Emendations Of The Sopherim

Recently I ran across a Bible term that was new to me - "Emendations Of The Sopherim " - Two Jehovahs [1].

The first question is “what are the Emendations Of The Sopherim?”.
The second question is “why do I care?”

Let's start with the Sopherim. Sopherim are the scribes of the Old Testament scriptures, the ones who copied the Masoretic text. Masoretic comes from the word Masorah, which are notes in the margins made by the Sopherim. “By simple definition, soferim are copyists, but their religious role in Judaism is much more” - Wiki(Sofer) [2].

Page From Aleppo Codex

The Masoretic text is considered by the Jews to be the authoritative text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism.

It was primarily copied, edited, and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries of the Common Era (CE). The oldest known complete copy, the Leningrad Codex, dates from the early 11th century CE. Wiki(Masoretic_Text) [3]

 

Emendations are corrections to a text, or altering the text to improve it. Some say the alterations are to correct errors, some say emendation is editing - Wordnik [4]. Ordinary people would probably just call them “scribal edits”. The emendations may be much older than the Masoretes.

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Why Emend The Text?

One reason given for emending the text was to protect the sacredness of God's name YHVH - faith-once [5]. Some pronounce it Jehovah, some say Yehovah, some say Yahweh, but the Jews don't pronounce His name at all. And they don't want anyone else pronouncing it either. YHVH appears in the Old Testament 6823 times unchanged, but many claim 134 additional times the Sopherim changed YHVH to Adonai meaning Lord, or sometimes Elohim meaning God. Nearly all English Bibles translate YHVH as “LORD”, that is all caps, often in a smaller font. Often, Bibles will explain that they are translating YHVH this way in the introduction. Here's what the Foreword from the New American Standard Bible says.

The Proper Name of God in the Old Testament: In the Scriptures, the name of God is most significant and understandably so. It is inconceivable to think of spiritual matters without a proper designation for the Supreme Deity. Thus the most common name for the Deity is God, a translation of the original Elohim. One of the titles for God is Lord, a translation of Adonai. There is yet another name which is particularly assigned to God as His special or proper name, that is, the four letters YHWH (Exodus 3:14 and Isaiah 42:8). This name has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name. Therefore, it as been consistently translated LORD. The only exception to this translation of YHWH is when it occurs in immediate proximity to the word Lord, that is, Adonai. In that case it is regularly translated GOD in order to avoid confusion [I find it more confusing]. It is known that for many years YHVH has been transliterated as Yahweh, however no complete certainty attaches to this pronunciation. NASB [6]

So why did the Sopherim change those 134 occurrences? Scholars differ, but one source claims these are the reasons given [5].

1. Those places where a man directly addresses God;
2. When a man makes a statement bringing God into a personal relationship with himself;
3. Where YHVH was shown directly intervening in the affairs of men;
4. Where anyone caused a reproach against God;
5. Where anyone claimed to have personally seen God.

It sounds to me like the changes make it appear as if no one had a personal relationship with Jehovah.

Two Jehovahs??

Some of the emendations have doctrinal implications. They obscure the truth that God is more than just a single Being, specifically that God is two Jehovahs [1]. Consider Psalm 110, this is where we'll spend the rest of our time. For clarity, we'll look at verses 1 and 5.

 

 1. The LORD said unto my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies as Your footstool.”

 

 

5. The LORD at Your right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath.

If you read those verses out loud, could someone tell when you read LORD in all caps? I can't tell who's who in the English, read it again with the names.

1. Jehovah said unto my Adon, “Sit at My right hand...”

5. Adonai at Your right hand (emended)

5. JEHOVAH at Your right hand (not emended)

Using BibleHub.com [7], I did find 7 translations that say “LORD” in verse 5, and 2 that actually say Jehovah, one of those translated from Aramaic. Qbible.com [8] also has YHVH in Ps 110:5. Without emendations, Ps 110 clearly states there is a Jehovah sitting at the right hand of another Jehovah. The Churches of God have always taught that this refers to God the Father and God the Son. I don't know when they learned about the emendations, but UCG does mention them in the Study Paper [9] “The Nature of God and Christ” - p14  [10]. The idea of two Jehovahs is a problem for anyone who believes that God is one being. Jesus Himself quotes Ps 110.

