interconnectedness of the teachings
Editorial introduction
No single principle, however beneficial, can turn the world into a paradise, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says; like a chemical element, it gives life only in combination. The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are meant to be read in that way, as a trunk that sends out branches, a space holding many suns, a sphere whose opposite poles are joined by everything in between, a jewel whose facets each catch a different light. Shoghi Effendi draws the practical consequence: study more, not less, in history, economics and science as well as in the Writings, and when two strong statements seem to pull apart, look for the links that unite them instead of setting one against the other. The Buddhist story of the blind men and the elephant warns how confidently a fragment can be mistaken for the whole [1]. The result is a faith whose balance keeps any virtue from hardening into a bias. From this habit of reading, the mind is drawn to the way all things are involved in all things, to the great chain of being, and to the complementary truths that make one religion of many.
Furthermore, the human world will not become a heavenly paradise through the promotion of a single matter. This education of children is one of many matters. Each beneficial matter that causes the progress of the human world is like an element - a single element does not bestow life, but when elements combine, a being comes into existence.
Other teachings are like branches but the teachings of Baha'u'llah are like the trunk of a tree which sends out all branches.
The Cause of Baha'u'llah encompasses all virtues; it is the true foundation of the divine teachings and the heavenly grace.
These divine teachings presently resemble the infinite space which contains all suns and planets.
Every prophet is a synthetic Reformer and an Original Revelator. He combines the separate genuine elements of the religions of the past into a whole and adds to it new elements to make it suitable to modern time he lives in. in short a Revelator looks backward and forward and concerns himself with the Present.
The world of humanity, says 'Abdu'l-Baha, will not be transformed into the heavenly paradise through the promotion of one, single principle. Every progressive principle which is the cause of the advancement of the world of humanity is like a simple element. A simple element does not produce a composite life. But when the elements are associated together then a being is brought into existence.
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
Shoghi Effendi has for years urged the Baha'is (who have asked his advice, and in general also) to study history, economics, sociology, etc. in order to be au courant with all the progressive movements and thoughts being put forth today, and so that they could correlate these to the Baha'i teachings. What he wants the Baha'is to do is to study more, not to study less. … One might liken Baha'u'llah's teachings to a sphere; there are points poles apart, and in between the thoughts and doctrines that unite them.
We must take the teachings as a great, balanced whole, not seek out and oppose to each other two strong statements that have different meanings; somewhere in between, there are links uniting the two. That is what makes our Faith so flexible and well balanced.
These various statements [on evolution] must be taken in conjunction with all the Baha'i teachings; we cannot get a correct picture by concentrating on just one phrase.
He feels that many of the perplexities that arise in your mind could be dissipated if you always conceived of the teachings as one great whole with many facets. Truth may, in covering different subjects, appear to be contradictory, and yet it is all one if you carry the thought through to the end....
You point to seeming contradictions in the Teachings, but truth is like a jewel with many facets. One verse may describe one facet and another, another. This does not mean that they are contradictory, merely that both must be pondered and understood in order to obtain a fuller insight into reality. One frequent cause of disputes in previous Dispensations was the penchant of men to seize upon and magnify one statement in their Scriptures while ignoring others which would have balanced it.
In attempting to understand the Writings, therefore, one must first realize that there is and can be no real contradiction in them, and in the light of this we can confidently seek the unity of meaning which they contain.
The evidence of the divine greatness of the Cause is that its teachings are so perfectly balanced. No virtue is so over-emphasized as to become a bias or weakness. It enables men to follow the golden mean, to be moderate and well balanced in all their affairs. That is why one can find statements that if taken by themselves seem to be almost incompatible with each other, but taken as a whole they form one perfect design, a pliable, workable system by which all men can live.
For thought and discussion