Why do you believe what you believe?

[GaryTaylor]

“No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.” John 3:13

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me… This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh… Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?” John 6:38, 50-51, 62

“For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.’” John 16:27-28

Luke

“After this the Lord APPOINTED seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. And he said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I SEND YOU OUT as lambs in the midst of wolves… He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.’ The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us IN YOUR NAME!’ And he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’” Luke 10:1-3, 16-20

Like the Father sent his Son, Christ sends forth his disciples to perform miracles and exorcisms in his name! John’s Gospel says pretty much the same thing:

“As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” John 17:18

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’” John 20:21

“Therefore I SEND YOU PROPHETS and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechari’ah the son of Barachi’ah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I HAVE GATHERED your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matthew 23:34-39

“But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ (In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.” Ephesians 4:7-16

There will be no further Revelation

66 "The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ."28 Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.

67 Throughout the ages, there have been so-called “private” revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

Christian faith cannot accept “revelations” that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such “revelations”.

Again…

." It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church. "

 

[Judas_Thaddeus]

You keep on saying this sort of thing after acknowledging that the Bible CLEARLY says that there will be Prophets after Jesus. Do you deny the Bible? What would you expect from a Prophet who has come after Jesus, which you acknowledge MUST happen (unless the Bible speaks falsities)? What do you expect from this Prophet? Or do you deny that true Prophets are sent by God to reveal His Word?

From that verse you commented on before, on “every spirit” vs “any spirit,” that alone
doesn’t deny “other prophets”, but at the same time, the Bible clearly points out that
we are to expect nothing else in the future except for Great Tribulation and the Return
of Christ. I guess there was a mix up in our dialogue.

So I don’t expect any new Prophets, but if I did, I would expect them to not contradict
the Bible. MAYBE something new, MAYBE, but if a prophet says something and the
Bible proves him wrong, he’s wrong. This is why God gave us Scripture, so that we’re
deceived or beguiled by promises of a better more united world through our own effort.

Oh, and I never said that “the Bible *CLEARLY *says that there will be Prophets after Jesus,” you only inferred that from my being open to possibility, under God’s Word.

 

[Judas_Thaddeus]

There you go, are at it again???
…
Are you a man of your word Judas??
Do you deny the Bible?

We got mixed up, or I did at least, as these are complex matters.
I do not deny the Bible, I just don’t agree with your interpretations.

 

[Kliska]

The first test of anyone claiming to be sent from God is who they say Jesus is; is Jesus God or not. Anyone who denies His Sonship, His divinity, or His humanness is to be rejected.

 

[Servant19]

“No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.” John 3:13

Yes, Jesus descended from and ascended to heaven.
Does not mean there will be no more true Prophets.

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me… This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh… Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?” John 6:38, 50-51, 62

Yes, the Word of God, which Jesus (a Messenger of God who was “sent”) provided, is the bread from heaven. Does not mean that there will be no more true Prophets

“For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.’” John 16:27-28

Yes, Jesus was SENT from the Father as a Messenger and will return to Him, which He did.
Does not mean there will be no more true Prophets.

Luke

“After this the Lord APPOINTED seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. And he said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I SEND YOU OUT as lambs in the midst of wolves… He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.’ The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us IN YOUR NAME!’ And he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’” Luke 10:1-3, 16-20

Yes there will only be a few labourers, and the seventy were in indeed the voice of Jesus.
Does not mean there will be no more true Prophets.

Like the Father sent his Son, Christ sends forth his disciples to perform miracles and exorcisms in his name! John’s Gospel says pretty much the same thing:

“As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” John 17:18

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’” John 20:21

Yes, they were Jesus’ messengers, just as Jesus was a Messenger (as attested to in the Quran)…
Does not mean there will be no more true Prophets

“Therefore I SEND YOU PROPHETS and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechari’ah the son of Barachi’ah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I HAVE GATHERED your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matthew 23:34-39

Did Jesus here say there will be no more true Prophets? No…

“But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ (In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.” Ephesians 4:7-16

Again, nothing here to indicate no more true Prophets

.

 

[Servant19]

There will be no further Revelation

Only God knows how youmake that conclusion???
The word “Revelation” was not used once in the quotes you provided…

66 "The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ."28 Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.

67 Throughout the ages, there have been so-called “private” revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

Christian faith cannot accept “revelations” that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such “revelations”.

Again…

." It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church. "

The Catholic Church has no authority to contradict the Bible.

In the Bible it is clearly inferred that there will be further Prophets.
Naturally the Church wants to maintain authority and power over the masses and denies this.

