Hi, Sam, At 09:44 AM 11/28/2004, you wrote: I don't think anyone will disagree that TITN could do with a rewrite (I wish someone would!) ....<<
If someone rewrote _Thief in the Night_, it would no longer be _Thief in the Night_. The major problem with the book is not its factual errors; it is the fact that many Baha'is have treated it as a reference work. Bill produced a narrative retelling of his personal search. I don't think that he ever intended it to be a source of accurate information. >>... but I'm not convinced that this implies that WS was wrong about this >>particular edict. He states in TITN that he secured and studied copies of >>original documents and letters. Did he actually say he made *this* bit up?<< My understanding is that the documents he studied were filtered through, and interpreted by, Seventh Day Adventist sources. >>Well I assume it's because the edict we are discussing is questionable but >>they have found one which is valid and this is good news in terms of prophecy >>because it helps fulfill the "times of the Gentiles" prophecy in 1844 as >>mentioned by WS and believed unquestionably by so many Bahai's. (I apologise >>if I've completley misunderstood your question.)<< No, I think you understood my question. However, I still don't see why discovering such a document would be good news. The fact that the existence of the document, as it was described by Bill Sears, was accepted on face value reflects a lack of critical thinking on the parts of those Baha'is. If there is any "good news," I think it may be that these individuals would, hopefully, be more cautious and critical in the future. Mark A. Foster * http://markfoster.net "Sacred cows make the best hamburger" -- Mark Twain and Abbie Hoffman __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com 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/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
