:9), it is prophecized that Jesus would "come to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey". That is why Matthew mentions verses 4-5. The two Gospels didn't focus on the prophecy, just on the fact that Jesus rode on a donkey.
Mark, Matthew and Luke are all telling the story of Jesus's(pbuh) coming to Jerusalem. And if you take the prophecy of Zech 9:9 to be true, then it means that Matthew got it right and Mark and Luke has mistakes and didn't even mention anything about the Donkey (just the Colt). So that makes it even more clear the inconsistencies and contradictions in the Bible.
One major one I have noted above (related to Crucifixion). Here's a few more ...
Did Jesus bear his own cross?
Yes (John 19:17)
No (Matthew 27:31-32)
Where was Jesus at the sixth hour on the day of the crucifixion?
On the cross (Mark 15:33)
In Pilates court (John 19:14)
Did Jesus pray to The Father to prevent the crucifixion?
Yes. (Mark 15:34-36)
No. (John 19:28-29)
Is Jesus's(pbuh) testimony valid ?
No - If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.(John 5:31)
Yes - Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid (John 8:14)
To be continued...