On Bruce Answered Questions: The Return was of the Christ Spirit, not of the man Jesus/Yeshua
Bruce on Religious Forums, responding to participants on the thread "Is Bahaullah the Promised Messiah?" -gw
It is quite true that Baha'u'llah didn't fulfill the prophecies of the Second Coming literally!But what is being overlooked here is that Jesus didn't literally fulfill the prophecies of the First Coming, either, because that's now how these scriptural prophecies work! His name wasn't Emmanuel; He never reigned as King over Israel; and so forth and so on....But He Himself pointed out that prophecies aren't to be taken literally, as when He assured others that John the Baptist was indeed the return of Elijah/Elias despite John's own denial of this! And just as the "whole earth" didn't see the Second Coming (when Baha'u'llah appeared), so the whole earth didn't "see it together" when Jesus Christ appeared. These are spiritual and metaphorical statements, not literal ones. The Return was of the Christ Spirit, not of the man Jesus/Yeshua. As to personal characteristics, Baha'u'llah was indeed renowned for His selflessness and charitable works even before His ministry began--which works were largely terminated when the Persian government arrested Him for His religious activities and confiscated everything He owned. I will also point out that BOTH the Jewish and Christian scriptures promise that the Spirit will have a New Name! I refer you specifically to Isaiah 62:2, Revelation 2:17, and Revelation 3:12. So the literal Return of the man Jesus isn't expected even by Baha'is. Finally, we Baha'is accept the Bible as legitimate, God-sent scripture and therefore fully agree with its warning about false prophets to come!But what folks are overlooking is that it ALSO gives criteria for recognizing TRUE prophets: both the "fruits test" (and the related list of spiritual fruits in Galatians), and the key criterion in First John 4:2, which states clearly that someone affirming that Christ came in the flesh is of God (which Baha'u'llah clearly does stipulate)! So I invite all and sundry to investigate the Baha'i Faith sincerely and without prejudice ("pre-judging") and come to informed conclusions absent influence from others--be then friends, family, or clergy! Here are a few Baha'i sites that will assist in this (there are many others that I won't list here):www.bahai.org
www.bahai.us Many regards, and please feel free to keep the questions coming: we LOVE 'em! :-) Bruce
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