On 10/9/05, Hajir Moghaddam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Hi Gilberto,
>
> Nader Saiedi, author of Logos and Civilization, sums up Progressive
> Revelation pretty well (pages 11-14), in my view. I'm interested in your
> comments of the following:
Ok.
> The materialistic logic is obviously rejected by Baha'u'llah. Baha'u'llah
> equally rejects the exclusivism of fundamentalist religion by affirming the
> unity of all the Manifestations of God...
Ok. I think there are different kinds of exclusivism and
fundamentalism. And I'm not sure if the Bahai explanations I've seen
for the idea of "unity of all the Manifestations" is really
satisfactory.
> The fact that Baha'u'llah's teachings do not fit the exclusivist model of
> religious fundamentalism does not mean that His vision corresponds to a
> version of postmodern pluralism.
I don't think I would call myself post-modern.
Unlike postmodernist assumption of the
> RANDOMNESS of religion, PROGRESSIVE REVELATION assigns a clear purpose,
> meaning, direction, and logic to the divine revelations in relation to each
> other and in religious history.
I don't think I would try to fit the different religions in a scheme
like that. I tend to think that each religion, within itself, is
actually complete. The new prophet restates essential truths, rather
than bringing things which are fundamentally new.
For example, in the Quran God says to Muhammad:
[41.43] Naught is said to you but what was said indeed to the apostles
before you; [...]
And one can find similar statements in the NT suggesting that Jesus
was only restating and explaining the Torah rather than abolishing it
with something new.
> In this logic, acceptance of **ONE** Manifestation implies acceptance of
> **ALL** the others, and rejection of **ONE** implies rejection of **ALL**.
> The essential truth expressed in all the religions becomes accessible
> through the recognition of the most recent Manifestation of God.
Yeah, I understand that part. But from my perspective that actually
sounds REALLY exclusive. I wouldn't insist that a good monotheistic
Christian or Jew necessarily has to accept Muhammad (saaws). If a
person's impressions of Islam are formed by a series of bad
representatives, I don't think God would blame them for not believing
in the prophet. It makes more sense that people just try to do the
best they can with what they know and God judges their deeds and
intentions. It would be really inappropriate to usurp that role.
But to go back to what you say above, it sounds like you are saying
people HAVE TO believe in Bahaullah or else they don't really believe
in Muhammad (saaws) or Jesus (as) or Moses (as). And that sounds just
like the fundamentalist approach.
Peace
Gilberto
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