Re: Christian Rejection of Islam - was [Responding with affection. Recalling 6:154 as well as 6:38] adding Biblic...

2005-01-10 Thread John Smith
"We did not leave anything out of this Book, then all will be gathered before their Lord [for judgement]. (Qur'an 6:38)" G: I don't think it gives positive support, they aren't even mentioned or implied. And in order to harmonize it you have to qualify "anything" to a certain degree... ...that's

RE: Past Revelations

2005-01-09 Thread John Smith
IMO, Baha'i soteriology is both particularist and inclusivist. That is because the particularity of the Baha'i primary sources admit the possibility of redemption for those who are not Baha'is. It is difficult to make a similar case, although some have tried, from the texts incorporated into the

RE: Past Revelations

2005-01-09 Thread John Smith
Mark: IMO, Baha'i soteriology is both particularist and inclusivist. That is because the particularity of the Baha'i primary sources admit the possibility of redemption for those who are not Baha'is. It is difficult to make a similar case, although some have tried, from the texts incorporated

Authentic Holy Qur'an Majid

2005-01-09 Thread John Smith
Gilberto, Khazeh, Mark, Susan, et al., How long after the passing of the Prophet was the Authentic Holy Qur'an compiled? Thanks. Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. __ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as:

Re: Responding with affection. Recalling 6:154 as well as 6:38] adding Biblical matters

2005-01-09 Thread John Smith
Based on Khazeh and Mark's comments, I've summarized them, in my view of course,below. No disrespect or exclusivism or superiority is intended. - "We did not leave anything out of this Book, then all will be gathered before their Lord [for judgement]. (Qur'an 6:38)" This statement emphasizes

Re: Responding with affection. Recalling 6:154 as well as 6:38] adding Biblical matters

2005-01-09 Thread John Smith
"We did not leave anything out of this Book, then all will be gathered before their Lord [for judgement]. (Qur'an 6:38)" This statement emphasizes that the gathering of the Lord will come about after the revelation of this Book, the Qur'an. This verse is in complete harmony with Baha'i view,

Re: Bahai jihad? Re: Men and Women equal?

2005-01-08 Thread John Smith
Mark, At any rate, thanks for the correct. In fact, I don't disagree with what you are saying. My statement did make some unjustified leaps and assumptions. Let me restate what I really mean. Remember, we are not talking about this or thatschool in Islam. Aren't we talking about Gilberto's

Re: Responding with affection was [RE: Past Revelations]

2005-01-08 Thread John Smith
Gilberto: I would say that in a real way there isa huge amount of content already contained in even just "La ilaha illaAllah" (No god but God) "and the rest is commentary" so even juststicking to the Quran is huge amount of fleshing out and unpacking.Alot more unpacking with details and examples

Re: Responding with affection was [RE: Past Revelations]

2005-01-08 Thread John Smith
Gilberto: It doesn't seem to make sense to think that Muhammad was omniscient but then held back important spiritual truths from the ummah. The Quran doesn't suggest it. John: It is explained by the Qur'an as the Qiyamah, Surah 75. "1. I swear by the Day of Resurrection; 2. And I swear by the

Re: Responding with affection was [RE: Past Revelations]

2005-01-08 Thread John Smith
John: It is explained by the Qur'an as the Qiyamah, Surah 75. Gilberto: Could you specifically point to which verse you have in mind and howit points to what we are talking about? John: What I meant wasthat there are things that will take placeduringQiyamah thatare beyond the

Re: Responding with affection was [RE: Past Revelations]

2005-01-08 Thread John Smith
G: Could you specifically point to which verse you have in mind and howit points to what we are talking about? J: (1) On Al-Qiyamatu'l Udhma, the Great Resurrection, God will say things and answer questions that are not in the Qur'an: [2:210] : Will they wait until Allah comes to them in

Re: The 5 questions of yesterday [was Re: God's Hand [Q: 5:64], God's Mashiyy...

2005-01-07 Thread John Smith
What is the total number of Baha'is who do not accept the Universal House of Justice combined, something less than 5,000, right?[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 1/7/2005 2:38:36 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I wouldn't call the game before its all over. Think

Re: The 5 questions of yesterday [was Re: God's Hand [Q: 5:64], God's Mashiyy...

2005-01-07 Thread John Smith
G: There have always beendifferences in opinion and understanding. Diferent individuals willalmost invariably see things from different perspectives. That's justa feature of being human. And since Bahais are human ... J: Very true. And the Baha'i Faith promotes diversity of opinion and

Re: The 5 questions of yesterday [was Re: God's Hand [Q: 5:64], God's Mashiyy...