Mt 22 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, 44 ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET”’? 45 Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” 46 No one was able to offer Him a word in answer, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him any more questions.

Again, if read aloud, could you tell when LORD is in all caps? In the Greek the name Jehovah is translated as Kurios. YHVH never appears in the Greek New Testament - BibleStudyTools [11]. So let's plug Kurios into Mt 22:43-45.

Mt 22:43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘KURIOS,’ saying, 44 KURIOS SAID TO MY KURIOS, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET” 45 Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Kurios,’ how is He his son?”

Mt 22:44 in Codex Vaticanus

Also recorded in Mark 12:35-40 and Luke 20:41-47.

The Hebrew gospel of Matthew (some say it's the original, some say a translation from Greek) reads “The Lord said to my Lord”

Remember, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees, the experts in the Old Testament (Tanach), yet no one was able to answer Him. Some say it is possible that the emendations were already done before this time, and that Jesus knew it. By quoting this verse, He let them know He knew it. Ps 110 is quoted 20 times in the New Testament, showing it's importance. Most of those 20 quotations refer to Jesus being at the right hand of God, that is Jehovah at the right hand of Jehovah. A few verses quote Ps 110:4 that talks of Melchizedek.

How could David's Lord be his son? And how could Kurios say to another Kurios?

Jesus Is Not An Angel

Paul also quotes Psalm 110 to show that Jesus was not an angel.

Hebrews 1:13 But to which of the angels has He ever said, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET”? Upper case here means it is a quote from the Old Testament.

Hebrews 1 and 2 are full of Old Testament quotes showing that Jesus is the Son of God, not an angel, though there are Old Testament verses where He is referred to as the “Angel of God”. The Churches of God are not alone in teaching Jesus' divinity, but others do teach He was an angel - ChristianQuestions [12], the very thing Paul was teaching against in Hebrews. But Ps 110:5 refers to Jesus as Jehovah, Yehovah in Hebrew which means “He was, He is, He will be”, rendered in Ex 3:14 as “I AM THAT I AM”, or "the unchanging, eternal, self-existent God,".

God of the Old Testament vs God of the New Testament.

“Others contend that the Jehovah of Old Testament times was the same as God the Father in the New Testament.” - ChurchOfJesusChrist [13]

Remember Ps 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies as Your footstool.”

King David

David called Him “My Lord”. David was the king of Israel so he didn't call any man “my Lord”. We know from Ps 110:5 that the Lord that David knew became known as Jesus (because He sat the right hand), not the One who became known as God the Father. Furthermore, Jesus said He reveals the Father.

 

Matthew 11:27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

If the Father were the God of the Old Testament, He didn't need revealing. The God of the Old Testament is in the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Joshua, David, etc. etc. etc. He doesn't need revealing.

134 emendations, one down, 133 to go. I'm going to need more time...

The Rest Of The Story

Not everyone agrees with this interpretation of the 134 emendations. Our knowledge of the emendations comes from “The Companion Bible” by E.W. Bullinger. who got it from a rather dense book (2537 pages) called “The Massorah” by C.D. Ginsburg, both men writing in the late 19th century, both books available free online - Bullinger [14], Ginsburg [15].

We have seen that in many of these one hundred and thirty-four instances in which the present received text reads Adonai in accordance with this Massorah, some of the best MMS [manuscripts]. and early editions read the Tetragrammaton (YHVH) sect 115 [15].

