kenpo tiger said:
Balderdash. David and Joseph as Christ figures? Yee gads. I've heard some pretty interesting interpretations of Biblical stories, but that's got to be the best so far.
KT,
"Christ" is Greek for "Anointed One" or "Messiah". I think the author on that page was trying to point to the connection between David, Joseph and Jesus by using the Greek term for "Messiah". His using the term "Christ" in describing David and Joseph has probably caught some Christians by surprise as well.
In looking this up I came a cross an interesting reference that outlines the different Jewish interpretations of the Messiah. Before any of you suggest this is O.T., remember that this is the main prophesy fulfillment alleged by Christians (and one I assume Parmandjack will get to). On this page below the Jewish messianic prophesies are discussed and the Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform views of the Messiah are given.
http://www.fact-index.com/j/je/jewish_messiah.html
Linking to this page (scroll to the bottom) gives the contrast between Jewish and Christian views of the Messiah:
http://www.fact-index.com/j/je/jesus_christ_as_the_messiah.html
This discusses how the Septuagint and Tanakh versions of the Hebrew scriptures have one passage in Isaiah (7:14) that list the Messiah's mother as being a virgin (Septuagint) or a young woman (Tanakh). Many of you, I know, are well aware of this discrepancy.
The Septuagint was a Greek translation of the scriptures and was not used by the Jewish community outside of Alexandria. Scholars believe the author of Matthew used the Septuagint in referencing his "prophecy" of the virgin birth of Jesus/Immanuel. The idea that Jesus was born of a virgin caught on.
The virgin birth concept was not new. Pagan religions up to that time used the idea rather freely. Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome, was born of the god Mars and the vestal virgin Sylvia. In Greek mythology the stories of Semele, Danae, Melanippe, Auge and Antiope all contained virgin birth narratives. Danae was impregnated by Zeus and via a shower of gold and gave birth to Perseus. Semele was impregnated by Zeus via a bolt of lightining and later gave birth to Dionysius. Augustus and Alexander also had virgin birth stories attached to them. Augustus was deified later in life, and according to Plutarch and others, Alexander was the son of God (Zeus...he DID get around, didn't he?)
Scipio Africanus, the Roman General who conquered Carthage, was said to be the son of God and a previously sterile mother. His mother apparently was not a virgin, but was impregnated by a god. This son of a god theme is fairly common in the ancient world, whether it was attended by virgin births or not. But back to the virgins, shall we?
The Egyptian god Horus was born of the virgin Isis (in a stable, no less). Phoenician mythology had Adonis being born of the virgin Myrrh. Mithra, of course, was supposedly conceived by God who entered a virgin in the form of light. Krishna was also said to have been born of a virgin. Mut-em-ua, the virgin queen of Egypt, gave birth to the man-god Amenkept III about 2,000 years BCE. She was impregnated by the god Kneph, who held a cross (the symbol for life) to her mouth. The Gautama Buddha and his followers never claimed he had a miraculous birth...but that legend grew after his death.
Celsus, a pagan critic of early Christianity, wrote around 178 CE that Christians were borrowing the idea of virgin birth from pagan religions. He wrote: "[a]fter all, the old myths of the greeks that attribute a divine birth to Perseus, Amphion, Aeacus and Minos are equally good evidence of their wondrous works. . . and are certainly no less lacking in plausibility than the stories [of the Gospels]"
http://members.aol.com/ps418/miracles.html
The site above also lists some other pagan parallels with Christianity.
Regards,
Steve