In fact it is clear and evident that the Catholic Church has never fully investigated and tested the “Spirit” of the Baha’i Faith…and it has a Biblical duty to do so, yet it has failed in its duty. The Baha’i Faith has been around for 200 years and only a 1 page pamphlet has been released by the Church in that time…

 

[GaryTaylor]

Only God knows how youmake that conclusion???
The word “Revelation” was not used once in the quotes you provided…

The Catholic Church has no authority to contradict the Bible.

In the Bible it is clearly inferred that there will be further Prophets.
Naturally the Church wants to maintain authority and power over the masses and denies this.

In fact it is clear and evident that the Catholic Church has never fully investigated and tested the “Spirit” of the Baha’i Faith…and it has a Biblical duty to do so, yet it has failed in its duty. The Baha’i Faith has been around for 200 years and only a 1 page pamphlet has been released by the Church in that time…

Your getting ahead of yourself.

1st the CC didn’t contradict scripture. Baha’l does

2nd I posted the scripture which attests to further prophets

3rd The CC doesn’t have to investigate; You are speaking of “Christian faith cannot accept “revelations” that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such “revelations”.” And that’s what Baha’l does

St John of the Cross… “In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word - and he has no more to say. . . because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty”

 

[Servant19]

3rd The CC doesn’t have to investigate; You are speaking of “Christian faith cannot accept “revelations” that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such “revelations”.” And that’s what Baha’l does

Dear friend, Gary.

May I ask therefore, what would you expect the true Prophets who will come AFTER Jesus to bring to the world?

Sit there and say nothing? What kind of Prophet is that?

 

[Sy_Noe]

Because of the Holy Spirit.

Initially following a quite dramatic experience I was called home to the Church, and since that through ‘smaller’, frequent experiences in my day-today life. The Holy Spirit is with us all, you just have to stop and ‘listen’.

Beyond believing in a Creator and Savior, this answer ^ works for me too. Though I haven’t discerned being “called home to the (Catholic) Church”, I strive to listen to His voice echoing deep within me at depths where I am most alone with and at peace with God.

 

[GaryTaylor]

Dear friend, Gary.

May I ask therefore, what would you expect the true Prophets who will come AFTER Jesus to bring to the world?

Sit there and say nothing? What kind of Prophet is that?

They do visionaries, mystics seers etc…Saints, and they have a ton to say and its all in relation to the deposit of faith of the One and Holy Catholic Church. Its called private revelation…tested…approved. Bab, not approved.

Would you like to see some videos and some links to read?

 

[Servant19]

They do visionaries, mystics seers etc…Saints, and they have a ton to say and its all in relation to the deposit of faith of the One and Holy Catholic Church. Its called private revelation…tested…approved. Bab, not approved.

Would you like to see some videos and some links to read?

Jesus didn’t have visions…He WAS the Vision.
Baha’u’llah does not have visions…He WAS the vision.

Baha’u’llah was not a seer. He GAVE sight!

He is the source of all spiritual sight…

.

 

[Brendan_64]

The Catholic Church has no authority to contradict the Bible.

In the Bible it is clearly inferred that there will be further Prophets.
Naturally the Church wants to maintain authority and power over the masses and denies this.

That’s quite a telling statement of yours. Is that how you see the Catholic Church? Out to maintain power and authority over people, and willing to deliberately contradict Scripture in order to maintain power over people?

That is probably the most anti-Catholic statement I have seen any Bahai post on this forum. Is that actually what you think of the Catholic Church?

 

[Servant19]

That’s quite a telling statement of yours. Is that how you see the Catholic Church? Out to maintain power and authority over people, and willing to deliberately contradict Scripture in order to maintain power over people?

That is probably the most anti-Catholic statement I have seen any Bahai post on this forum. Is that actually what you think of the Catholic Church?

My sincere apologies if there was any offense Brendan. My intention is not to offend

My question is, does the Catholic Church firstly acknowledge that there will be true Prophets after Jesus ministry, and secondly does the Church take the responsibility to test those Prophets who founded religions which according to Peter did not suffer a “swift end”?

My apologies again…

 

[arthra]

I think what he has in mind something along the order of Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor

mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pol116/grand.htm

Suppression and oppression of groups that had variant ideas or interpretations of scriptures of which history is litered with.

