Criteria for Prophets in the Bible

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Sean H.

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I thought that this might prove some interesting discussion.

4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
[...]
4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
(King James Bible, 1 John)

7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
(King James Bible, Matthew)

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
(King James Bible, Galatians)

5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth)
(King James Bible, Ephesians)
 
I like what I have learned about Muhammad and Bahaullah thus far. To me, it is mostly about theological differences. For instance, I mentioned earlier the resurrection in which most Christians take these scriptures literally. This will be a little off topic, but it deals with the subject.

Matthew 27:52-53 said: "The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people." Unlike the popular literal belief in the physical resurrection, these verses alone prove the spiritual resurrection to me.

I read Abdu'l-Baha's teachings about the resurrection, and his interpretation of Corinthians 15, which makes complete sense to me. All the theologians just seem to confuse me. For example, the book of the case for Christ or this book on a commentary on Acts I have. For this reason alone Christians may call Abdu'l-Baha a false teacher or prophet. As Paul would say, "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and the mortal with immortality." That is, when we are changed at the last trumpet, we will be raised from our tomb of ignorance and lust into faith in Christ. I have never heard it like that in church:D

It brings the poetical divine truths to life.
 
Thabrownbaptist said:
I like what I have learned about Muhammad and Bahaullah thus far. To me, it is mostly about theological differences. For instance, I mentioned earlier the resurrection in which most Christians take these scriptures literally. This will be a little off topic, but it deals with the subject.

Matthew 27:52-53 said: "The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people." Unlike the popular literal belief in the physical resurrection, these verses alone prove the spiritual resurrection to me.

I read Abdu'l-Baha's teachings about the resurrection, and his interpretation of Corinthians 15, which makes complete sense to me. All the theologians just seem to confuse me. For example, the book of the case for Christ or this book on a commentary on Acts I have. For this reason alone Christians may call Abdu'l-Baha a false teacher or prophet. As Paul would say, "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and the mortal with immortality." That is, when we are changed at the last trumpet, we will be raised from our tomb of ignorance and lust into faith in Christ. I have never heard it like that in church:D

It brings the poetical divine truths to life.
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I really agree with you. I love Abdu'l Baha, he makes sense out of so many mysteries. Some Answered Questions is truly one of my favorite books.

To add a little more to the spiritual ressurection. The following from Paul is interesting

15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
(King James Bible, I Corinthians)
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Paul doesn't distinguish between his post-resurrection experience and the post-resurrection experience of everyone else. This is his experience.

9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

9:2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

9:8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
(King James Bible, Acts)
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This is interesting because Corinthians is generally believed to have been written before the Gospels. See this Wikipedia article Dating the Bible - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also if you'll look there, you'll notice that Mark seems likely to have been written before the other Gospels, and it was Mark that contained the original ending of the Gospels, an empty tomb.

Another interesting tidbit is that the experience of Paul varied slightly towards the end of Acts.
22:6 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

22:7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 22:8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

22:9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

22:10 And I said, What shall I do, LORD? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

22:11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
(King James Bible, Acts)
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It's also interesting that a third account of the event was also recorded in Acts which contained details not mentioned before and omitted other details.

26:13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.

26:14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

26:15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

26:16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

26:17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,

26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

26:19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
(King James Bible, Acts)
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So, we have three different accounts about the same event from the same book which differ. So, it should be of no surprise to if we see events in the Bible become change or become embellished with time.

Also interesting is that Acts was not written by Paul, but by someone else and that Paul did not mention in Galatians 1:11-24 some of the events which Acts spoke of.
 
Hey, Sean, do you have any books about the Baha'i faith? If you do not mind, I was wanting to take one home to read after fall break. Maybe you can bring it with you to school next week? Well, I am assuming you have some reading materials about it:cool:
 
Thabrownbaptist said:
Hey, Sean, do you have any books about the Baha'i faith? If you do not mind, I was wanting to take one home to read after fall break. Maybe you can bring it with you to school next week? Well, I am assuming you have some reading materials about it:cool:
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Oh yeah definitely man. I've got a humble collection. :) Some books are available online and also on Ocean. Other books can be bought off of Amazon rather easily too.

I could also mail you some and that'd be fine with me. I could give you some in person, but I live in Mississippi and that might be very far from where you are :D
 
Sean H. said:
Oh yeah definitely man. I've got a humble collection. :) Some books are available online and also on Ocean. Other books can be bought off of Amazon rather easily too.

I could also mail you some and that'd be fine with me. I could give you some in person, but I live in Mississippi and that might be very far from where you are :D
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What are you talking about?! Who would possibly drive from Mississippi to North Carolina just to teach class?! :rolleyes:
 
I realized something earlier today. There should be Bahais somewhere in the area closer to you who could be of help.

I did a Google search for "North Carolina Bahai" and found the following.

Home - Triangle Baha'i Website
http://www.bci.org/raleigh/
The Bahá'ís of the North Carolina Central Mountains Cluster
Bahai Faith in Henderson County North Carolina
Other Baha'is U.S. Raleigh Triangle Chapel Hill

So, I'm sure that the Bahais in those areas would be happy to loan or give you their books. Even if you don't live nearby, I'm sure somebody would be more than willing to come to you to give you something.

As stated earlier, all of the holy writings are available online for free. And, books can be purchased online as well. And, I'm more than willing to mail you something if it would be ideal.

So, if I can be of any help, just let me know :)
 
I want to read more of the historical information on the Baha'i faith. I read a little bit about the Bab and how he made the wisest of Persia quit his job! The Bab was straight 100! He reminds me of the people I would find in the bible. I am trying to spend less time on the computer lately, so I did not really want to read it online.
 
I'll find something from amazon.com, later. I'm staying away from the cpu for a while
 
I understand you not wanting to spend too much time on the computer. ( I know that from personal experience :D).

A good book on The Bab would be "Release The Sun" by William Sears. "God Passes By" is another good book but Shoghi Effendi can be hard to read at times.

"A Traveller's Narrative" by Abdul-Baha is also decent. And, there may be other books. My recommendation would be "Release the Sun" though. :)
 
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