Jesus is the Messiah who was prophecied in the Old Testament.

Some people do, some don’t; it’s often little more than personal preference. However, in this particular debate, I couldn’t really argue against your case before you made it, so here we are. I hope this will be an informative and enjoyable exchange. I am first going to address PRO’s main argument, and then I will give some examples that show that the Jesus character in the New Testament could not be the messiah foretold in the Old Testament. The Main Point I would like to begin by stating that I accept that all of the alleged prophesies PRO cites; I will not argue that they are too vague or otherwise not applicable. For the purposes of this debate, we will assume that they are actually prophesying about the expected messiah. I see that PRO is using the New Testament book of Matthew almost exclusively to demonstrate the fulfillment of these prophesies. (There is one reference to the 24th chapter of Luke, but PRO states “the entire prophecy was fulfilled…in Matthew. ”) I am going to discuss one of PRO’s alleged fulfillments directly, and then take on the veracity of the writings attributed to Matthew. Born in Bethlehem? PRO has made the claim that Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem. To support this, he cites the Book of Matthew which states that, “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea” [1]. However, how do we know this is true? There is debate among scholars and religious leaders as to where Jesus was born. Archaeologists have excavated Bethlehem and failed to find any evidence that it was a functioning town during the first century [2][3][4]. There is evidence of material dated as recently as the sixth century BC, as well as a great deal from the sixth century AD, but nothing at all from the first century [3]. In fact, the Pope Emeritus Benedict the XVI has written that it is unclear whether Jesus was born in Nazareth, Bethlehem in Judea or Bethlehem in Galilee [5]. So, if the town didn’t exist when Jesus was allegedly born, how could he have been born there? The Veracity of Matthew Most of PRO’s argument rests upon the account recorded in the New Testament book of Matthew. This writing is known to have been written approximately between the years of 80 and 90 [6][7], by an anonymous author [8][9]. It is also known to be largely a forgery from the Gospel of Mark [9][10]. So, we have an unknown individual, writing about events that allegedly took place before the writer was even born, and it is known that much of the writing was borrowed from at least one other source. This makes everything written in the Gospel of Matthew hearsay [11], which is not generally admissible in a court of law [12], nor in any real discussion of facts. Unless PRO can corroborate the hearsay in presented in the book of Matthew, with extra-biblical evidence, it can all be dismissed. Unfulfilled Prophesies Of course, let us not forget that there are numerous prophesies in the Old Testament that Jesus did not fulfill, demonstrating that he was not the messiah. I will list only a few: The messiah must be a descendant of King David. Since Jewish descent is determined patrilinearly [13][14], and Jesus is claimed to not have an earthly father, he cannot be a descendant of David, and therefore, cannot be the messiah. When the messiah comes, there will be universal knowledge of God [15][16]. This is clearly not the case [17][18][19]. When the messiah is ruling, he will gather all the Israelites back to Israel [20][21]. This has obviously not happened [22][23]. Since Jesus did not fulfill all of the prophesies regarding the expected messiah, he was clearly not the messiah. Wrapping Up I have demonstrated not only that there is not sufficient evidence to support the claim that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but also that the Gospel of Matthew is not a reliable source. Therefore, PRO has not yet demonstrated any of his claims. Also, I have provided three examples of prophesies Jesus did not fulfill, demonstrating that he is not the messiah mentioned in the Old Testament. I look forward to PRO’s comments in the following round. Sources: [1] . http://biblehub.com...[2] . http://archive.archaeology.org...[3] . http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com...[4] . http://www.cogwriter.com...[5] . http://newsfeed.time.com...[6] Aune, D. E. (2010). The Blackwell companion to the new testament. DeKalb, IL: John Wiley & Sons, p. 290. [7] . http://www.bc.edu...[8] . http://www.facingthechallenge.org...[9] . http://www.npr.org...[10] . http://web1.calbaptist.edu...[11] . http://www.merriam-webster.com...[12] . http://www.law.cornell.edu...[13] . http://www.jewsforjudaism.ca...[14] . http://biblehub.com...[15] . http://biblehub.com...[16] . http://biblehub.com...[17] . http://atheists.org...[18] . http://www.atheist-experience.com...[19] . http://www.debate.org...[20] . http://biblehub.com...[21] . http://biblehub.com...[22] . http://en.wikipedia.org...[23] . http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org...