 

[Vouthon]

My question is, does the Catholic Church firstly acknowledge that there will be true Prophets after Jesus ministry

We certainly believe that there have been prophets since the time of Jesus who have been inspired by the Holy Spirit, however our view of prophethood is fairly different from the Islamic conception and indeed the Baha’i. Peter recognized in the Book of Acts that the coming of the Spirit fulfilled the prophecy of Joel: “In the last days . . . I will pour my spirit upon all flesh” (Acts 2:17). The Holy Spirit is present within the heart of every person with the coming of Christ, meaning that we are all called to be ‘prophets’. The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes in relation to baptized Christians:

785 “The holy People of God shares also in Christ’s prophetic office,” above all in the supernatural sense of faith that belongs to the whole People, lay and clergy, when it "unfailingly adheres to this faith . . . once for all delivered to the saints,"210 and when it deepens its understanding and becomes Christ’s witness in the midst of this world.

and secondly does the Church take the responsibility to test those Prophets who founded religions which according to Peter did not suffer a “swift end”?

Read:

"…God, who desires to call all peoples to himself in Christ and to communicate to them the fullness of his revelation and love, “does not fail to make himself present in many ways, not only to individuals, but also to entire peoples through their spiritual riches, of which their religions are the main and essential expression even when they contain ‘gaps, insufficiencies and errors’.” Therefore, the sacred books of other religions, which in actual fact direct and nourish the existence of their followers, receive from the mystery of Christ the elements of goodness and grace which they contain (I, 8).

**Theology today, in its reflection on the existence of other religious experiences and on their meaning in God’s salvific plan, *is invited to explore if and in what way the historical figures and positive elements of these religions *** may fall within the divine plan of salvation. In this undertaking, theological research has a vast field of work under the guidance of the Church’s Magisterium. The Second Vatican Council, in fact, has stated that: “The unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude, but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a participation in this one source” (III, 14)…"

***- Dominus Iesus, declaration by Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (approved John Paul II), Cardinal Ratzinger, 2000 ***

It is explicitly implied here that other religions and prophets may have a role in God’s salvific plan, without representing any new public revelations that would supersede that of Christ (whose dispensation, as Vatican II makes clear, “is definitive” and eternal).

How?

Continue to next post…

 

[Vouthon]

Blessed John Paul II explained:

“…Every quest of the human spirit for truth and goodness, and in the last analysis for God, is inspired by the Holy Spirit. The various religions arose precisely from this primordial human openness to God. At their origins we often find founders who, with the help of God’s Spirit, achieved a deeper religious experience. Handed on to others, this experience took form in the doctrines, rites and precepts of the various religions. In every authentic religious experience, the most characteristic expression is prayer…”

- Blessed Pope John Paul II, General Audience Address, September 16, 1998, Vatican

Christian theologians are encouraged to explore this issue further and come up with hypotheses of their own, so long as they have the approval of the Magisterium.

My two cents: Catholics could not accept that Baha’u’llah is the inaugurator of a new public revelation that surpasses the Christian dispensation. We can, nevertheless, see him as being inspired inasmuch as some of the truths he teaches conform with Catholic doctrine. This is because the Church does not reject anything that it recognizes as true but embraces it as its own, since all truth is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

For Baha’is, we could accept that while the Baha’i Faith lacks the fullness of truth present in the Church’s deposit of faith, the Holy Spirit has guided Baha’u’llah, the Bab and Abdul-Baha with seeds of the Word, meaning that Baha’is can live according to the Covenant of the Faith and through it better follow the dictates of their conscience and so attain to salvation.

God wills that all men can be saved and so he does not leave any man, or any community, without at least some access to truth. Religious figures outside the Judeo-Christian tradition can therefore act as helpers in this respect, guiding their followers towards a purer understanding and a higher way of life even if it does not approximate exactly to what the Church teaches.

I end with a reflection on this topic by Blessed John Henry Newman:

"…We must confess, on the authority of the Bible itself, that all knowledge of religion is from God, and not only that which the Bible has transmitted to us. There never was a time when God had not spoken to man, and told him to a certain extent his duty. His injunctions to Noah, the common father of all mankind, is the first recorded fact of the sacred history after the deluge. Accordingly, we are expressly told in the New Testament, that at no time He left Himself without witness in the world, and that in every nation He accepts those who fear and obey Him. It would seem, then, that there is something true and divinely revealed, in every religion all over the earth…

The word and the Sacraments are the charac*teristic of the elect people of God; but all men have had more or less the guidance of Tradition, in addition to those internal notions of right and wrong which the Spirit has put into the heart of each individual.

