Prof Mark Foster said to my kind brother Gilberto:
> You don't think that the statement, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the
Life.
> No one comes to the Father except through Me," is the principal argument
> used by the fundamentalist and conservative evangelical websites against
> Islam? Mark Foster
Then Gilberto replied:
**But there the issue is exclusivity and the emphasis isn't on being
chronologically last.
Maybe its a fine distinction and I'm sounding nit-picky but I think it is a
real one.
For example, there are some Christian fundamentalists who are not just
saying that Jesus is the last in a long series of prophets, they are
actually saying that Jesus has always been the only way to salvation. That
even in Genesis in Eden when the Bible says that the seed of the woman will
crush the head of the serpent that this was a prophecy about Jesus. And that
the people of the Old Testament were saved because they believed in the
messianic prophecies about Jesus.
And that if people of other religions are saved, it will be because somehow
Jesus was able to save them even though they didn't necessarily know his
name.
So this is VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE MUSLIM "seal of the prophets" concept.
Christians are saying that Christ is the only way to salvation but they
allow for there to be prophets before and after Jesus.
Muslims aren't saying Muhammad is the only way to salvation, but Muhammad
*is* the last prophet.
Peace Gilberto**
I am in a sense not here because I should be here this weekend! But there
are dear Gilberto arguments on both aspects of the argument.
1] that Jesus Christ "is" also last chronologically and in terrestrial time
and on His Return He will bear the marks of the nails etc on His Blessed
Body [Corpus Christi]. And the Revelation of John says: Do not add anything.
And Matthew says I shall be with you to the end of time.
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
2] Conversely as His holiness Baha'u'llah explains in the Sacred Iqan, in
tones of lucidity and inexpressible beauty,:
**Likewise, from this statement it is made evident that the term "last" is
applicable to the "first," and the term "first" applicable to the "last;"
inasmuch as both the "first" and the "last" have risen to proclaim one and
the same Faith.
(Baha'u'llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Page: 161)**
It is admittedly obvious that being the "First of the Prophets," He likewise
is their "Seal."
(Baha'u'llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Page: 162)
The mystery of this theme hath, in this Dispensation, been a sore test unto
all mankind. Behold, how many are those who, clinging unto these words,
have disbelieved Him Who is their true Revealer. What, We ask, could this
people presume the terms "first" and "last" - when referring to God -
glorified be His Name! - to mean? If they maintain that these terms bear
reference to this material universe, how could it be possible, when the
visible order of things is still manifestly existing? Nay, in this
instance, by "first" is meant no other than the "last" and by "last" no
other than the "first."
(Baha'u'llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Pages: 162-163)
***This is why Ibn 'Abbas narrates saying that the Prophet said: "I WAS
PROPHET WHEN ADAM WAS BETWEEN SOUL AND BODY (I.E. WHEN ADAM'S CREATION WAS
IN ITS PRELIMINARY STAGES)" (AT-TABARANI, AL-MU'JJAM AL-KABIR; AL KHASA'IS
AL-KUBRA, VOL.1, p.4).***
Have to rush to work but I still beg/beseech/plead/with every one to re-read
the Iqan. I have done so again recently and it is a heavenly delight. I have
also re-read re-memorized sections of the Holy Qur'an...
Humbly prayerfully affectionately most hurriedly khazeh
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