OK – I'd say the way to think about that concept is the way outlined by Paul in the text – any other way is eisegesis.
We can discuss the following verses if you like.
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As regards the New Creation in mind of 1 Corinthians 1Co 15:51-52 "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
That is the mystery, which will happen 'in a moment', in a heartbeat, as it were, and not by a series of incremental changes, and although there will be signs and portents, this does not help us so much as there are signs and portents in all times and all ages, as it clear by the numbers of people, down through history, as seeing their time as it.
And if you want to discuss that mystery, we can do that, too.
We could discuss Thomas, but I see we would face much of the same issues. I see that an understanding of these verses also requires an understanding of what Baha'u'llah offered in the Kitab-i-iqan as to how God reveals Revelations to us.
I personally have concluded that Biblical Prophecies are also timeless, that they all unfold through the subsequent Revelations given by God and some are still for future Messengers to build upon.
I see ample passage unfolded in the Revelations of Muhammad, the Bab and Baha'u'llah. I see Baha'u'llah has brought the Day of the "Lords Prayer", yet that day was rejected and is for a more distant future.
As for the verse you quoted.
As regards the New Creation in mind of 1 Corinthians 1Co 15:51-52 "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
I see that is the next stage to unfold prior to the Lesser Peace, as Baha'u'llah has offered to us.
“The world is in travail and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long continue. And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then and only then will the Divine Standard be unfurled and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.”
There is much written about this, we are told it will happen overnight, one day the old world, the next day the event changes humanities direction, we do not know what or when it will be, but the signs happening in this age now, are very intone with what we have been told will happen as we approach that day.
I noted the humour about Frame of Reference, as did
@Ahanu but it is very applicable Thomas, the concept being that no one is wrong in their given frame of reference.
Our challenge is to obtain Proverbs 20:12 "The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both." Yet we are prone to Ezekiel 12:2 “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house."
So many Biblical verses about hearing with new ears and seeing with new eyes, or seeing other Frames of References.
I use the explanations given in the Baha'i Writings to find the Oneness of Humanity, the Oneness of the God of all Faiths, so how are we to be reconciled in our frames of references Thomas?
Is this a "New Creation", of heart and mind, that in turn has changed the material world since the Revelations were given!
Regards Tony
