My Thoughts On Islam

[DeistPaladin]

What you said about John the Baptist is not entirely true. John was six months older than Jesus, and accordingly began his ministry before Jesus, however he is not the "forerunner" to Jesus. His ministry was quite different, however his messianic message is what was important.

First of all, can we nail down in scripture that John the Baptist was six months older? Because I read Luke which states that:

Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
Luke 1:24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, ...
Luke 1:26-27 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
Luke 1:41-42 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Ah, it seems you're right that John the Baptist was conceived six months before Jesus' conception so I guess that would mean... oh wait, we have to judge that by when they were born.

Luke 2:1-2 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
Luke 2:5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

King Herod the Great died in 4 BCE, somewhere around late March or early April. Cyrenius or Quirinius came to be governor of Syria around 6 CE.

Therefore, Mary's pregnancy with Jesus lasted 10 years. So John the Baptist was 10 years older than Jesus.

As for the issue of being a forerunner, what do you make of these verses:

John 1:20-27 And he (John the Baptist) confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. ...He said,I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. ...John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose

This seems clear to me. John is taking an extremely submissive role to Jesus, that he is the warm-up act for the main event to come.