the truth of past religions and sacred scriptures
Editorial introduction
To love the light, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, is to welcome it from whatever lamp it shines, Israelite or Arab, Persian or Indian. That single affection changes how a person opens the Torah, the Gospel, the Qur’an or the counsels of Zoroaster and Buddha: not as rivals to be ranked, but as heralds sent from one Will to teach love, justice and peace, and to lift whole peoples from ignorance to understanding. Bahá’u’lláh asks his followers to know these books, to see how the religion of Jesus became the religion of Muhammad and lives on in the faith they now profess, and to recognize in every confirming revelation the same seed bearing new fruit. The Qur’an’s own word that it confirms earlier scripture while allowing different ways and testing each people by what it has been given [1] opens a fruitful comparison. Reading this way soon raises other questions: how progressive revelation holds its many messengers together, which parts of religion endure and which must change, and why a tradition that begins in light can need renewal. The invitation is as practical as it is wide: study the books, observe what their teachings cultivate in a life, and let recognition of a shared purpose deepen friendship without erasing honest difference.
We are the lovers of light. When we see the light we worship it, however lowly the source from which it comes; whether its source be Israelite, or Arabic, or Persian, or Indian matters not to us. We love not the lamp, but the light. It is for the light that we search.
The Baha'i foundation is one with the foundation of the Torah and Gospel - it has been renewed. Baha'is must be knowledgeable about the Torah and Gospel.
In all the heavenly Books, the command to love and unity hath been given, and in truth it is the cause of the world's order and the nations' tranquility.
Praise be to God Who has shone forth with the Sun of Will upon the Kingdom of meanings and utterance, whereupon appeared the Torah, the Gospel, the Qur'an and other Books, and through them revealed the laws of religions. Glory be to Him Who hath sent down the verses and made them insights for those who turn to Him, lamps for those who draw nigh, and cords of guidance amidst humanity, that whosoever desires to draw near to the Most Sublime Horizon and the Supreme Summit may grasp them.
O `Abdu'llah! The divine Books have each been a herald, summoning the people to the Truth, and have been specifically sent down from the heaven of the Divine Will for guidance.
And in another instance, the proof of Moses was the Torah, and the evidence that remained of Christ was and is the leaves of the Gospel, and the enduring testimony of the Seal of the Prophets was the Book of the Furqan, which distinguished between truth and falsehood.
"This divine Holy Book is celestial revelation. The Torah brings salvation and the glorious Gospel contains the mysteries of the Kingdom and lights of the Divine Realm. It is divine bounty and signs of heavenly guidance."
God hath taught thee knowledge of the Book from the Furqan, the Gospel, the Torah, the Psalms, and what lieth beyond them of the Scrolls.
The truth of the Torah and Gospel and the greatness and grandeur of the Divine Prophets are repeatedly mentioned in the Qur'an.
This is a Book which the All-Merciful hath sent down from the Kingdom of Utterance, confirming the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an.
It has been shown incontrovertibly that God chose the Prophets as a mercy in all worlds, and not as a chastisement on the wayfarers. They all summoned the people to the path of guidance and held fast to the sure handle, and thus they delivered degenerate peoples from the nadir of ignorance and blindness and led them to the apex of excellence and understanding.
For example, His Holiness Zoroaster was a prophet, precisely according to the Messianic example. There was no difference whatsoever between the spirit of the teachings which Zoroaster gave and those which His Holiness the Christ gave. Likewise the teachings of Buddha are not at all opposed to the teachings of the Christ, or to the teachings of any of the prophets. These great and blessed souls had for their aim the same principle. Their purpose was one, their law was one, their teaching was one.
In brief, the prophethood of Zoroaster is as clear and manifest as the sun. It is strange that they accept the prophethood of Moses yet deny Zoroaster. Since Zoroaster is not explicitly mentioned by name in the Qur'an, the followers of the Furqan denied and objected to Him, even though some prophets are mentioned by name in the Qur'an while most are mentioned by their attributes.
