Gems of Divine Mysteries

[Postmaster]

Now that the discourse hath reached this exalted and intractable theme and touched upon this sublime and impenetrable mystery, know that the Christian and Jewish peoples have not grasped the intent of the words of God and the promises He hath made to them in His Book, and have therefore denied His Cause, turned aside from His Prophets, and rejected His proofs. Had they but fixed their gaze upon the testimony of God itself, had they refused to follow in the footsteps of the abject and foolish among their leaders and divines, they would doubtless have attained to the repository of guidance and the treasury of virtue, and quaffed from the crystal waters of life eternal in the city of the 7 All-Merciful, in the garden of the All-Glorious, and within the inner reality of His paradise. But as they have refused to see with the eyes wherewith God hath endowed them, and desired things other than that which He in His mercy had desired for them, they have strayed far from the retreats of nearness, have been deprived of the living waters of reunion and the wellspring of His grace, and have lain as dead within the shrouds of their own selves.

I thought the theme was racial and religious equality? Suddenly we are Gods black sheep?

[Postmaster]

I'll say God bless the Christians and Jews for they bought about the marvels of the modern world. Especially medical and scientific.

[Postmaster]

I have more serious things to expose. I will in due time. I'll let these threads die a little.

[I, Brian]

Okay, this is simply turning into a diatribe - thread closed.

[Mick]

I have started this thread because another was closed. I felt, since the thread could be viewed, then a response should be allowed. I hope this is ok with you, Brian.

This quote was posted by a respondent and then the thread was closed. It was taken from a book, a compilation of writings of Baha'u'llah called Gems of Divine Mysteries.

Now that the discourse hath reached this exalted and intractable theme and touched upon this sublime and impenetrable mystery, know that the Christian and Jewish peoples have not grasped the intent of the words of God and the promises He hath made to them in His Book, and have therefore denied His Cause, turned aside from His Prophets, and rejected His proofs. Had they but fixed their gaze upon the testimony of God itself, had they refused to follow in the footsteps of the abject and foolish among their leaders and divines, they would doubtless have attained to the repository of guidance and the treasury of virtue, and quaffed from the crystal waters of life eternal in the city of the 7 All-Merciful, in the garden of the All-Glorious, and within the inner reality of His paradise. But as they have refused to see with the eyes wherewith God hath endowed them, and desired things other than that which He in His mercy had desired for them, they have strayed far from the retreats of nearness, have been deprived of the living waters of reunion and the wellspring of His grace, and have lain as dead within the shrouds of their own selves.
(Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 5)

This poster wrote,

I thought the theme was racial and religious equality? Suddenly we are Gods black sheep?

The document, Gems of Divine Mysteries, is a 78 page collection of Baha'u'llahs works. This particular paragraph states what was happening at the time He wrote this. Baha'u'llah made some extraordinay claims to the world. He stated He was the promised one of all religions and in separate tablets to the rulers of the modern world in the mid 1800's, told them to turn their face to the sun. This included religious leaders as well as Kings and Queens and elected officials. They, generally, ignored Him and did not even bother to investigate. What He is doing here is reporting what was happening and what could have happened if only they would have listened and taken guidance. Like so many things, if taken out of context of the writings, it can be skewed to some meaningless rhetoric.

By the way, the Baha'i Faith teaches the Oneness of Mankind, which means each of us should be treated equally and all of us do source from the same humanity. But it is not limited to racial equality but includes ethnic, cultural, gender and any other reason mankind has found to not like each other. Baha'u'llah said, "We are the fruits of one tree, the leaves of one branch, the drops of one wave..." It is what is taught and what the thousands of Baha'is I personally design their life by.

It also teaches the Oneness of Religion, which means that all the religions should recognize their same Source (God) and since they are of the same family, should not let the differences of their teachings be a reason for disharmony. No one in the Baha'i Faith should claim equality of religion as one of the teachings of Baha'u'llah. Baha'u'llah didn't teach that. That is a guarantee written into the US Constitution and many times confused with some sort of God given right. Concerning religions being equal or the same, they can't be, since their revelation was progressive and meant for the time of its announcement. We also know that because of this progression, we couldn't have had one without the previous. So, I guess you could say that each of the religions have an equal importance as seen in the building process. Is one of the first bricks more important, though, than one of the later bricks in a building? Don't each of the bricks have a job, and each of them carry a different load and different function? Most of the religions of God look about as much alike on the surface as a mountain and a molehill. Their Essence, though, is identical. The Manifestations, on the other hand, are equal and the same.

Your last question, "Suddenly we are God's black sheep?" is disturbing to me. I am guessing you are making reference with the word "we" to the Christians. If I am wrong, I apologize. I can't imagine God indicting a whole religion. Is that what you are suggesting? Come on, now. Each of us is on a journey. Part of that journey is to try to understand what God created and what God wants from us. I have come to believe that the important part of this is "the journey".

I am not sure what you mean by "God's Black Sheep", but my answer to your question, simplified, is no.

I would suggest that we find those things that are similar in our religions to talk about. This shouldn't be a competition.

Mick

[I, Brian]

Mick's post moved in from a stand alone thread - and with that, I think we can close this thread in finality.