On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 18:01:15 -0600, Mark A. Foster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Gilberto, > > "For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be > encouraged ...." (I Corinthians 14:31)
> Paul's view of prophecy was, apparently, something in which all Christian > could > engage. In other words, he seems to have believed that *any* > Christian could be > a prophet. > At 02:55 PM 1/14/2005, Gilberto wrote: > >>I agree. This is one of the things which for me strongly indicates that > >>Christianity is more open to future prophets coming than Islam.<< Mark: > Well, we don't seem to agree on this point. I still contend that there is no > such thing as "prophets." There is only what Paul had in mind in a particular > case, what Muhammad had in mind in a particular case, and what one or more > writers of the Tanakh had in mind in a particular case. Gilberto: I think the philosophical approach you are taking here, while curious and intriguing, is something which I don't find convincing here. I think that it should be possible for us to come up with a reasonable definition of "prophet" such that a good number of Christians will allow for future prophets after Jesus but the typical Muslim will not allow for future prophets after Muhammad. > Clearly, Paul was referring to something entirely different than Muhammad. Yes. But that is besides the point. We can look behind the words and we still get the result that Muslims and Christians are saying different things about the possibility of future kinds of communication from God. Mark: Paul's epistles focused on his view of the routinization of charisma. A "prophet," to Paul, was one who prophesied; and Paul believed, and desired, that all Christians should prophesy. Gilberto: Not exactly. Consider 1 Corinthians 12 [4] Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; [5] and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; [6] and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. [7] To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. [8] To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, [9] to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, [10] to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. [11] All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. Not everyone was a prophet. Prophet is still a meaningful category. Mark: > Regardless of whether one equates Paul's view of a prophet with Muhammad's, > to Paul, prophecy takes place in the context of the Gospel of Christ. Paul's > christocentrism was unaffected. Gilberto: And what you are calling ethnocentrism I would probably call exclusivism (not finality) Mark: Unlike the qur'anic concept of prophecy, under Paul's system, no further "book" and law was revealed. IMO, that is the main difference. Gilberto: That would be alot more convincing if Paul didn't write more of the Bible than any other person, including Jesus. 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]
