Gilberto, At 05:19 PM 1/24/2005, you wrote: >>I guess one of the things which makes me say what I said, especially with >>regard to prophets is the notion of sinlessness.<<
However, sinlessness by what standard? Moses was allegedly called a murderer. Some Christians accuse Muhammad of having been a pedophile. Ultimately, all that matters is the divine standard relative to a particular place and moment in time. >>There are a couple of different reasons for this idea, but I think that one >>of them is that since God expects us to follow the prophets, the prophets are >>supposed to act in ways worthy of emulating. Somehow their good character >>helps us to recognize them.<< I did not accept Baha'u'llah based on His character. In fact, I knew next to nothing about Him when I became a Baha'i in 1970. For whatever *reason*, my heart responded to His claim, and I recognized His Station. However, in all honestly, I can't remember the last time I ever thought about Baha'u'llah's character. >>Otherwise, what criteria would you use to pick Bahaullah over David Koresh or >>Jim Jones or the Heaven's Gate people?<< As I said, I am not much of an apologist. However, IMO, one should accept the Soul and Spirit of the Prophet, not His historical personality (including His character, etc.). At least that is how I see it. Regards, Mark A. Foster � http://markfoster.net � [EMAIL PROTECTED] "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]
