When Prophets Come Alive

[rogerashton]

31. There is little reason to think that Muhammad did not exist.

Some questions have been raised about the origin of the Koran -- I don't know what basis in historical research they may have, if any -- but I have not heard it claimed before that Muhammad did not exist.

As for Buddha -- well, there are Buddhas (why did Bodhidharma come from India to China?) but I know of no reason to suppose that Gautama Siddhartha did not exist, nor that he did not teach a mystical discipline of some sort. Recall, on the other hand, that Buddhism does not require belief in any Gods nor any supernatural powers whatever. (Nor forbid such beliefs, as best I understand.)

Jesus -- trickier. Clearly many of the stories with that name at their center were being told about other personages around the Middle East before 100 BC. On the other hand there is some reason to believe that there were people living in Jerusalem in 40 AD or so who said they knew him, and anyway, wandering wisdom teachers were about a dozen for a dinar there and then, so why not one named Jesus who hailed from Nazareth?

Mary -- still trickier. If there was a Jesus from Nazareth, presumably he had a mother.

Rumi, as noted, certainly did exist -- I have read some of his writing, and so far as I know, no supernatural powers or miracles have ever been attributed to him. (I could be wrong.)

Such a mixed bag -- except, maybe not. I think the point was: extraordinary human beings do live, from time to time, and their lives can be a resource to those of us who are more ordinary. In other words, it is one thing to believe in Gods, and quite another thing to believe in saints. And their sainthood can enrich our lives -- even if we don't always believe in the ideas they are said to have believed in. It is not their beliefs that matter but their lives.