Today, we have access to a lot more manuscripts than Ginsburg, the Dead Sea Scrolls are the most familiar example. Ginsburg said the Masoretic text does not match some of the best manuscripts and early editions, he does not say the Sopherim left notes about them in the margin as some claim. A search for Tiqqun Sopherim (the Hebrew for Emendations) only lists 18, not 134, and they are different edits. If Ginsburg were writing today with the manuscript access of today, would he come to the same conclusions? Some argue Ginsburg was misinterpreted. However, we don't need to appeal to the emendations argument to make the doctrinal statements about the identity of Jesus, but they do make it easier to explain them.

Fragment of the Great Isiah Scroll [16]

Summary

Let's review the lessons that Ps 110 with or without emendations teaches.

The Old Testament does point to two Jehovahs, not one or three.
Jesus was the Son of God, not an angel.
Jesus was and is God, it's right in the name Jehovah.
Jesus was the God of the Old Testament.


References

1. https://www.cbcg.org/natureofgod/2jehovahs-of-the-psalms.html

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofer

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masoretic_Text

4. https://www.wordnik.com/words/emendation

5. https://faith-once-delivered.org/pages/5-134-emendations.php

6. https://www.blueletterbible.org/bibles/preface-to-the-new-american-standard-bible-2020.cfm

7.  https://biblehub.com/psalms/110-5.htm

8. http://www.qbible.com/hebrew-old-testament/psalms/110.html#5

9. https://www.ucg.org/study-papers

10. https://ucgweb.s3.amazonaws.com/files/papers/ucg-paper-the-nature-of-god-and-christ.pdf

11. https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/jehovah

12. https://christianquestions.com/bible-questions/was-jesus-an-angel-before-he-was-on-earth

13. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/old-testament-student-manual-genesis-2-samuel/enrichment-section-a-who-is-the-god-of-the-old-testament?lang=eng

14. https://www.companionbiblecondensed.com/AP/ap32/index.html?page=1

15. https://archive.org/details/Ginsburg_The-Massorah-Compiled-from-Manuscripts_1880-1905/mode/1up?view=theater

16. http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah

Joshua's Left Foot

Do you notice the subtle difference between these two verses?

Exo 3:5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Joshua 5:15 And the Prince of Jehovah's host said unto Joshua, 'Cast off thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place on which thou art standing is holy;' and Joshua did so;

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It's perhaps easier to draw parallels than differences. Moses was Joshua's mentor, and Joshua was groomed for decades to take over for Moses. And look, they both receive the same instruction about removing their sandals because they are standing in a holy place, a sure sign that God approves of Moses choice of Joshua. But both instructions aren't quite the same. Rabbi Hayyim Angel [1] points out that Moses was told to remove both sandals, but Joshua was told to remove one. I looked it up in the Hebrew, it really is plural in Exodus and singular in Joshua - QBible [2]. Many translations do show the plural in Joshua 5:15. It could be a simple matter of linguistic variation, and there is certainly scholarly debate over it, or maybe it means something. Let's dig further into Rabbi Angel's observation and his theory over the possible meaning of one shoe or two.

Starting with the symbolism of the shoe, it was most likely a sandal in ancient Biblical times. Sandals picture involvement with the physical world. Think how they protect our feet from the dirt and abrasions of walking in the physical world. And on the other hand, Levicital priests were NOT to wear sandals while serving in the Tabernacle or Temple Wikipedia(High_Priest_Of_Israel) [3] . In other words, barefoot is equated to the spiritual world. Some say that the shoe is to the foot as the body is to the soul, that is a soul fits into a body to navigate the physical realm similar to the way a foot slips into a shoe to navigate the path - Jews And Shoes [4]. Maybe. Maybe not.


So why would Joshua have one foot in the physical and one foot in the spiritual? Moses clearly had both feet in the spiritual realm. The people of Israel clearly had both feet in the physical realm. But Joshua wasn't really like Moses. The Babylonian Jewish Commentary describes Moses and Joshua like this "The elders of that generation said: The countenance of Moses was like that of the sun; the countenance of Joshua was like that of the moon." - Bava Batrah [5]. That is to say Joshua's glory was inferior to Moses.