In numerous passages in the divine Tablets, blessed mention is made of Zoroaster with utmost praise, for that blessed being was one of the Manifestations of the Divine Unity and became the cause of guidance for a great nation. Whoever studies the teachings and counsels of that noble one will clearly see that those teachings are heavenly and those counsels are the words of a divine person. And as long as the Parsees acted according to the counsels and admonitions of that noble one, they were cherished in both worlds, but when they became deprived of that conduct and behavior, that eternal glory was transformed.
The real teaching of Buddha is the same as the teaching of Jesus Christ. The teachings of all the Prophets are the same in character.
O handmaid of God! Buddha too was one of the Prophets, but His teachings have been distorted and altered. What the Buddhists now possess is contrary to the original foundation of Buddha's Law.
As for other religions, in the texts of Baha'u'llah and writings of the friends, such as the book of Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, there are explicit mentions of Zoroaster, Buddha, Brahma and Confucius. Similarly in my letters, the original foundations of Zoroaster and Buddha were very compatible but were later altered and changed.
O longtime friend! The religion of Jamshid was one of truthfulness, friendship, good nature and goodness. For a brief time that religion held sway upon the earth, but after a short while it was forgotten.
Beseech thou God that thou mayest adopt a religion that is heart-appealing and sweet, which is the essence of the manifest Faith.
Moses served human unity, Christ established the unity of the human world, Muhammad proclaimed human unity, the Gospel and Torah and Quran established the foundation of human unity.
This is the strongest proof that the Teachings of Baha'u'llah have within them the same power to mould and influence human lives as the Teachings of Jesus. They free the souls of men from world-attachments and imperfections. They open the doors in this age of the world to perfection. The Jews admit that Jesus appeared in the world and taught heavenly principles. If Christ had not appeared after Moses the mention of Moses would have been lost. The foundation of Jesus and the foundation of Moses were the same. The foundation of Baha'u'llah is likewise the same as Moses and Jesus.
Observe how Christ and Muhammad sowed a seed that until now yields fruit, while all other farmers ultimately failed and lost.
Answer to third question: Baha'u'llah did not abrogate the teachings of Christ, but rather confirmed and renewed them, expanded and perfected them, and explained and clarified them.
Christ gave new life and effect to the meanings of the ancient law.
This is why Moses called the Israelite people to the ancient God of their fathers and the God of Abraham, and Christ said "I have not come to destroy but to fulfill."
The character of divine sovereignty has no change or transformation, but the organization and administration change continually. This is why Jesus Christ said: "I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it."
He does not abrogate that which has been deemed essential in the Former Faiths. Like unto the nuggets of gold He takes them out of the heaps of superstitions and dogmas, polishes and cleanses them, gives a new luster and brilliancy and displays them before the eyes of the public.
For instance, the New Testament speaks of compassion, kindness, forgiveness and clemency. These same teachings exist in the Faith of Baha'u'llah. The Qur'an speaks of justice and punishment, and these same concepts are preserved in the Cause of Baha'u'llah.
The Baha'i message is a call to religious unity and not an invitation to a new religion, not a new path to immortality, God forbid!
It is the ancient path cleared of the debris of imaginations and superstitions of men, of the debris of strife and misunderstanding and is again made a clear path to the sincere seeker, that he may enter therein in assurance, and find that the Word of God is one Word, though the Speakers were many.
I have come to visit the peace societies of America because the fundamental principles of our Cause are universal peace and the promotion of the basic doctrine of the oneness and truth of all the divine religions. Differences between religions are due to misunderstanding and imitation. If these imitations were to be eliminated, all religions would be united.
Likewise every one of the world-religions has been the cause of progress and advancement in its own time, but now they have become like old, very old trees.
Because of this the teachings of Moses were confined to Palestine. The cause of Jesus Christ was spread over some parts of Europe, Asia and Africa, and the cause of Mohammed over some parts of Europe, Asia and Africa; none were universal.
At the time of Mohammed, no one believed in Christ, so Christ was first preached by Mohammed. Then they were given the teachings of Mohammed.
For example, the followers of the Gospel hold fast to a few pages, and by these limited pages consider themselves superior to and better than all other peoples. And before that, the Torah, which was specific to Moses, consisted of a few books. They have gathered various sayings of the Prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Solomon, David, Jeremiah, Zechariah and others into one volume, though most parts of it are historical accounts written after Moses. Then came the decree of the Furqan (Qur'an), which in truth distinguishes between right and wrong. … And now, many equivalents to all these have been revealed and are available and evident.
