And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is that religion is a mighty
bulwark. If the edifice of religion shakes and totters, commotion and
chaos will ensue and the order of things will be utterly upset, for in the
world of mankind there are two safeguards that protect man from
wrongdoing. One is the law which punishes the criminal; but the law
prevents only the manifest crime and not the concealed sin; whereas the
ideal safeguard, namely, the religion of God, prevents both the manifest
and the concealed crime, trains man, educates morals, compels the adoption
of virtues and is the all-inclusive power which guarantees the felicity of
the world of mankind. But by religion is meant that which is ascertained
by investigation and not that which is based on mere imitation, the
foundation of Divine Religions and not human imitations.
And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is that although material
civilization is one of the means for the progress of the world of mankind,
yet until it becomes combined with Divine civilization, the desired
result, which is the felicity of mankind, will not be attained. Consider!
These battleships that reduce a city to ruins within the space of an hour
are the result of material civilization; likewise the Krupp guns, the
Mauser rifles, dynamite, submarines, torpedo boats, armed aircraft and
bombing aeroplanes—all these weapons of war are the malignant fruits of
material civilization. Had material civilization been combined with Divine
civilization, these fiery weapons would never have been invented. Nay,
rather, human energy would have been wholly devoted to useful inventions
and would have been concentrated on praiseworthy discoveries. Material
civilization is like a lamp-glass. Divine civilization is the lamp itself
and the glass without the light is dark. Material civilization is like the
body. No matter how infinitely graceful, elegant and beautiful it may be,
it is dead. Divine civilization is like the spirit, and the body gets its
life from the spirit, otherwise it becomes a corpse. It has thus been made
evident that the world of mankind is in need of the breaths of the Holy
Spirit. Without the spirit the world of mankind is lifeless, and without
this light the world of mankind is in utter darkness. For the world of
nature is an animal world. Until man is born again from the world of
nature, that is to say, becomes detached from the world of nature, he is
essentially an animal, and it is the teachings of God which converts this
animal into a human soul.
And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is the promotion of education.
Every child must be instructed in sciences as much as is necessary. If the
parents are able to provide the expenses of this education, it is all
right, otherwise the community must provide the means for the teaching of
that child.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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