Rabbi Angel cites a few examples to show the gap between Moses and Joshua. The most telling was the testimony of the twelve spies. After spying out the land of Canaan, ten spies gave a bad report, that the people of the land were giants, and they felt like grasshoppers in comparison. Caleb spoke up and insisted that Israel could take the land, but Joshua was silent. THE NEXT DAY, Joshua spoke up, echoing the fears of the people, but ultimately the faith and confidence of Moses.

6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”

Rabbi Angel argues that Joshua's ability to feel the people's fears coupled with the faith of Moses actually make him a good leader, a man of the people, if you will. Maybe the first day Joshua did feel intimidated by the Amalekites, and intimidated by the ten other spies (looking at the physical), but in the end he argues from faith, "the Lord is with us" (looking at the spiritual).

Moses appears strong and confident from the start, but Joshua had to be told to be strong and courageous. He was told that twice by Moses - Deut 31:7, 23. He was told that three times by God Himself  - Josh 1:6, 7, 9. And he was even told that by the people he was leading - Josh 1:18. It seems he was in touch with the fears of the people.


Joshua reminds me of someone. Someone with almost exactly the same name. Someone who was divine, yet human. Someone who had a foot in this world and a foot in the spiritual world. Yes, I'm talking about Jesus. Joshua's given name was Hoshea (Salvation), but Moses changed it to Jehoshua (YHVH aka Yah is Salvation), contracted to Joshua - Hans Bodlaender [6]. Jesus' Hebrew name is also Jehoshua or Yashua or Yeshua.  It's the same name. Joshua is to Moses as Jesus is to God the Father, remember the sun/moon analogy above. And to be clear, Jesus was in touch with the people without the doubts that Joshua had. With one foot in this world, Jesus can relate to the human condition, which makes Him the ideal High Priest, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." - Heb 4:15. Jesus often referred to Himself as "Son of Man". Normally the expression that someone has one foot in the world and one foot in heaven/church is a negative, implying the person can't make up their mind. In the cases of Joshua and Jesus, I'm arguing that it is a good thing, that they can relate to both worlds. There are other parallels between Joshua and Jesus, see The Two Joshuas [7].

Is it true that Joshua only removed one sandal? If Hebrew scholars disagree on it, I'm not going to be able to settle the argument one way or another. If he did remove one sandal, it would have been his right sandal, in the Bible right is associated with spiritual, left with physical - In Two Worlds [8]. But if Joshua were told to remove a sandal because the place was holy, logically he would have to remove both unless he was at the edge of the holy area or he stood like a stork, both of which seem unlikely. However, the parallels between Joshua and Jesus ARE real, whether Joshua had his left sandal on or not.


References

1. https://www.jewishideas.org/article/synagogue-companion-rabbi-hayyim-angel-reviewed-rabbi-israel-drazin
2. http://qbible.com/hebrew-old-testament
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Priest_of_Israel
4. http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/407510/jewish/Jews-and-Shoes.htm
5. http://www.halakhah.com/bababathra/bababathra_75.html
6. http://www.bodlaender.nl/religion/num13-16.html
7. https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/the-two-joshuas

8. http://madeworthy.com/the-left-and-right-in-scripture

A Harvest Of Muslims

When I look at the situation in the Middle East, I see chaos and warfare. But it seems that when God looks at the Middle East, He sees "the fields are ripe for harvest" - John 4:35. What kind of harvest? A harvest of souls as it were. Tens of millions of Muslims are leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, often at great risk to themselves. And they're doing this in the middle of a war zone.

First the numbers.

It seems hard to believe that millions of Muslims would be turning from Muhammed to Jesus. After all, most people don't change the religion they're born into. And Islam prescribes death for any Muslim who would convert to Christianity. So they don't do it lightly. But millions? Yes, according to researchers Duane Alexander Miller and Patrick Johnstone who published "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census" [1] in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. Here is a graph from the article, and note this is only up to 2010.

