Dear friends
I was interested in your thoughts on a question of Baha'i and also Biblical
Studies.
In the Writings of the Faith the "Oneness" of the Prophets of God is very
often a fundamental teaching.
Consider two instances for example:
one most famous Divine Passage
Praise be to Thee, O Lord My God, for the wondrous revelations of Thy
inscrutable decree and the manifold woes and trials Thou hast destined for
Myself. At one time Thou didst deliver Me [*Abraham*]into the hands of
Nimrod; at another Thou hast allowed Pharaoh's rod to persecute Me
[*Moses*]. Thou, alone, canst estimate, through Thine all-encompassing
knowledge and the operation of Thy Will, the incalculable afflictions I have
suffered at their hands. Again Thou didst cast Me [*Joseph*] into the
prison-cell of the ungodly, for no reason except that I was moved to whisper
into the ears of the well-favored denizens of Thy Kingdom an intimation of
the vision with which Thou hadst, through Thy knowledge, inspired Me, and
revealed to Me its meaning through the potency of Thy might. And again Thou
didst decree that I [*John the Baptist*] be beheaded by the sword of the
infidel. Again I [*Jesus Christ*]was crucified for having unveiled to men's
eyes the hidden gems of Thy glorious unity, for having revealed to them the
wondrous signs of Thy sovereign and everlasting power. How bitter the
humiliations heaped upon Me, in a subsequent age, on the plain of Karbila
[*the Imam H.usayn*]! How lonely did I feel amidst Thy people! To what a
state of helplessness I was reduced in that land! Unsatisfied with such
indignities, My persecutors decapitated Me [*the Imam H.usayn*], and,
carrying aloft My head from land to land paraded it before the gaze of the
unbelieving multitude, and deposited it on the seats of the perverse and
faithless. In a later age, I [*the Bab*] was suspended, and My breast was
made a target to the darts of the malicious cruelty of My foes. My limbs
were riddled with bullets, and My body was torn asunder. Finally
[*Baha'u'llah HimSelf**], behold how, in this Day, My treacherous enemies
have leagued themselves against Me, and are continually plotting to instill
the venom of hate and malice into the souls of Thy servants. With all their
might they are scheming to accomplish their purpose.... Grievous as is My
plight, O God, My Well-Beloved, I render thanks unto Thee, and My Spirit is
grateful for whatsoever hath befallen me in the path of Thy good-pleasure.
I am well pleased with that which Thou didst ordain for Me, and welcome,
however calamitous, the pains and sorrows I am made to suffer.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, Pages: 88-90)
brackets added by this lowly one for the point I am asking about:
and the other exemplary Passage:
****
The successive Founders of all past Religions Who, from time immemorial,
have shed, with ever-increasing intensity, the splendor of one common
Revelation at the various stages which have marked the advance of mankind
towards maturity may thus, in a sense, be regarded as preliminary
Manifestations, anticipating and paving the way for the advent of that Day
of Days when the whole earth will have fructified and the tree of humanity
will have yielded its destined fruit.
Incontrovertible as is this truth, its challenging character should
never be allowed to obscure the purpose, or distort the principle,
underlying the utterances of Baha'u'llah - utterances that have established
for all time the absolute oneness of all the Prophets, Himself included,
whether belonging to the past or to the future. Though the mission of the
Prophets preceding Baha'u'llah may be viewed in that light, though the
measure of Divine Revelation with which each has been entrusted must, as a
result of this process of evolution, necessarily differ, their common
origin, their essential unity, their identity of purpose, should at no time
and under no circumstances be misapprehended or denied. That all the
Messengers of God should be regarded as "abiding in the same Tabernacle,
soaring in the same Heaven, seated upon the same Throne, uttering the same
Speech, and proclaiming the same Faith" must, however much we may extol the
measure of Divine Revelation vouchsafed to mankind at this crowning stage of
its evolution, remain the unalterable foundation and central tenet of Baha'i
belief. Any variations in the splendor which each of these Manifestations
of the Light of God has shed upon the world should be ascribed not to any
inherent superiority involved in the essential character of any one of them,
but rather to the progressive capacity, the ever-increasing spiritual
receptiveness, which mankind, in its progress towards maturity, has
invariably manifested.
(Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Baha'u'llah, Page: 166)
***
NOW my question is this. When you read St John's Gospel you see an emphatic
statement that John the Baptist **was not** the Light
Is this because the Evangelist writing the Gospel wished to powerfully
invite the followers of the Baptizer to turn to Jesus Christ?
What was the reason for this apparently strong assertion in the Prologue?
***
John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men
through him might believe.
8 ***He was not that Light***, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the ***true*** Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into
the world. ***
Does Acts throw any "light" on this?
Acts 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of
repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which
should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
This servant will post this question to Bahai Biblical Studies List too as I
know there are many Bible Scholars there too
The Bahá'í community will go on contributing in every way possible to
efforts toward global unification and social betterment, but such
contributions are **secondary** to its purpose. Its **purpose** is to assist
the people of the world to open their minds and hearts to the one Power that
can fulfil their ultimate longing. There are none, except those who have
themselves awakened to the Revelation of God, who can bring this help.
(Commissioned by The Universal House of Justice, Century of Light, p. 144)
most humbly and sincerely
khazeh
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