Gilberto, At 09:51 AM 1/9/2005, you wrote: >>It seems like something very different is being claimed by Bahais though.<<
Very much so. Here are my own understandings: The Baha'i concept of divine Manifestation is probably closer to the mainline christologies of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy, minus their incarnationist and anthropomorphic aspects, than it is to certain Islamic and Jewish views of Prophets as ordinary humans. The Prophet is a reflection of God. One might say that the mainline Christianities have been substantially correct about the station of Christ. However, they have been largely incorrect concerning the position of the Essence of God. Although God's Essence is not incarnated into His Manifestations, His Will and His Logos are incarnated into Them. One may, in a sense, call each of the Prophets "God" (or, as I prefer, our personal God), as long as one keeps in mind the distinction between divine Essence and divine Manifestation. In addition, each Manifestation is, to use my term, a product of a "Prophetic ecology." On one level, the Prophet is an ordinary man encountering, or embedded and contextualized in, a family, community, society, and culture. His consciousness of His divine nature develops only gradually. On another level, the Prophet *is* the Word and Will of God, The dialectic or synergy between His divinity and humanity allows Him to interact with His fellow human beings. The Angel Gabriel does not refer to something apart from Muhammad. It was a metaphor for His divine nature, His Holy Spirit, which enabled Him, Mirza Husayn Ali (Baha'u'llah's human side), to deliver His message. Similar metaphors for Holy Spirits were, from a Baha'i perspective, used by Moses (the Burning Bush), by Zoroaster (the Sacred Fire), by Jesus (the Dove), by the Bab (His vision of the Imam Husayn), and by Baha'u'llah (His vision of the Maiden). With regards, Mark A. Foster • 15 Sites: http://markfoster.net "Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger" -- 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:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu 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