  

Crosswalk.com [2] gives a more conservative number of converts in the range of 2 to 7 million, based on the work of missionary David Garrison, author of "A Wind In the House Of Islam" [3].

 Since this appears to be a large number of converts, I want to explain more of Drs. Garrison, Miller, and Johnstone's methods. They all acknowledge that exact numbers are impossible, that numbers are both overreported and underreported, and even estimates are very difficult. But how do we get any estimates at all? If you wish to skip the data collection section, go to the section "How Is It Happening?".

Estimate Estimate

In 1960, Dr Johnstone began compiling data on the size and nature of Christian communities worldwide. He published six volumes of Operation World [4], also see Wikipedia [5].

The purpose of the Operation World books has been to provide a profile of each country in the world, including information on the ethnic and religious breakdown, with the hope of aiding Christians and Christian ministries that focus on world missions, evangelism, and prayer. Religious and denominational information was gleaned from national surveys and censuses, solicited from missionaries and indigenous workers, and culled from official records of groups such as the Lutheran World Federation and the World Communion of Reformed Churches. IJRR [1] 

The end result is a reference book of  geography, demographics, population, literacy, economy, religions, Christian denominations, and missions groups for every country in the world. Here is their summary of Muslim converts to Christianity.

   

Continent/Region	Muslim Converts
Asia	6,968,500
Africa	2,161,000
North America	493,000
Arab world	483,500
Europe	147,800
Pacific	21,600
Latin America	8,800

 Garrison's approach focused solely on Muslims converting to Christianity. He conducted interviews with over 1000 converts in 14 countries using a questionnaire he developed. The house of Islam can be divided into nine geo-cultural rooms; three in Africa, the Arab world, the Persian world, Turkestan, West India, East India, and Indonesia. He went to all nine travelling 250,000 miles. He only counted movements with more than 1000 converts or more than 100 churches. The questionnaire itself can be found in his book "A Wind In the House Of Islam" [3]. His questionnaire and interviews went beyond estimating numbers of converts, to an attempt to answer the questions of how and why the conversions were taking place, and why they are accelerating.

How Is It Happening?

During the first 13 centuries of Islam, the only conversions either way, Muslim to Christian or Christian to Muslim appear to have been forced. Christian missionaries had little to no success in proselytizing Muslims. In fact, missionaries were often forbidden from preaching to Muslims. The first breakthrough came from a local Javanese evangelist Radin Abas Sadrach Surapranata (1840 - 1924) remembered as "Sadrach, The Apostle of Java". His success was the product of at least two new factors - he was a local, and the recent publication of the Bible in Javanese, that is Muslims distrust Westerners, and now they could read the Bible in their native language.

Native language  Bible translations were partly responsible for the success of William Carey [6] (1761 - 1834), aka father of modern missions, who translated parts or all of the Bible into 44 Bengali languages. Bengali is the sixth most common language spoken today. Again, people could see for themselves.

Native language Korans are also making a huge difference. Muslims can read the Koran and the Bible and decide for themselves.

Sheikh Bilal added, “The translation of the Qur’an is changing everything. Before, it was only in Arabic, which no one understood. -  "A Wind In the House Of Islam" [3]

Not only can the House of Islam now compare doctrines and ideologies, they can also compare the actions of Muslims and Christians. Not only is the gospel reaching the House of Islam through media outlets like radio, TV, and Internet, but local news and world news is reaching them as well. There are certainly people who give Christianity a bad name, but the overwhelming number of terrorists are Muslims. It seems hard to believe there have been over 28,000 Islamic terror attacks since 9/11/2001 - TheReligionOfPeace [7]. But the Muslim to Christian converts experienced Islam up close and personal like none of us in the West, that is to say they have seen or felt the hate and cruelty themselves, indeed they have lived it. Here are some quotes from A Wind In the House Of Islam.

As we will see in many subsequent Rooms in the House of Islam, one of the greatest recurring motivations for Muslims coming to Christ is a rejection of the militant expression of Islam itself. 

