25/06/87

Dear Mike,

Thank you for your letter of 22/06/87. You have failed to understand the arguments I raised.

Were does the Old Testament say that Messiah will come, be executed and return a second time?

I accept that God instituted mediators by means of the Kohanim, who were the priests, but Jesus wasn’t a high priest.

As I raised in my last letter, the saga of a "virgin birth", as per Isaiah 7:14 is impossible. Isaiah 7:14 uses the Hebrew word "alma". This means "a maid" or "a young girl". So how does Isaiah 7:14 support the "Virgin Birth" theory? If virgins gave birth to children, where is the man’s role in this world, and doesn’t it seem to contradict God’s purpose for mankind if virgins did give birth to children? Another point is that 7:14 says that the son’s name would be "Immanuel". Why did the people change it to Jesus?

Throughout the Tanakh [the Hebrew Bible] there is no reference to any man being asked to atone for mankind’s sins. The Torah states that one had to have animal sacrifices which had to be offered in the temple, so why should Jesus’ sacrifice be the "best quality"? If he, as Christians claim, was guiltless, why was he executed?

As to your question about my atonement for sins, it is due to the governments of the countries that we are in which prevents us from offering the sacrifices. If we were to do this we would be prosecuted under some Act of Parliament and probably be imprisoned for our religious beliefs!

I shall deal with your postscript briefly as you requested. There is a reference to the Messiah being "cut off" (Daniel 9:24-27) but only when he accomplished all that the Scriptures said he would, so why did Christians invent the "Second Coming"?

If Jesus is God, then explain who his father was (Matthew 27:46; John 20:17; 1 Cor 11:3 & Mark 13:32)?

I’ll deal with how we will recognise "Messiah" in my next letter. Meanwhile, perhaps you would explain to me why the ten prophecies I gave you haven’t been fulfilled yet.

Explain to me why Jesus was an Essene. This is something Christians refuse to accept!

If you would like to reiterate the questions you asked me in your next letter, then perhaps I’ll give you enough evidence to substantiate the points to your satisfaction.

Regards