As'salamu Alaikum,
The verses that you mentioned do not talk about fornication. Mary, peace and blessings be upon her,
was not married. The laws of adultery in the Bible would not have applied to her (assuming that she fornicated, which we Muslims totally reject). We know that in the Old Testament, - in the books that talk about the Jews' history, - just about every few pages there is mentioning of prostitutes.
The Bible traces Jesus to Joseph:
1- If he were a mere step-father, then this tracing is worthless, - proving that the Bible, as always, a corrupt book filled with men's alterations and rubbish. If you say it was a symbolic tracing, then at the very least, it would open the door wide open, to the Jews, for the possibility that Mary had Jesus from Joseph without marriage. Otherwise, why is Joseph so significant when he was not even related to Jesus? And why should the Jews accept him when their texts speak about an actual bloodline tracing to David?
(a)- If Jesus was not from the bloodline of Joseph, then he was not from the blood line of David, since the Bible traced him from Abraham to David to Joseph. If this was a fundamental condition for the truthfulness of the Messiah, then Jesus was not a legitimate Messiah, since he was not from the bloodline of David. We are all from Adam,
but we not all from Abraham nor David. Same applies to Jesus.
2- If Joseph was the biological father of Jesus, then Jesus was
either a bastard or was born from a legitimate marriage.
3- The text in the beginning of Matthew is open to interpretation due to its vagueness.
Therefore, the Christians who praised Islam for cementing the virgin birth belief were correct. Islam did indeed cement the virgin birth:
www.answering-christianity.com/trinity_crucified.htmResurrected Zombies:Otherwise, it would've been a doubtful account full of holes like many others, such as the
many that resurrected after Jesus' resurrection, yet, not a single name was ever mentioned, nor a single historical account
ever documented from any of them. These people had families, friends, neighbors and tribes. So their event would've immediately spread throughout Palestine and all of the lands near by, especially that they were Godly believers; good people who were renowned and revered by their people. Yet, not a shred of any historical account, except in one lone pathetic verse in the Bible,
Matthew 27:51-53, mentioning this what supposed to be a big event.
Matthew 27:51-53 (CEV)
51 At once the curtain in the temple[a] was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, and rocks split apart.
52 Graves opened, and many of God’s people were raised to life.
53 Then after Jesus had risen to life, they came out of their graves and went into the holy city, where they were seen by many people.This account is very weak even in the Bible. No where else besides Matthew 27:52 is it mentioned. And no account or witness outside the Bible ever mentioned them. Just an empty assertion that exists in the book of empty assertions, the Bible.
I hope this helps, insha'Allah.
Take care,
Osama Abdallah