God is using dissatisfaction within the Muslim community itself to draw Muslims to faith in Christ. 

[Berbers] saw in the way of Jesus a stark contrast to that of Muhammad. 

Often enough, it is injustice within the Muslim community itself that leads Muslims to turn to Christ. 

In these and similar testimonies, one observes a pattern. When the Muslim community mistreats one of their own, that person is more inclined to find an alternative sanctuary in the person of Christ and the Christian faith.

But Wait, There's More 

This will be harder for those of us in the Western world to accept. Story after story is emerging that Jesus is calling Muslims through dreams, visions, healings, and answered prayers. Tom Doyle, author of   "DREAMS AND VISIONS: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World" - [8], "has encountered a staggering number of Muslims who were first introduced to Jesus through a vision or dream so powerful that they eventually turned from their lifelong religion of Islam and embraced Christ as their Savior". He also wrote "Killing Christians: Living the Faith Where It's Not Safe to Believe" - [9], which recounts the journey of several people coming to Jesus through dreams. Here is one exchange between a Muslim and a Christian.

I’ve been hearing a lot about Muslims having dreams about Jesus. And they’re not the kind of dreams someone has after a bad plate of baba ghanoush or something like that. These are high-definition dreams— visions!— of Jesus, and good-hearted Muslims who have them end up asking Jesus followers what they mean. Isn’t that cool?”

Family members often have the same dream. But it doesn't end with dreams. They are driven to know more about the Jesus who appeared to them, and seek out Bibles. You can't base your faith on dreams and visions and ignore the written Word of God. As best I can tell, the dreams decrease in frequency when a person matures in their faith. They also find a group to worship with, maybe an established Western church, but often small home groups where they can meet in safety. And within weeks or months, these same people are out evangelizing in a war zone or refugee camp.

I personally have never had a dream or vision of Jesus. I have to wonder why He chooses such a direct method of calling Muslims. Then again, I've had access to the Bible in English all my life, and the peace and safety to attend any church I want. And visions aren't the goal, they are only an introduction, then a Bible (in their native language), then a church. Muslims turned Christian can be called to martyrdom, and they are willing to suffer death for Jesus. You might say Jesus gives them a lot because He's going to ask a lot of them.

But what about [insert your pet doctrine here]? No church has perfect doctrine. The Muslims turned Christians are showing their faith by their works. As one woman said "They're turning away from Islam!!!! God can fix the rest!" None of the dreams retold by Garrison or Doyle contradicted scripture. Not much is said about specific teachings other than who is Jesus, baptism as a sign of conversion, receiving the Holy Spirit, and evangelizing. What is clear is that lives are changing for the better. Muslim lives. Millions of them. The fields are truly ripe for harvest, pray that He sends laborers.

References

1. http://www.religjournal.com/pdf/ijrr11010.pdf

2. http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/christian-trends/millions-of-muslims-converting-to-christ.html

3. https://www.amazon.com/Wind-House-Islam-Drawing-Muslims/dp/1939124034

4. http://www.operationworld.org/
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_World

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carey_(missionary)
7. http://www.thereligionofpeace.com
8. https://www.amazon.com/DREAMS-VISIONS-Jesus-Awakening-Muslim-ebook/dp/B0078FAA3M
9. https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Christians-Living-Faith-Believe/dp/0718030680

The Koran Points to Jesus Christ

I am not an expert on Islam or the Koran. I have not read the Koran. Until very recently, I had not read any of the Koran. Now I can say I have read a few verses. So why would I say that the Koran points to Jesus? Because it's not my idea, I got it from a former imam (Muslim priest) whose Western name is Mario Joseph. 

Mario gave an interview on Spanish TV which is available on Youtube [1]. A written transcript is available at CBCG.org [2]. He described his background -  his childhood, his family, and that he studied for ten years to become an imam. When someone asked him "who is Jesus?", he began to study the question. What he found from the pages of the Koran led him to the Bible. He has converted to Christianity.

