Vaughn wrote: I think Baha'ullah taught that any of the Prophets could claim to be the "Seal of the Prophets".
<snipped> Even as He saith: "Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but He is the Messenger of God." Viewed in this light, they are all but Messengers of that ideal King, that unchangeable Essence. And were they all to proclaim, "I am the Seal of the Prophets," they, verily, utter but the truth, beyond the faintest shadow of doubt. For they are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one being, one revelation. They are all the manifestation of the "Beginning" and the "End," the "First" and the "Last," the "Seen" and the "Hidden" -- all of which pertain to Him Who is the Innermost Spirit of Spirits and Eternal Essence of Essences. ... Thus in moments in which these Essences of Being were deep immersed beneath the oceans of ancient and everlasting holiness, or when they soared to the loftiest summits of Divine mysteries, they claimed their utterances to be the Voice of Divinity, the Call of God Himself. (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 54-55) Dear Vaughn and Tim, I have a slightly different take on this... Each of the Manifestations of God have come to us in a "particular" station relevant to the Day in which they appear. Therefore, my feeling is that the "title" attributed to Muhammad distinguishes His "station". Granted, throughout the Revelation of Baha'u'llah we are continually reminded that all the Manifestations of God have revealed to us "Him Who is the Innermost Spirit of Spirits and Eternal Essence of Essences", through the instrument of the Holy Spirit. In this way they are "all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one being, one revelation" and can rightfully claim to have "been" any one of Those Who came before. As in this quote from the Iqan: "As to the matter of names, Muhammad, Himself, declared: "I am Jesus." He recognized the truth of the signs, prophecies, and words of Jesus, and testified that they were all of God. In this sense, neither the person of Jesus nor His writings hath differed from that of Muhammad and of His holy Book, inasmuch as both have championed the Cause of God, uttered His praise, and revealed His commandments." The Kit�b-i-�q�n, by Bah�'u'll�h, pp. 20-21 Lovingly, Sandra ---------- You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
