On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 08:00:38 -0600, Mark A. Foster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Gilberto,
[I am the way the truth and the life...etc] > > At 03:07 AM 1/13/2005, you wrote: > >>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.<< > Mark: > I don't think the emphasis is especially relevant. Christian particularism or > exclusivism presumes that Jesus (and, in some Christianities, Paul) completed > the biblical canon. Gilberto: No. The Christian New Testament was finished (and presumably started) well after Jesus earthly ministry. Bible-believing Christians necessarily have to accept that revelation comes after Jesus. And there is no clear Biblical statement that Paul completed the canon. The canon came out of a loose consensus among the church on a particular body of texts. In the inital stages there was some variation. The Ethiopian Orthodox Bible has a slightly different New Testament for instance. The Bible came out of a very human mediated process. There is no sense that God decisively closed the canon and said this is the end of revelation. In the case of the Quran and Islam, there *is* that sense. In fact, the Bahai writings are more fixed, and closed and rigid than the Bible is for Christians. It's obvious that there are no more Bahai writings coming. Mark: > Functionally, I see very little difference between conservative evangelical > and fundamentalist christologies (especially premillennial dispensationalism) > and Islamic concepts about Muhammad being the final Prophet. Both centralize > authority around the teachings, statements, or revelations of a particular > Person. The Bible specifically sees prophethood as an ongoing part of the Church. The Bible specifically mentions prophets after Jesus The Bible speciflcally talks about a general phemona of prophesy continuing in the future. The analagous claims can't be made about Islam. > >>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 is very much a minority position among conservative Protestants. It is > mostly found among Calvinists. No. Even the Catholic Church teaches that ultimately Jesus is the only way. That's why for them Jesus went to "hell" to preach to those who had died before he had come in the flesh. > >>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.<< > That is soteriological inclusivism, which is a minority position among > conservative evangelical and fundamentalist Protestants. Isn't it also part of the Catholic view. EVERYONE, and they mean, EVERYONE is saved through what Jesus did on the cross. Whether they know it or not. > > >>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.<< > Yes, but those prophets, like the caliphs and imams, are > expected to be christocentric (or qur'anicentric). But in what sense? Sometimes the connection is quite tenuous. Especially in the Old Testament days it may just have involved a minimal belief in the barest outlines of messianic prophecy. Peace Gilberto "My people are hydroponic" __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] 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:[email protected] 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/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