What did he find in the Koran?

Let me present a summary of Mario's arguments.

Some background. The Koran, Islam's holy book, has 114 chapters, 6666 verses. Interestingly, Mohammed's name is found in only four places, but Jesus' name is found 25 places. No women's names are mentioned anywhere in the Koran, except Maryam, that is Mary, the mother of Jesus. She actually gets two whole chapters, chapter 3 "Family of Maryam" and chapter 19 "Maryam". The Koran asserts that Mary was sinless.

http://quran.com/3/42 [3]And [mention] when the angels said, "O Mary, indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds

And some Muslims believe in the Assumption of Mary, that is, they believe she went directly to heaven Wikipedia 'Mary In Islam' [4]. Mario lists ten points about Jesus based on Ch:3 45-55.

• Jesus is the "Word of God" 
• Jesus is the "Spirit of God"
• Jesus spoke at 2 days old
• Jesus made live bird from mud
• Jesus cured a man born blind
• Jesus cured a leper
• Jesus gave life to dead people
• Jesus went to heaven
• Jesus is still alive
• Jesus will come again

Quoting just two verses here.

http://quran.com/3/45 [5] [And mention] when the angels said, "O Mary, indeed Allah gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary - distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near [to Allah ]. 

http://quran.com/3/55 [5] [Mention] when Allah said, "O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve and make those who follow you [in submission to Allah alone] superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return, and I will judge between you concerning that in which you used to differ.

Then Mario says that Mohammed is not "Word of God" or the "Spirit of God". Mohammed is not alive and will not come back. So he asked his his teacher, "Teacher, how did God create the universe?" The teacher answered that he created the universe through the Word.

So then he asked his teacher, "Is the Word Creator or creation?" If the Word is creator, then Jesus is creator, then the Muslims must become Christian. If the Word is creation, how did God create the Word? Mario was confused and prayed for understanding. He believes this was his answer from the Koran, in his words, "If you have any doubt in this Koran, go read the Bible, or ask the people who read the Bible." 

http://quran.com/10/94 [6] So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.

The Bible also says Jesus is the Word of God, John 1:1. It also says Jesus gave them power to become children of God, John 1:12. But the Koran teaches people are slaves and Allah is master. The Koran says to fight with non believers in 18 places. It says to kill the one who rejects Islam. Mario concludes "To have eternal life, you need Jesus".

I applaud Mario for his courage in converting from Islam to Christianity, and for his wisdom in seeing through the Koran to the Bible. 

I don't agree with all his statements or theology. For example, the Koran may claim that Jesus spoke at two days old, but it is not recorded in the Bible. Likewise, making a live bird from mud, it's an interesting story. The other eight assertions are Biblical however, so maybe...

Later in the interview, he insists that Catholicism is the true form of Christianity. I think he may have gravitated to it because it had something familiar from Islam that he could retain, that is the veneration of Mary.  I would say that Mario has gone from worshiping the wrong God to worshiping God wrongly, a big step in the right direction. But we are all at different points on our journey.


His interview is worth watching, there is obviously more than I included here. You can also gauge his sincerity and conviction, especially when he speaks about miraculous events in his own life.
I found other Mario Joseph references on the Net like dangerous-road-from-imam-to-catholic-preacher [7]. 

According to Al-jazeerah [8], six million Muslims convert to Christianity every year, however CNN [9] says "little data is available on conversion, but what little there is suggests Islam loses as many adherents via conversion as it gains". David Garrison, author of "A Wind in the House of Islam" 
windinthehouse.org [10] said in an interview with World Magazine [11] that between 2 and 7 million Muslims have converted to Christianity in the last two decades. Whatever the exact number, many many Muslims are converting, some like Mario at great risk.

Most of this is happening in the Middle East and Africa, after all that's where most of the Muslims are. But someday you might be seated next to a former Muslim. Or you may be challenged to "give an answer for the hope that is in you" if a Muslim should ask "who is Jesus?"