Assalam alykam here is a question i asked a Jew
did the disciples believe Jesus was God???
he replied
"did the disciples of Jesus believe that Jesus is the creator and that the Messiah is God in the flesh?", the answer is : absolutely not. They were all Jews who believed that Jesus was a God-inspired teacher whose teaching was 100% consistent with Torah and whose teaching would help Israel and the world follow God's commandments so that God's Kingdom could become a reality.
You also said : "Us Muslims say he is the word of God or the spirit from God. Some Christians say that some Jews believe this..
can you tell me where they got this concept of Jesus being God ??" Our answer on this is as follows:
- We didn't know that Muslims believe that Jesus is "the word of God or the spirit from God". For sure Muslims believe that Jesus was NOT God.
- Judaism believes that God can manifest in many ways (remember when God showed Himself to Abraham as one of the three visitors before the destruction of Sdom and Gmorrah?, or when God appeared like a angel who wrestled with Jacob and dislocated Jacob's hip? or when God appeared to Moses like a voice from a burning bush?). BUT Jews are not allowed to approach God thru any type of manifestation, even if that was a actual true manifestation of God. So even if God appears to Moses as a burning bush, Jews are forbidden to think of God as a burning bush. Or if God appears to Abraham as a visitor, Jews are forbidden to think of God as a human. Jews likewise don't have a problem believing a Hindu if a Hindu says that God manifested to him as a person called Krishna. And Jews don't have a problem believe a Christian if the Christian says that God manifested to him thru the human called Jesus. After all, if God manifested as a burning bush or a angel wrestling Jacob or a visitor to Abraham, why couldn't God manifest as other things to other people ? BUT Jews are not allowed to think of God by depicting any manifestation that God may have appeared under. After all those were just manifestations. Jews, like Muslims, are required to reach out to God without using or depicting anything created. That may be ok for Hindus to reach out to God thru Krishna, or for Christians to reach out to God thru Jesus. But it's not ok for Jews or Muslims.
- Regarding, "where did Christians get the concept of Jesus being a manifestation of God?". The answer is: from two places: (a) Platonism, and (b) Greek and Persian Mithology.
In Platonism, Plato correctly says that God is the creator of EVERYTHING, and therefore God can not be anything of this world. For example, one can not say "God is generous" because invented Generosity and can not be limited by that. All you can say is "God has been generous to me", but you can not limit God by saying that God is this or that. So then Plato asks this question: "If God is nothing of this world, then how is it that God can influence the world without being "in" the world?". Plato answered this question as follows: "God has a Tool that He uses to influence things in the created world. This Tool allows God to stay removed from things created, while still being able to influence creation. Plato called this Tool : Logos/Word. In other words, God says or thinks something and that "word" or "thought" enters the world and becomes a created thing and influences the world. Then Christianity simply said "Ah, Christ is the Word, yes the Word made Flesh.".
And how did that Word-made-flesh get born? That they took from Hercules and Mithras.
Finally, you asked: "what does Messiah mean i know it means anointed but is there any other meaning". We're not aware of any other meaning. Although you should look into the difference between "Moshiah" and "Mashiah". One is annointed and one is savior. The Torah uses both terms. Some of that may have also caused confusion in Christianity regarding the Annointed possibly also being a Savior. (But Torah tells us that Only God Saves. Annointed is a servant of God, and only God Saves.).
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