>Dave: The full revelation of God's glory is beyond human understanding.
>Gilberto: Depending on exactly what you meant, I think I would agree to that. Dave: I'm not sure how I could have put it any plainer. >Dave: Different eras and cultures have had different spiritual needs, >Gilberto: What different spiritual needs? I'm not sure I'm the person to ask...but then, I did make the statement, didn't I. Perhaps I should have said that different cultures need to have universal ideas expressed to them in unique ways. Several ways that differing spiritual needs have manifested themselves occur to me: the obsession with immortality leading to mummification in ancient Egypt; the need for propitiation of bloodthirsty gods manifesting in human sacrifice; extreme self-denial, flagellation, etc.; the building of huge cathedrals; the building of no houses of worship whatsoever. I don't actually think the essential spiritual needs of humans have changed all that much over time. But cultural parameters have created vast differences in the ways those needs are met. >Gilberto: Yes. People were spoken to in a way understandable to them. [14.4] And We did not send any apostle but with the language of his people, so that he might explain to them clearly; then Allah makes whom He pleases err and He guides whom He pleases and He is the Mighty, the Wise. Why would God cause anyone to err? The Bible says that God does not tempt anyone. >Gilberto: I'm not sure that Perennialists are saying that there is a "one-size-fits-all" religion. Well, fundamentalist Christians certainly subscribe to that notion, and I'm not sure they're the only ones. >Gilberto: They do seem to be saying that many different religions have an underlying unity. Isn't that pretty obvious? >Gilberto: I would add that as far as the major religions go, I think that individuals within each tradition would have the capacity to look at the bigger picture while still being faithful to their own traditions. Up to a point. But if one accepts the idea of progressive revelation, then one would have an incentive to dig deeper than the offerings of any one religion. The Bah�'� view, as I understand it, is that each religion contains essential gems of divine revelation, while the revelation of Bah�'u'll�h ties these various threads together into a unified whole, which could not be accepted by the world until it reached a certain stage of maturity. Dave Lambert www.vintagerr.com __________________________________________________ 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]
