Elucidation of Objectives — Page 4
Tau di h-e-Mar a m 4 Coming' clearly determined. This, therefore, is the doctrine, consistent with the Gospels, to which Chris- tians should unanimously subscribe, that Elijah, whose descent was awaited, did, in the time of the Messiah, return from the heavens in the person of John who was born to Zechariah, with the temperament and qualities of Elijah. The Jews, however, continue to await Elijah's descent. They believe that he will physically descend from the skies and land on the minarets of Baitul Mu- qaddas , where the Jews will assemble and lower him down to the ground with the help of ladders or some such device. When you confront the Jews with Jesus Christ's interpretation of the descent of Elijah, they fly into a rage and start abusing not only Jesus Christ but also John the Baptist, and condemn as heresy the sol- emn declaration of a Prophet of God. In any case, the real connotation of the term 'descent from the skies' has been determined by the verdict of Jesus Christ himself, and the dispute about Elijah's descent has been finally settled. The manner of his descent has also been conclu- sively established. But, concerning the descent of the Messiah, it is still claimed with great fervour that he will descend from the skies, clad in rich royal robes, accompanied by angels. 8 The two camps have, however, 8 One wonders whether these garments will be made of wool or silk, like ch u ria (a kind of striped silk fabric), gulbadan (another kind of streaked silk fabric), satin, brocade, zarbaft (a kind of silk fabric in which each yarn continued on next page…