This vague and uncertain family of religious truths, originally from God, but sojourning without the sanction of miracle, or a definite home, as pilgrims up and down the world, and discernible…may be called the Dispensation of Paganism, after the example of the learned Father already quoted. And further, Scripture gives us reason to believe that the traditions, thus originally delivered to mankind at large, have been secretly reanimated and enforced by new communications from the unseen world…

Accordingly, there is nothing unreasonable in the notion, that there may have been heathen poets and sages, or sibyls again, in a certain extent divinely illuminated, and organs through whom religious and moral truth was conveyed to their countrymen…

These were based on the mystical or sacramental principle, and spoke of the various Economies or Dispensations of the Eternal. I understood these passages to mean that the exterior world, physical and historical, was but the manifestation to our senses of realities greater than itself. Nature was a parable: Scripture was an allegory: pagan literature, philosophy, and mythology, properly understood, were but a preparation for the Gospel. The Greek poets and sages were in a certain sense prophets; for “thoughts beyond their thought to those high bards were given.” There had been a directly divine dispensation granted to the Jews; but there had been in some sense a dispensation carried on in favour of the Gentiles…

The process of change had been slow; it had been done not rashly, but by rule and measure, at sundry times and in divers manners…As far as we know, there never was a time when…revelation was not a revelation continuous and systematic, with distinct representatives and an orderly succession…"

- Blessed John Henry Newman (circa. 1845-65), cardinal & theologian of the Catholic Church

 

[Brendan_64]

My question is, does the Catholic Church firstly acknowledge that there will be true Prophets after Jesus ministry, and secondly does the Church take the responsibility to test those Prophets who founded religions which according to Peter did not suffer a “swift end”?

I’m sure the Church looks at many things. There are many different faiths, denominations, and sects that have sprung up over the past few hundred years. Do you really expect the Church to produce specific, in-depth, Church documents on each of them?

Here’s something produced by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales on Bahai.

catholic-ew.org.uk/Catholic-News-Media-Library/Archive-Media-Assets/Files/Department-of-Dialogue-and-Unity/Committee-for-Relations-with-Other-Religions/Leaflets-on-other-religions/What-is-the-Baha-i-faith

As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, Bahai is simply another non-Christian faith representing a small amount of people. That is not meant disrespectfully, it is just how the Catholic Church views Bahai.

 

[Vouthon]

I’m sure the Church looks at many things. There are many different faiths, denominations, and sects that have sprung up over the past few hundred years. Do you really expect the Church to produce specific, in-depth, Church documents on each of them?

True. The Church’s mission, after all, is to preach the Gospel of the Lord and act as the “sacrament of salvation” for humankind. It does not exist primarily to critique and asses other religions. This is the primary task of theologians involved in interfaith dialogue, with the approval of the Magisterium and the help of more general statements about non-Judeo-Christian religions in various official documents.

Islam, nonetheless, gets a rather thorough treatment in official texts. Muslims were even mentioned in Lumen Gentium, the dogmatic constitution on the church!

Because the Baha’i Faith, unlike Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism, is still a relatively small religion even though it is widely spread, it should not be remarkable that there is only one full-length document on it. Since Baha’is are monotheists they fall into the same category as Muslims ie

“…Now [we refer] to the adorers of God according to the conception of monotheism, the Muslim religion especially, deserving of our admiration for all that is true and good in their worship of God…”

- Servant of God Pope Paul VI, Ecclesiam Suam 107, August 6, 1964

“…But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Mohammedans, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind…”

- Lumen Gentium 16 (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), 1965

Notice it says “among these”, that is plural meaning that there are other monotheistic religions smaller than Islam that are worthy of our “admiration for all that true and good in their worship of God”, for example Sikhism as well.

How many full-length documents has the Universal House of Justice made on Catholicism? Shoghi Effendi made important references to the Church but they were all short as far as I recall.

 

[Brendan_64]

Islam, nonetheless, gets a rather thorough treatment in official texts. Muslims were even mentioned in Lumen Gentium, the dogmatic constitution on the church!

Muslims were mentioned in Lumen Gentium, but not in great detail (one short paragraph I think). There are afterall quite a lot of Muslims in this world and it is understandable that the Church give some specific thought to how we can interact with these followers of the God of Abraham in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect. I imagine if there were 1.5 billion Bahais in the world they too may have got a mention in Lumen Gentium.

 

[Vouthon]

Muslims were mentioned in Lumen Gentium, but not in great detail (one short paragraph I think). There are afterall quite a lot of Muslims in this world and it is understandable that the Church give some specific thought to how we can interact with these followers of the God of Abraham in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect. I imagine if there were 1.5 billion Bahais in the world they too may have got a mention in Lumen Gentium.

Yep, one short paragraph in *Lumen Gentium *and a much longer one in Nostra Aetate. What is special about the short mention in Lumen Gentium though is that this is a “dogmatic constitution”. Two parts of the Second Vatican ecumenical council therefore refer to Islam. There are many more in later papal encyclicals and documents by the Vatican. And I agree, beautifully said.

Hence why Nostra Aetate after speaking about Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam states:

“…Other religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing “ways,” comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men…”

***- Nostra Aetate, (Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian religions,1965) ***