I think christians define a 'prophet' as someone who has visions of the future given to him by God. I suspect that muslims define a 'prophet' differently as a tribal leader who is simultaneously a religious leader and founder of their moral laws. This may be one of the historical distortions of religion, as are the following examples:
The Virgin Birth: we all know Mary wasn't a virgin. Two thousand years ago a woman was considered a virgin if she wasn't married. So Mary and Joseph had premarital sex, and Jesus was their love child.
The Resurrection: we all know that nobody rises from the dead, if they are truely dead. Two thousand years ago one might have been considered dead if he had been beaten, tortured, nailed to a cross, stabbed with a sword, lost alot of blood, and lost consciousness. Vital signs were probably not checked to determine if death had occurred, and there were few people with any useful medical knowledge. Today many types of surgery require only 3 days of recovery. If Jesus had received some medical help, say from Pontius Pilot, a powerful local official who had a guily conscience and maybe some educated associates, Jesus may have survived his ordeal. Thereafter he may have gone into exile, as is often experienced by religious leaders who are persecuted, like the Dalai Lama. Either way, the story of the resurrection was fabricated, or at the very least misunderstood due to 'drift' in the meanings of words across 2000 years of history.
Chieftain/Prophet: in ancient history, the political leader was also often the religious leader. There was no separate set of people who filled roles in either the church or the state. Even in modern times, it is mostly western culture that separates these roles. I think this is one of the major dissociations of culture between east and west. Easterners simply don't understand it. To them, 'prophet' is synonymous with 'saint' and with 'leadership'.
If anyone would like to clarify, please do.
Current Events » in reply to this guy is right on the ball. All power to him and people like him.
Seems to be a reasonable sort of person. And I'm curious as to his definition of "prophet"
The whole thread (73 posts)
- Making sense of the Muslim outrage over the cartoons.
- They do not understand "Freedom of the Press".
- The more I think about it.
- One Muslim's view:
- "Jesus in a gay bar, with a "Jesus is a fag" caption. I would imagine that fundamental Christians would be outraged."
- re: Da Vinci's Last Supper
- While it was in poor taste, Freedom of the Press permits it.
- I find this hilarious....
- No religion is truthful, and therefore should never trump freedom of expression
- I think they were offensive to Christians.
- Your ignorance of the story of Mohammed is astounding.
- re: Thanks for the information oh most Knowledgable One.
- In reply to the post by the smearer of Catholics, below:
- oh, so you're actually denying the massacre at Medina are you?
- there is some debate about Muhammed yes...but most sources agree he owned slaves, made war, ordered assasinations, and killed jews.
- quite correct
- You're welcome. It comes courtesy of a Hungarian refugee who served in the Hungarian foreign service in Turkey.
- In reply to the post by the smearer of Catholics, below:
- re: Thanks for the information oh most Knowledgable One.
- Your ignorance of the story of Mohammed is astounding.
- Thoughtul post, thanks