Gilberto Simpson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
And I would point out a couple of things. Firstly, the above passage
criticizes the idea that the Gospel does not exist. It doesn't say one
thing one way or another on the question of whether it exists in some
altered or flawed form.
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That appears to be a stretch to me.
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Think about a telephone directory for a second. At some non-trivial
rate all kinds of people are getting cell phones, modems, faxes, or
having their numbers changed and disconnected, with near certainty, as
soon as its published, any large telephone directory will certainly
contain errors and at the very list will be somewhat out of date and
incomplete. That doesn't mean you need to throw out the yellow pages
right away. It's still pretty useful inspite of the mistakes.
But secondly, lets focus on part of it.
"How could God, when once the Day-star of the beauty of Jesus had
disappeared from the sight of His people, and ascended unto the fourth
heaven, cause His holy Book, His most great testimony amongst His
creatures, to disappear also?"
But the four Biblical gospels WEREN'T WRITTEN UNTIL AFTER JESUS. So
whatever Holy book is being refered to is a message which existed when
Jesus was on Earth ! and perhaps took on some different form later on.--------------------
I think here Baha`u'llah is referring not just to words on a page, but also to the fact that even with the "ascension" of Jesus, Jesus was still present among men. His Revelation still the current day of God. In this sense Jesus, His Revelation, and "Gospel" as a manifestation of those two things, has nothing whatsoever to do with the text of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
He is saying, in my personal interpretation, that until the advent of Muhammed, Jesus was the "Lord of the Age".
Regards,
Scott
Arnold J. Toynbee