2005-01-07 Thread John Smith
G: But the divisions inProtestantism still seems like it would be problematic for allChristians in general. J: Why do you say that? __Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

Re: The Imam 'Ali Quotations from His Sermons compared with Mafatih al-Jinan

2005-01-07 Thread John Smith
G: I think certain kinds of discussions are bad for me for various reasons. J: Which ones are you refering to? Do you Yahoo!? The all-new My Yahoo! – Get yours free! __ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as:

Re: Past Revelations

2005-01-07 Thread John Smith
G: In my opinion to believe otherwise [Prophethood continues]means you aren't really taking the texts or the record seriously. J: IfBaha'is **didn't** take the Prophet as the Seal seriously, then Baha'u'llah would **not**have the legitimacy to make the claims that He did. In other words, the

Re: Past Revelations

2005-01-07 Thread John Smith
G: But what I'm wondering about is if there is something genuinely newthat can't be attained through Islam? Why not just try to be adeepened Muslim? Here are some in my view: 1. The Covenant of Baha'u'llah naming Abdu'l-Baha as successor, thus ensuring perservation of its Unity and doctrinal

Re: Past Revelations

2005-01-07 Thread John Smith
G: But what I'm wondering about is if there is something genuinely newthat can't be attained through Islam? Why not just try to be adeepened Muslim? Here is another: 8. Baha'u'llah's body of Sacred Scripture(i.e. = Qur'an, not = Hadith), ismore voluminous and covers a wider scope than in any

Re: Baha'u'llah Brought the Day of Judgement

2005-01-06 Thread John Smith
G: Originally I thought we were talking about the doctrine of abrogation(the idea that some laws in the Quran abrogate and replace other lawsin the Quran). The way most people describe the doctrine it impliesthat there are commandments written in the Quran, which have been readfor centuries,

Re: Baha'u'llah Brought the Day of Judgement

2005-01-06 Thread John Smith
G: Yes, that's what I would say. But a common belief among Muslims is*slightly* different in the sense that certain verses are thought toabrogate certain other ones. J: So you disagree with that common Muslim belief.G: I thought the Bahai belief was that the Quran was abrogated a littlesooner

Re: God's Hand [Q: 5:64], God's Mashiyyat [Will Q:13:39] and two commentaries by the Imam Ja'far S.aadiq [PBUH]

2005-01-06 Thread John Smith
G: When I think of "spirituality" I mean things like the above. Wisdom,compassionate, unselfishness, integrity, patience, modesty. Charactertraits which make sense independently of any particular confessionalcommunity. When I see a deep devout Christian I think I try toappreciate those good

Re: God's Hand [Q: 5:64], God's Mashiyyat [Will Q:13:39] and two commentaries by the Imam Ja'far S.aadiq [PBUH]

2005-01-06 Thread John Smith
G: If we had the Gospel in front of us in the same sense that the Quran is in front of us, and if there were any differences, then Muslims could agree with you. But it isn't clear what the exact relationship is between the Gospel which was revealed and the New Testament. J: I rationalize the

Re: The 5 questions of yesterday [was Re: God's Hand [Q: 5:64], God's Mashiyyat [Will Q:13:39] and two commentaries by the Imam Ja'far S.aadiq [PBUH]

2005-01-06 Thread John Smith
G: I wish you hadn't claimed this and tried to make it into some kind ofargument. J:Look at thestatement "Because of the absence of the written most binding and unassailable Covenant"beforethe recounting of the strife. The pointis that Muhammad did not have a written will wherein he named a

Qur'anic Proof for Ali ibn Abi Talib ??

2005-01-06 Thread John Smith
I'm no expert, but where does it say exactly that Ali ibn Abi Talib is the successor of Prophet Muhammad pbuh? From http://mozcom.com/~habib/islamstu.htm(first hit on google) **Quote** To prove the caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Shi'ites have had recourse to Quranic verses, including the

Re: God's Hand [Q: 5:64], God's Mashiyyat [Will Q:13:39] and two commentaries by the Imam Ja'far S.aadiq [PBUH]

2005-01-06 Thread John Smith
G: I think if Jesus really was God, then it should always be appropriateto recognize the fact that he was God. If Jesus really isn't God, thenit should never be appropriate to say Jesus is God. J:It explained as follows in the Tablet to Jamal-i Burujirdi by Baha'u'llah, provisionally translated

Re: The Perfect Man

2005-01-05 Thread John Smith
G: Saying God CAN'T do something is "tying up his hands"Saying God CAN do something but in his sovereign authority andomnipotence chose to do something different is not "typing up hishands" J: The statement "tying up his hands" would only make sense if you believe that Baha'u'llah is true.

