|
The words of Baha'u'llah carry no weight with present-day churchmen. But what ground is there for supposing that in his invective against the Pharisees Jesus meant only the priests of his time and not a general phenomenon, the attitude of the priesthood to a new revelation? And what guarantee is there that the Christian divines of today are any less "blind guides" than the rabbis of old? Where is the certainty that what happened in the days of Jesus could not be repeated at His second coming? Do not the Gospels contain many warnings which make one conclude that the returned Christ might also be rejected? Jesus's question, "Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8), his parable of the wise and foolish virgins, (Matt 25:1) and the promise "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame," are warnings to remain vigilant. Jesus left no doubt at all as to how much faith he would find on his return: "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matt 24:37-9).
(107:1)
see
|