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 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 concentrated on praiseworthy discoveries. Material civilization is
like a globe of glass. Divine civilization is the light 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 convert 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.
And among the teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh are justice and right.
Until these are realized on the plane of existence, all things will be in
disorder and remain imperfect. The world of mankind is a world of
oppression and cruelty, and a realm of aggression and error.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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