Posted by anon on June 28, 2101 at 12:51:53:

In Reply to: Request for Answer,anon(# 2) posted by Munir A. Qureshi on June 27, 2101 at 23:58:25:

I feel the same way about Biblical prophecy. Baha'is believe that many of the Biblical prohecis have been fulfilled with the advent of the Bab and of Baha'u'llah. Many were baffled by the sometimes cryptic statements in the Bible and could not derive their meaning. Personally, since i know of the Baha'i Faith, when I read the Bible, I can clearly understand the prophecies since I now have a context to put them into. I feel that this sort of circumstance is directly parrallel to the scientific knowledge revealed in the Qur'an.

You must know as well that God test His servants. Would you not think it to be in God's power to test His servants by seemingly contradicting the sciences of the time? As I stated before, `Abdu'l-Baha stated that the transmutation of elements (alchemy) would be achieved, but that it would bring about great suffering. This, a hundred years ago, would have been an outlandish and completely ridiculous statement to the scientific community. But now we see that metals can be turned into gold, and with the same process, nuclear weapons have been developed.

And as we saw before with the discussion of the Iqan, that Faith and true understanding is not based on the sciences and theories of men, but rather on the purity of heart. So I am saying that it is a possibility that many saying and verses were revealed for a later time since their comprehension would not be necessary to be a believer. Will you agree that compelte and total comprehension of a religion is not required to be a believer?

No where am I saying that "nothing" is to be understood by the people of the time. But I am saying that somethings (and in my opinion not very many) revealed in the Holy Books were to be understood later and the mysteries of certain statements were to be made apparent later. For a very big example, we look at the religious writings. Jesus and Muhammand (Peace be Upon Them) both spoke with greatness and authority. They spoke of how widely Their faiths would have influece and how they would conquer the world. But how could the early followers believe this when Jesus (pbuh) was a simple carpenter and Muhammad (pbuh) was an iliterate man. But we have seen how Christianity once was the power behind a mighty empire and how Islamic civilization flourished in accomplishments beyond the wildest dreams of Europe.

It boils down to belief. If one believes in a Messenger of God, I feel that all that is said by that Messanger should be believed. It is then that the quest for understanding must begin. For instance why do Muslim men not wear gold? The use of this and the benefits are not readily apparent, but I believe may be understood after death. And it is a test of Faith, if God said to sacrifice your sons, it should be done without hesitation. Only later will the results of this test be understood.

I am sorry I cannot stay on topic very well and I am constatnly bringing up new topics which surely you will be interested in. But I would like to ask of you to please visit the site I gave above and reply with your comments about these scientific truths in the Qur'an. For what is on this site and what you say are seemingly contradicting.

Also I am a little confused about your previous posting that was copied from a reply to some others. Could you please maybe restate some of your questions or arguements so I can try to discuss them?

I also would like to know a little about you because we are having such a long and useful and interesting discussion! About me, I am a 20 year old student in the United States. My father is Persian and my mother is American of European descent. He grew up in a Baha'i family and chose to become a Baha'i. My mother grew up in a Catholic family. She only recently (in the last 5 years) chose to become a Baha'i.

Looking forward to speaking to you soon and please let me know if I did not address your questions.

-anon

(P.S. I am so glad we are able to have this discussion since you are obviously very knowledgeable and open-minded... I am learning a lot from you as well).

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