Say: O people! He has come with that wherewith came 'Ali, then Muhammad, then the Spirit, then He Who conversed with God, and the Friend of God.
The Books have been sealed by the Most Great Book wherein is detailed the knowledge of what hath been and what shall be.
… The preamble of this Book hath been adorned with that which was foretold in the Psalms, the Qur'an, the Gospel and what was revealed in the Holy Books.
Say: O people! By God, the Torah hath testified to Him to Whom even the pebbles have borne witness, and the Gospel crieth out unto the Glorious Lord, and the Qur'an proclaimeth the advent of the All-Merciful, and the Bayan circleth round the Throne. Yet the people remain wrapped in a thick veil.
O thou who hast confessed and believed in the Words of God!
Thank God, for He hath uncovered the veil from before thine eye, and that thou hast witnessed the great signs of the greatest glad-tidings which have been revealed in the Gospel, Bible and the Psalms; and wert confirmed that verily those glad-tidings have allusions to the appearance of the Kingdom of God during this time, and that the horizons shall brighten through the light of the effulgence in this age, which is the age of the lights and the century of thy God, the Powerful, the Almighty!
This golden thread of promise concerning the Messianic Millennium is running through the Bible and it was so destined that God in its own good time will cause its appearance. Not even a single word will be left meaningless or unfulfilled.
As thou canst observe, they speak His praise from pulpits and mosques, acknowledging His greatness and His Manifestation. Yet when the Day of God appeared and the lights of His countenance shone forth from the horizon of His Will, all remained veiled save whom God wished.
There is no way for you to believe in the Qur'an except that ye believe in the Bayan, and it is the same whether ye believe or believe not. Would any among you be content to say at this time "I follow the religion of Jesus"? If not, then how can ye be content to follow that which ye now follow? That which Jesus - peace be upon Him - revealed of religion was from God; this became the religion of Muhammad in His Manifestation, and this became the religion of your Qa'im in His Manifestation.
In the course of a short conversation this morning with 'Abdu'l-Baha, we asked if it were necessary to believe in all the Manifestations, and in reply He quoted the words of Jesus to the Pharisees:
"Had ye believed in Moses, ye would also believe in me" adding, "If a king send many different governors to rule a city, and the people obey all but the last one, it will be to the king as though they disobeyed all."
From whatever dawning point it may appear they turn toward it. At one time, it appeared from the dawning point of Moses, then from that of Jesus and again from that of Muhammad.
From the beginning of Christianity and Islam up to the present day, no one has spoken thus, proving the validity of Christ and Muhammad in a Jewish temple and in a manner to which no one took exception.
Man must be just. After these statements no one can deny the greatness of Christ.
"The philosophers are also teachers but all they could do was to teach themselves and a few other souls. But the prophets of God taught the whole world.
In most of these places I spoke to them about the original foundations of the divine religions and I explained to them the proofs of the validity of the divine prophets and of the holy Manifestations.
Yes, in the Torah there is an expression "madmad" which means praise and has also come as a person's name, and in numerical calculation corresponds to the number of Muhammad. The Baha'i Jews in Hamadan have written a treatise on the truth of Muhammad and sent it to the Christians of America.
Consider with what knowledge His holiness Baha'u'llah hath favored the Baha'is, that if they are given the whole world they will not deny Christ.
The sacred books of all nations speak of the possibility of the new birth of man. What does this mean?
A child in the matrix of its mother is in utter darkness. When it is born into the world it comes into the light.
The traces of truth cannot be eliminated. Even if all who dwell on earth were to unite and wish to obliterate the divine traces, they would be powerless to do so.
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
Say ye: We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah (in Islam).
The fundamental principle enunciated by Baha'u'llah... is that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive process, that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony, are but facets of one truth, that their functions are complementary, that they differ only in the non-essential aspects of their doctrines, and represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society.
Unto the cities of all nations He hath sent His Messengers, Whom He hath commissioned to announce unto men tidings of the Paradise of His good pleasure...
For thought and discussion