On Sun, 2 Jan 2005 15:19:21 -0800 (PST), John Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > G: 2. Muslims aren't necessarily "tying up the hands of God" by saying > prophethood is over. > J: But you do not accept the appearance of anyone on par with Prophet > Muhammad, i.e. Baha'u'llah, who revealed a brand new Qur'an equal to the > Qur'an you currently use, do you. In that respect, I believe that you are > "tying up the hands of God".
I disagree with how you are characterizing this but have discussed it to death and am not sure how else to explain it. > G: And aren't necessarily saying that God is silent > now. > > J: I will agree that on practical and real level, Islam does not silence > God. But you do not believe that a great revelation from God equal to the > revelation of the Qur'an is possible. On this level, Muslims do silence > God, don't they. See above. > > G: On the contrary, > there are many different other kinds of non-prophetic individuals who > are "sent" who function to guide, warn, revive, reform and inform > human beings after the prophet Muhammad. > > J: Again, they are not on par with Muhammad who revealed the Qur'an. > Baha'u'llah's writings are regarded as a re-appearance of the Qur'an. We do > still regard the Qur'an as scripture, it is still the word of God, but God > spoke again. These new writings may be considered as both add-ons to the > Qur'an and a re-revelation of the Qur'an. Why would the Quran need to be re-revealed if it is still here in its original form? In any case, some highly regarded texts among Muslims are things like Rumi's Mathnawi or works like Nahj al-Balagha (which Khazeh described as the brother to the Quran). > > G: 3. More generally, if you really look at Sufism and realize that it is > a living part of Islam, and really appreciate its function, then I > think it is alot harder for Bahais to make the case that Islam (in the > sense of following the Quran, and sunnah, and the Shariah conveyed by > Muhammad) is finished, or expired, or no longer relevant. > > > J: I think that the expiration of Islam has more to do with the will of > God. Christianity is still alive, and many new sects spring up and help > sustained the most technologically advanced and civilized society on earth > (the West). Does it mean that Islam is a big lie? I don't think so. I just see the situation you described very differently. I don't think that Western material advances in any way prove some kind of spiritual validity to Christianity. Firstly, Christianity is dying in Europe and is moving South. So I'm don't think "Western" and "Christian" really match up. Secondly, Western material advances seem pretty clearly related to exploiting resources from what is now the developing world during the "Age of Exploration" and then through colonization. And thirdly, while I think that is individuals and as movements Christians can certainly be good spiritual people who make positive contributions to the world, I think that true Christianity (in the sense of a living tradition which authentically preserves the original teachings of Jesus as opposed to the theological baggage that the Church put in his mouth) actually is "dead" and was broken along time ago. Peace Gilberto "My people are hydroponic" __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
