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For the Christian, the obvious question is: How can Baha'u'llah expect anyone to accept that He is the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Bible? Does the Bible not say that there will be a great tribulation, that Christ will appear in the clouds of heaven in great power and glory, that His followers will be caught up in the air to meet Him, that the evil forces of the world will gather together to wage war against Him, that He will defeat them triumphantly, and that finally He will establish the Kingdom of God on earth? How could Baha'u'llah, an exile and a prisoner, have fulfilled these prophecies of the Bible? (18:1) For Baha'is who are acquainted with Baha'u'llah's life and teachings, the answers to such questions are not only evident but integral to the Baha'i' experience itself. We have already noted that many Christians expected the Second Advent during the 1800s, in fact in the very year 1844, which marks the beginning of the Baha'i era. In this book an attempt will be made to provide information which will enable those who accept the authority of the Bible, or those who are interested in the Baha'i' Faith, to understand why many have acknowledged Baha'u'llah's biblical claims. Specifically, this book will show how the prophecies, which Christians believed went unfulfilled in the nineteenth century, were, from a Baha'i' point of view, actually fulfilled. (18:2) The Significance and Interpretation of Matthew 24-- Christians have commonly referred to Chapters 24-5 of Matthew as the Olivet Discourse because these chapters contain a sermon which Jesus delivered on the Mount of Olives, or Olivet. It is also called Jesus' Eschatological Discourse, meaning it is a discourse concerning the time of the end, or the Synoptic Apocalypse. The word 'Apocalypse' is from the Greek word 'apokalupto' and means 'to reveal'. The Olivet Discourse reveals events that are to unfold in the future. In order to understand the word 'synoptic' it is important to understand how Jesus' discourse fits into the general composition of the New Testament itself.
(18:3)
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