On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 12:35:26 -0800, Ronald Stephens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Mark, I was a Christian. There is no doubt in may mind than you are right on > this. To a Christian, who > reads his Bible the same way as a Baha'i reads > our Writings, then
> "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except > through Me," means that > any "way" or "religion" or "prophet" or "Manifestation" that comes after > Jesus Christ is false and not of > God. I realize that people may not believe me or think I'm being nitpicky but it doesn't particularly bother me. Here is one reason why I think there is a difference between the above passage and the Islamic doctrine of finality of prophethood. Christians who focus on the above phrase "no one comes to the father except through me" tend to be exclusivists. They believe that in all of history, Jesus, in some form or another, is the only way to God. Past, Present, or future. Jesus is the only way. There are Christians who read the Old Testament and even see Jesus present back then, in the messianic prophecies, as the fourth person in the fiery furnace, as melchizadek, etc. For them, there can be prophets before Jesus earthly ministry. There can be prophets after Jesus' earthly ministry. But still, for them Jesus is the only way. Constrast that with Islam. Islam says that Muhammad is the last prophet (recipient of revelation comissioned to tell other people). So there are no more prophets coming. But Islam doesn't insist, as Christianity that Muhammad (saaws) is the only way to God. The Quran says that the believers, the Jews, the Christians, the Sabians... ANYONE who believes in God, the Last Day and does righteous deeds, will surely meet with their reward. They have no reason to fear and neither will they grieve. So you can believe that prophethood is over, but still recognize that there are multiple ways to God. Or you can believe like the Christians that prophethood continues, but Jesus is the only way to God. The point I would also want to add is that just because a community might say that prophethood continues, that doesn't automatically make them open-minded. > > Let's face it, we can discuss this stuff for centuries, but it all comes down > to this. To anyone who reads the Bible the way we Baha'is read our Writings, > then Islam is false. To anyone who reads the Quran the way we Baha'is read > our Writings, it is clear that Baha'u'llah is false. It can be no other way. > Believing in the literal inerrancy of religious writings guarantees this. It > is a form of Idolatry. I think that literalism is a seperate concern from simply believing that the scriptures are true. I'm not insisting that everything in the Quran be read literally. But if you start with the Quran and sunnah I think it has certain implications about other religions. 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]
