On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 11:57:50 -0600, Mark A. Foster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, Gilberto, > At 11:39 AM 1/9/2005, you wrote: > >>So since the Penteteuch clearly identifies the son as Isaac, then somehow > >>there is a discrepancy here unless you want to say that the revelation of > >>God given to Moses had a mistake in it.<<
> Yes, but the issue may be a bit more complex: > "In one of His Tablets, 'Abdu'l-Bahá' refers to this discrepancy [Isaac > vis-a-vis Ismael], and explains that, from a spiritual point of view, it is > irrelevant which son was involved. The essential part of the story is that > Abraham was willing to obey God's command to sacrifice His son. Thus, > although the account in the Torah is inaccurate in detail, it is true in > substance...." > -- From a letter, dated August 9, 1984, from the Universal House of Justice > to an individual believer > http://bahai-library.com/provisionals/lawh.haji.kamalud.din.html I don't have a problem with that distinction between the substance and the detail. I think I would actually be interested in applying that more generally to other aspects of the Bible. The Bible gets alot of the details wrong and I would take exception to much of it but the "substance" the "essential part" is still contained there. Peace Gilberto "My people are hydroponic" __________________________________________________ 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