Re: The Perfect Man

2005-01-05 Thread John Smith
G:"The effort made by men to reconcile the Word of God with the views of their leades is a wasted effort. Rather man must cast all aside save the Word of God." I'm a little puzzled by what you are saying. Because it seems to methat the Bahai faith has a more narrowly defined set of leaders which

Re: The Perfect Man

2005-01-05 Thread John Smith
To me, and *practically* speaking,believing that the Qur'an is the Word of God is entirely different from following it. I as a Baha'i do not *follow* the Qur'an. I do not observe its laws, say its prayers, etc. etc. I follow Baha'u'llah, observe His laws, say His prayers. I do agree, that

Re: God's Hand [Q: 5:64], God's Mashiyyat [Will Q:13:39] and two commentaries by the Imam Ja'far S.aadiq [PBUH]

2005-01-05 Thread John Smith
(I was hesitant about sending this email, but sinceGodgave me fingersto write it, I will send it out.) G: But if Bahaullah said "weigh not the book..." it gives me theimpression of asking the reader NOT to hold the Bahai writings up tocertain kinds of scrutiny and that tends to inspire

RE: God's Hand [Q: 5:64], God's Mashiyyat [Will Q:13:39] and two commentaries by the Imam Ja'far S.aadiq [PBUH]

2005-01-05 Thread John Smith
Khazeh, These are excerpts from your email that I really like. I have comments against them: According to Bahá'u'lláh, all of the Manifestations of God have the same metaphysical nature and the same spiritual stature. There is absolute equality among Them. No one of Them is superior to another. J:

RE: COVENANT of the Prophets [Sura 3 verse 81] was [RE: Perennialism]

2005-01-02 Thread John Smith
of yours isinfluenced [or hopes to be influenced by the Advice of the Universal Houseof Justice]With genuine gratitude to you dear John Smith your humble aspiring servantkf**Baha'u'llah warns us that "the tongue is a smouldering fire, and excess ofspeech a deadly poison." "Material

Re: Questions about Omniscience and related matters

2004-12-29 Thread John Smith
Hi Ron, But Abdu'l-Baha is not omniscient at will. To me, He did not know english that well. If you ask, why did Baha'u'llah not speakwith Browne in English, it is because he didn't know English. Does this make senseif He is omniscient at will? I think it does because I can argue that he did not

Re: Perennial Bab?

2004-12-28 Thread John Smith
Sandra, Taking Gilberto's side on this, how do we explain that there is a need for a new revelation if Islam (given than the writings in the Hadith and Qur'an are accurate) is already here, and as Gilberto has shown us, there are many teaching already in Islam that we Baha'is claim to be unique

Re: Bahai jihad? Re: Men and Women equal?

2004-12-28 Thread John Smith
G: And so if you should me a religion which issuitable for the spiritual needs of people from different cultures andcivilizations from 622-or-so to 1844 then it should be universalenough to deal with human beings today. J: Unless there is something fundamentally different today (that started in

Re: Bahai jihad? Re: Men and Women equal?

2004-12-28 Thread John Smith
G: You said that if Ali had been accepted, Islam might have continued as a valid religion. J: I do not agree with this because even though the Baha'i faith is not 'to be followed by night', we are promised another revelation about 1000 years after

Re: Questions about Omniscience and related matters

2004-12-28 Thread John Smith
Ronald, Thanks for there questions. I have thought about many of these myself ! Ronald Stephens [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dr. Maneck, I understand that you and many others on this List, and many Baha’i scholars and Administrators believe in Omniscience at Will, Omnipotence at Will, and other

RE: Bahai jihad? Re: Men and Women equal?

2004-12-27 Thread John Smith
Ido not believe we shouldfocus on the failures of Islam (see below); instead, it is a simple matter of the fact that the revelation (of Muhammad/Qur'an/Islam proper) has come to an end, even though theeternal in thepast and futureIslam is re-revealed in the form of Baha'u'llah and His various

Re: Past Revelations

2004-12-27 Thread John Smith
I think that for a lot of people, if you say that their religion is finished and its force is spent, that would tend to contraadict and overwhelm the claim that you are praising those revelations. Your view does not makes sense to me because the Qur'an praises Jesus even though it is (in most

Re: Past Revelations

2004-12-27 Thread John Smith
G: But again, the question remains, in what sense has the fasting in Ramadan become an empty ritual which has been fulfilled in the Bab. Are you saying that literally the Bab makes Muslims (ordinary sense) better Muslims? JS: Yes, I think that the implication is that in some miraculous way

Re: Perennial Bab?

2004-12-27 Thread John Smith
G: But why would the terminology be so inconsistent?J: In my view I think it is because the Bab fulfills two roles: (1) Independent Manifestation and (2) Forerunner of Baha'u'llah. As far as (1) is concerned, He is in the cycle of fulfillment, not the prophetic cycle. As far as (2) is concerned,

Re: Past Revelations

2004-12-27 Thread John Smith
G: So you aren't talking about the Bab or Bahaullah helping Muslimsbecome better Muslims. You are talking about Muslims, not beingMuslims anymore and becoming Bahais.J: By Muslim I mean a follower of the 'eternal Faith of God', not the Religion of Prophet

Re: Perennial Bab?

