Friday, April 16, 2010

Some verities of the Baha'i Faith

Abdu'l-Bahá gave talks about and wrote several different lists of the essential principles of the Bahá'í Faith, which are largely similar, such as:

I. -- The Search after Truth.
II. -- The Unity of Mankind.
III.  --  Religion ought to be the Cause of Love and Affection. (Not given separately.)
IV. -- The Unity of Religion and Science.
V. -- Abolition of Prejudices.
VI. -- Equalization of Means of Existence.
VII. -- Equality of Men before the Law.
VIII. -- Universal Peace.
IX. -- Non-Interference of Religion and Politics.
X. -- Equality of Sex -- Education of Women.
XI. -- The Power of the Holy Spirit.
('Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, Pg. 127)

I like to always try to find quotes from Bahá'u'lláh about any Bahá'í subject when possible, so I wondered where He got those lists of ideas from, since an identical list exists nowhere in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh that I have. Besides meditating on what seemed to be obvious broad themes in His Writings that are new steps for humanity, I found these quotes that correspond to some of them:

"every man hath been, and will continue to be, able of himself to appreciate the Beauty of God, the Glorified," "He Who is your Lord, the All-Merciful, cherisheth in His heart the desire of beholding the entire human race as one soul and one body," "there can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God," "the fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men," "we have permitted you to read such sciences as are profitable unto you, not such as end in idle disputation; better is this for you, if ye be of them that comprehend," "praised be God, the Pen of the Most High hath lifted distinctions from between His servants and handmaidens, and, through His consummate favours and all-encompassing mercy, hath conferred upon all a station and rank of the same plane," and "it is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care and loving-kindness."
(Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, pgs. 142, 213, 79, 217, 48, 215, 6, and the Compilation of Compilations, vol. II pg. 357)

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