Re: Not Exhausted

[Rich Ater]

Gilberto: I think you have to be careful about how you go about doing it. Bahais call their belief *progressive* revelation which strongly suggests that the dispensations of the Bab and then of Bahaullah are somehow deeper, more complete, more suitable, new and improved, or otherwise better than what came before. And when Bahais start to articulate how the Bahai writings have "progressed" over the Quran then the negative statements come into the picture. Gilberto,     Sorry it has taken so long. I would agree. I would ask you to bare in mind that the Faith hasn't developed as many scholars as we'd like to think, nor have we given serious thought to what progressive revelation really means. If you read Baha'u'llah's comments on Islam and Muhammad you did get, IMO, the concept of His or the Bab's revelations being superior in the sense that some define progressive revelation. I believe that Baha'u'llah's writings can give us a deeper understanding of the Qur'an than someone reading it in the late 7th century had and  that a better understanding than someone in the 2nd century reading the Gospels would have been had by someone reading it after being open to the Islamic revelation. This has to do with the energies released by the Prophets when they come , but I believe that is because each Prophet brings a new paradigm shift that allows each to understand more of what was there from the beginning. In other words any limitations lie in us not the scriptures. I also think that this energy is available to all, not just members of the new revelation, hence Khalid abul fadel today, or Thomas Aquinas in 12th century Europe. Rich: In the Qur'an it says that God gave a revelation to each of the Prophets and perfected their religion. If this is the case then in becoming a Muslim, and I mean a Muslim in the common accepted manner of understanding the term, not its universal definition, thyen you must end up > criticizing Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, (God forbid). Gilberto: I wouldn't want to set the prophets against one another. Their various messages are a repetition of the messages which came before. The differences are more "horizontal" than "vertical" for example having Friday be the emphasized day of the week rather than the Sabbath. The problem with those earlier communities is that the original revelation was no longer being faithfully transmitted. For example, I wouldn't try to say that the Quran was better than the original Gospel or the original Torah. I would question whether the texts in the current Old and New Testament really are the Torah or the Gospel. Once again this has to do with our understanding. I know the Muslim belief about the original Gospel and Torah. I think its specious. There is nothing in the Qur'an to back it up. Rather it was past misunderstanding og these scriptures that led Jews from recognizing Jesus (PBUH) and Christians from recognizing Muhammad (PBUH). I do agree about horizontal changes and this is what is witnessed in the diferences between Baha'i law and Islamic law. The spirit of the law and its gift as a mercy from God stand intact. Rich __________________________________________________ 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