Bahai Faith; Peace -- Religious aspects -- Bahai Faith
this cycle of illumination? It is evident that no vital results are now
forthcoming from the customs, institutions and standpoints of the past. In
view of this, shall blind imitations of ancestral forms and theological
interpretations continue to guide and control the religious life and
spiritual development of humanity today? Shall man, gifted with the power
of reason, unthinkingly follow and adhere to dogma, creeds and hereditary
beliefs which will not bear the analysis of reason in this century of
effulgent reality? Unquestionably this will not satisfy men of science,
for when they find premise or conclusion contrary to present standards of
proof and without real foundation, they reject that which has been
formerly accepted as standard and correct and move forward from new
foundations.
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
virtues 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.
Inasmuch as human interpretations and blind imitations differ widely,
religious strife and disagreement have arisen among mankind, the light of
true religion has been extinguished and the unity of the world of humanity
destroyed. The Prophets of God voiced the spirit of unity and agreement.
They have been the Founders of divine reality. Therefore, if the nations
of the world forsake imitations and investigate the reality underlying the
revealed Word of God, they will agree and become reconciled. For reality
is one and not multiple.
The nations and religions are steeped in blind and bigoted imitations. A
man is a Jew because his father was a Jew. The Muslim follows implicitly
the footsteps of his ancestors in belief and observance. The Buddhist is
true to his heredity as a Buddhist. That is to say, they profess religious
belief blindly and without investigation, making unity and agreement
impossible. It is evident, therefore, that this condition will not be
remedied without a reformation in the world of religion. In other words,
the fundamental reality of the divine religions must be renewed, reformed,
revoiced to mankind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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