2004-12-27 Thread John Smith
G: But aren't the previous Manifestations supposed to be independentmanifestations too, but they are still considered part of the cycle ofprophethood. no?J: As always, all these are my own view and I may be wrong. But my understanding is that the BabBaha'u'llahare the only manifestations that

Re: Gospel exists - Why Qur'an?

2004-12-24 Thread John Smith
tribes, but God sent Prophet Muhammad to achieve this (among other things of course). Gilberto Simpson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 17:37:31 -0800 (PST), John Smith<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: Are you saying that Sunnis view Shiism as basically a subset of Sunni Islam, since Sunn

Re: Men and Women equal?

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
And again, for background, thegalling part which made me want to look at this question was aprevious statement that the Bahai faith was the first religion tobelieve in gender equality. Abdu'l-Baha says that "in the sight of Baha, women are accounted the same as men". He qualifies this

Gospel exists - Why Qur'an?

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
G: I don't have a problem with the idea that the heart of the Gospel'smessage is contained in the New Testament. Especially If you look at all the ancient Christian texts as awhole I'm confident that the Gospel is in there. J: Question: How do you justify needing the Qur'an or Islam if the above

Essence of God vs. The Word of God

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
G: I think the argument is that if the Quran is the word of God, and God's speech is an eternal attribute of God related in a particular way with his essence, then the implication is that in some, way, shape, or form, the Quran is uncreated. J: I would say God's speech is an eternal attribute of

Re: Clarification and Progressive Revelation and Peace

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
Gilberto Simpson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Killing is killing. And the ethical considerations arelargely the same. Not so sure. There are many types of killing. 1. Human killing humanfor revenge. 2. Human killing animal for food. 3. Human killing human to prevent him from suffering (crushed under a

Re: Essence of God vs. The Word of God

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
G: The Quran describes God in certain ways and on the one hand you want to recognize that God is so amazing that words don't quite do him justice. At the same time, on the other hand, if you go too far in this direction you end up rejecting and denying God's own description of Himself in

Re: Gospel exists - Why Qur'an?

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
G: [Islam is] clearer and more reliable and purer as a guide [than the Christianity/Judaism]. J: It is interesting that you say clearer and purer instead of clearest and purest. Do you anticipate anything clearer and purer than Islam coming around? Why not accept Baha'i as clearer and purer than

Re: Men and Women equal?

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
You have brought up hikmat a number of times. How does hikmat come into play in this regard? Gilberto Simpson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm not sure if something is getting lost though. There are at leasttwo levels to this. The level of practice, and the level of words. Onthe level of practice,

Re: Gospel exists - Why Qur'an?

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
Why not accept Baha'i as clearer and purer than Islam? G: Off the top of my head, I don't think the Bahai understanding of Islamdoes it justice. And I haven't been convinced that the Bahai figuresare who they say they are. J: Fair enough. To be constructive, I think you are unwilling to let go

Re: Gospel exists - Why Qur'an?

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
G: Islam doesn't start wars or conduct mass killings. Muslims who violateIslam's teachings might do that. But Islam doesn't. That's part of theproblem with the Bahai perspective on Islam. If the ideals are sound,I really don't care what so-called Muslims do. Bad Muslims don'tdisprove Islam. J: I

Re: Clarification and Progressive Revelation and Peace

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
G: The Bahai writings say that Muhammad only fought defensively to stoppersecution. This would have saved lives. J: So are you justifying War in some instances related to stopping religious persecution?Doesn't this contradict what you said in the other email that all wars were committed by bad

Re: Clarification and Progressive Revelation and Peace

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
Gilberto Simpson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: But I would think that the value of a human life doesn't go up or downlike hemlines either. I would think that in general if a certain actof killingwas wrong after 1844 it wouldhave been wrong before too,no? J: One wayI wouldrespond is to say that

Re: Gospel exists - Why Qur'an?

2004-12-23 Thread John Smith
Are you saying that Sunnis view Shiism asbasically a subset of Sunni Islam, since Sunni also acknowledge the family of Muhammad? What about Shiites, how do they view Sunnis? Gilberto Simpson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 17:53:18 EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: In a

Men and Women equal?

2004-12-22 Thread John Smith
G:If that's the case, then the Bahais should say "We believe in certaindistinctions between the roles of men and women and we believe thatwisdom behind these rules will be apparent at some point in thedistant future.". To just say "we believe in absolute gender equality"and leave it at that seems

Re: Clarification and Progressive Revelation and Peace

2004-12-22 Thread John Smith
Gilberto:In other words, jihad includes fighting against aggressors.J:imo, the Baha'i view is that the aggressor's intentions are important. If the purpose of theaggression is religiously based (i.e. you are a Baha'i and I hate your prophet so I want tokill you), we are not allowed to fight back