.........
} TILL
} This prophecy-fulfillment claim has been refuted so thoroughly, so often,
} that only someone who has never even examined the literature on the subject
} would dare post it as just a three-line claim of prophecy fulfillment. The
} first problem with this "prophecy" is the obvious fact that the context in
} which it was spoken clearly shows that Isaiah intended it as a prophecy
} about a contemporary situation.
KATZ
As far as I know Mr. Till has had debates about Messianic prophecies with
Dr. James Price before. He might not have been convinced by that, but
it is not exactly honest that it is refuted thoroughly. There are
many scholars of Hebraic studies who see this differently.
} >10 Again Yahweh spoke to Ahaz, saying,
} >11 Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as
heaven.
} >12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put Yahweh to the test.
} >13 Then Isaiah said: "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for
} you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also?
} >14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman
} is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.
} When Ahaz said that he wouldn't test Yahweh by asking for a sign, Yahweh
} said that he would give one anyway. That sign was that a "young woman"
} would give birth to a son and call himself Immanuel. In a separate posting,
} I will address the issue of whether Isaiah was referring to a "virgin" or
} just a "young woman." For now, I want to focus on the obvious fact that
} this "prophecy" was made with reference to a situation that was contemporary
} with king Ahaz. It could not have been a "sign" to Ahaz if it applied to a
} child that wouldn't be born for 700+ more years.
KATZ
Which is obviously wrong. After Ahab refuses to ask for a sign, God turns
away from Ahab and then speaks to others about a sign of something else.
I am sick of the same arguments from the anti-supernaturalist arguments
of people who pretend that there are no answers. I have put up one article
and a link to the Journal article in Biblia Sacra on almah both of
which can now be found in my Bible commentary page at:
http://answering-islam.org/BibleCom/
as well as an article about the destruction of Tyre that has recently
been posted on the Christian newsgroup because that is another pet
passage of Mr. Till.
} In subsequent postings I will address the virgin/young woman issue and point
} out several other problems with the claim that this was a prediction of the
} birth of Jesus.
At least you could read the article in Biblia Sacra.
Jochen Katz