Gilberto, At 09:56 PM 1/14/2005, you wrote: >>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.<<
I prefer not to construct such broad (macro) definitions. In my experience, they are rarely productive, and they tend to dilute the various concepts pointed to by the words. In any event, I think I made a pretty good case for the differences between the Pauline and the qur'anic views of "prophet." To Paul, all Christians can be prophets and prophesy. >>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.<< Sufis do not believe in "the possibility of future kinds of communication from God"? >>Not exactly. Consider 1 Corinthians 12<< Paul is emphasizing that it is the prerogative of the Holy Spirit how it is manifested and by whom. However, he also said: "For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged ...." (I Corinthians 14:31) >>Not everyone was a prophet. Prophet is still a meaningful category.<< My impression is that Paul regarded a "prophet" as a category of manifestation, not as a category of persons. >>And what you are calling ethnocentrism I would probably call exclusivism (not >>finality)<< I said christocentrism (not ethnocentrism). However, in terms of finality: http://www.raptureready.com/resource/hunt/dh15.html http://www.bibleviews.com/NTFinality.html http://www.faithalone.org/journal/bookreviews/pinnock.htm There are seemingly countless others which address similar topics. >>That would be alot more convincing if Paul didn't write more of the Bible >>than any other person, including Jesus.<< So are you saying that you regard Paul as a Prophet and Messenger? With regards, Mark A. Foster � 15 Sites: http://markfoster.net "Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger" -- Abbie Hoffman __________________________________________________ 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]
