[net.religion] The foundations of the divine religions are ONE.

vc@hou2h.UUCP (Verbus M. Counts) (03/25/85)

From the book "FOUNDATIONS OF WORLD UNITY" By Abdu'l-Baha:

 "The divine prophets have revealed and  founded  religion.   They  have
 laid  down  certain  laws  and heavenly principles for the  guidance of
 mankind.  They have  taught  and  promulgated  the  knowledge  of  God,
 established  praiseworthy  ethical  ideals  and  inculcated the highest
 standards of virtue in the  human  world.   Gradually   these  heavenly
 teachings  and  foundations  of  reality  have been  beclouded by human
 interpretations and dogmatic  imitations  of  ancestral  beliefs.   The
 essential  realities which the prophets labored so hard to establish in
 human hearts and minds while undergoing ordeals and suffering  tortures
 of  persecution,  have  now well nigh vanished.  Some of these heavenly
 messengers have been killed, some imprisoned; all of them despised  and
 rejected  while  proclaiming the reality of divinity.  Soon after their
 departure from this world, the essential truth of their  teachings  was
 lost sight of and dogmatic imitations adhered to."

 Also from the same book:

    " .... In reality the foundations of the divine  religions  are  one
 and  the  same. The differences which have arisen between us are due to
 blind imitations of dogmatic beliefs and adherence to  ancestral  forms
 of  worship.  His  Holiness  Abraham  was  the  founder of reality. His
 Holiness Moses, His Holiness Christ, His  Holiness  Mohammed  were  the
 manifestations  of reality.  His Holiness Baha`'u'llah was the glory of
 reality. This is not simply an assertion; it will be proved.

 Let me ask your closet attention  in  considering  this  subject.   The
 divine  religions  embody  two kinds of ordinances.  First, those which
 constitute essential or spiritual teachings of the Word of  God.  These
 are  faith  in  God,  the acquirement of the virtues which characterize
 perfect  manhood,  praiseworthy  moralities,  the  acquisition  of  the
 bestowals and bounties emanating from the divine effulgences; in brief,
 the ordinances which concern the realm of morals  and ethics.  This  is
 the  fundamental  aspect of religion of God and this is of the  highest
 importance because knowledge of God is the fundamental  requirement  of
 man.   Man  must  comprehend  the oneness of divinity.  He must come to
 know and acknowledge the precepts of God and realize for  a   certainty
 that  the  ethical  development of humanity is dependent upon religion.
 He must get rid of all defects and  seek  the  attainment  of  heavenly
 virtues in order that he may prove to be the image and likeness of God.
 It is recorded in the holy bible that God said,"Let us make man in  our
 image,  after  our  likeness."  It  is  self-evident that the image and
 likeness mentioned do not apply to the form and semblance  of  a  human
 being  because  the  reality  of divinity is not limited to any form or
 figure.  Nay, rather the attributes  and  characteristics  of  God  are
 intended.   Even  as God is pronounced to be just, man must likewise be
 just. As God is loving and kind to all men, man must likewise  manifest
 loving-kindness to all humanity. As God is loyal and truthful, man must
 show forth the  same  attributes  in  the  human  world.  Evan  as  God
 exercises  mercy  toward  all,  man  must  prove   himself  to  be  the
 manifestation of mercy. In a word, the  "image  and  likeness  of  God"
 constitute  the  virtues  of  God,  and  man  is intended to become the
 recipient  of  the  effulgences  of  divine  attributes.  This  is  the
 essential  foundation  of all the divine religions, the reality itself,
 common to all.  His Holiness Abraham  promulgated  this;  His  Holiness
 Moses  proclaimed  it.  His Holiness Christ and all the prophets upheld
 this standard and aspect of divine religion.

 Second: Laws and ordinances  which  are  temporary  and  non-essential.
 These  concern human transaction and relations. They are accidental and
 subject to  change according to the exigencies of time and place. These
 ordinances  are neither permanent nor fundamental.  For instance during
 the time of NOAH it was expedient  that  sea  foods  be  considered  as
 lawful;  therefore  God  commanded Noah to partake of all marine animal
 life. During the time of Moses this was  not  in  accordance  with  the
 exigencies  of  Israel's  existence,  therefore  a  second  command was
 revealed partly abrogating the law concerning marine foods. During  the
 time  of  Abraham  - Upon him be peace! - camel's milk was considered a
 lawful and acceptable food; likewise the flesh of the camel; but during
 Jacob's  time  because  of a certain vow he made, this became unlawful.
 These are non-essential temporary laws.  In the holy  bible  there  are
 certain  commandments which according to those bygone times constituted
 the very spirit of the age, the very light of that period. For  example
 according to the law of the torah if a man committed theft of a certain
 amount they cut off his hand. Is it practicable and  reasonable in this
 present  day  to cut off a man's hand for the theft of a dollar? In the
 torah there are ten ordinances concerning murder. Could these  be  made
 effective  today?  Unquestionably  no; times have changed. According to
 the explicit text of the bible if a man should change or break the  law
 of  the  Sabbath  or  if he should touch fire on the Sabbath he must be
 killed.  Today such a law is abrogated. The torah declares  that  if  a
 man  should  speak  a disrespectful word to his father he should suffer
 the penalty of death.  Is this possible of enforcement now?  No;  human
 conditions  have  undergone changes. Likewise during the time of Christ
 certain minor ordinances conformable to that period were enforced.

 It has been shown conclusively therefore that  the  foundation  of  the
 religion  of  God  remains  permanent and unchanging.  It is that fixed
 foundation which insures the progress and stability of the body politic
 and  the  illumination  of humanity. It has ever been the cause of love
 and justice  amongest  men.  It  works  for  the  true  fellowship  and
 unification  of  all  mankind  for  it  never changes is not subject to
 supersedure. The accidental or non-essential laws  which  regulate  the
 transactions  of  the  social  body  and  everyday  affairs of life are
 changeable and subject to abrogation."


Regards,
Verbus M. Counts   AT&T Bell Labs             The Word of God(religion) is one,
(201) 564-2510     101 JFK Parkway            though the speakers are many ...
ihnp4!pata!vca     Room 1l-423
March  24,1985     Short Hills, NJ 07078                  The Bahai Faith

tim@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Tim Maroney) (03/27/85)

Verbus, why do you keep posting this stuff if you don't want to talk about
it?  Or do you only want to talk to people who will not question any part of
it?  Or are your motives infinitely far above the human and thus
incomprehensible to us lowly mortals?  :-)
-=-
Tim Maroney, Carnegie-Mellon University, Networking
ARPA:	Tim.Maroney@CMU-CS-K	uucp:	seismo!cmu-cs-k!tim
CompuServe:	74176,1360	audio:	shout "Hey, Tim!"

root@trwatf.UUCP (Lord Frith) (03/28/85)

It's pretty clear what Verbus' purpose is, Tim.  He (she? it?) simply
wants a platform from which he can espouse his particular beliefs.  Not
an uncommon sight on this newsgroup when it was young.

But what irks me about these postings (aside from the fact that they
waste precious disk space on my machine) is that they go on and on
and on .... with no content to substantiate the claims presented.

The foundations of the divine religions are ONE?  Nonsense.  The
foundations of the major religions are quite distinct.  Attempts
to unify all religions into one belief is a SECULAR ambition.
-- 


UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!root	- Lord Frith
ARPA: trwatf!root@SEISMO

"And Frith made the world"