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RELIGION AND CIVILIZATION |
The greatest bestowal of God in the world of humanity is
religion; for assuredly the divine teachings of religion are above
all other sources of instruction and development to man. Religion
confers upon man eternal life and guides his footsteps in the world
of morality. It opens the doors of unending happiness and bestows
everlasting honor upon the human kingdom. It has been the basis
of all civilization and progress in the history of mankind.
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We will therefore investigate religion, seeking from an unprejudiced
standpoint to discover whether it is the source of illumination,
the cause of development and the animating impulse of all
human advancement. We will investigate independently, free from
the restrictions of dogmatic beliefs, blind imitations of ancestral
forms, and the influence of mere human opinion; for as we enter
this question we will find some who declare that religion is a cause
of uplift and betterment in the world, while others assert just
as positively that it is a detriment and a source of degradation to
mankind. We must give these questions thorough and impartial
consideration so that no doubt or uncertainty may linger in our
minds regarding them.
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We will first consider the founders of the religions—the prophets—review the story of their lives, compare the conditions preceding
their appearance with those subsequent to their departure,
following historical records and irrefutable facts instead of relying
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upon traditionary statements which are open to both acceptance
and denial.
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Among the great prophets was His Holiness Abraham who
being an iconoclast and a herald of the oneness of God, was banished
from His native land. He founded a family upon which the blessing
of God descended; and it was owing to this religious basis and
ordination that the Abrahamic house progressed and advanced.
Through the divine benediction, noteworthy and luminous prophets
issued from the lineage of His Holiness. There appeared Isaac,
Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon. The
Holy Land was conquered by the power of the Covenant of God
with Abraham, and the glory of the Solomonic wisdom and sovereignty
dawned. All this was due to the religion of God which this
blessed lineage established and upheld. It is evident that throughout
the history of Abraham and His posterity this was the source of
their honor, advancement and civilization. Even today the descendants
of His household and lineage are found throughout the world.
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There is another and more significant aspect to this religious
impulse and impetus. The children of Israel were in bondage
and captivity in the land of Egypt four hundred years. They
were in an extreme state of degradation and slavery under the
tyranny and oppression of the Egyptians. While they were in
the condition of abject poverty, in the lowest degree of abasement,
ignorance and servility His Holiness Moses suddenly appeared
among them. Although He was but a shepherd, such majesty,
grandeur and efficiency became manifest in Him through the power
of religion, that His influence continues to this day. His prophethood
was established throughout the land and the law of His Word
became the foundation of the laws of the nations. This unique
personage, single and alone, rescued the children of Israel from
bondage through the power of religious training and discipline.
He led them to the Holy Land and founded there a great civilization
which has become permanent and renowned and under which
these people attained the highest degree of honor and glory. He
freed them from bondage and captivity. He imbued them with
qualities of progressiveness and capability. They proved to be a
civilizing people with instincts toward education and scholastic
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attainment. Their philosophy became renowned; their industries
were celebrated throughout the nations. In all lines of advancement
which characterize a progressive people they achieved distinction.
In the splendor of the reign of Solomon their sciences and
arts advanced to such a degree that even the Greek philosophers
journeyed to Jerusalem to sit at the feet of the Hebrew sages and
acquire the basis of Israelitish law. According to eastern history
this is an established fact. Even Socrates visited the Jewish
doctors in the Holy Land, consorting with them and discussing the
principles and basis of their religious belief. After his return to
Greece he formulated his philosophical teaching of divine unity
and advanced his belief in the immortality of the spirit beyond the
dissolution of the body. Without doubt Socrates absorbed these
verities from the wise men of the Jews with whom he came in
contact. Hippocrates and other philosophers of the Greeks likewise
visited Palestine and acquired wisdom from the Jewish prophets,
studying the basis of ethics and morality, returning to their
country with contributions which have made Greece famous.
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When a movement fundamentally religious makes a weak
nation strong, changes a nondescript tribal people into a mighty and
powerful civilization, rescues them from captivity and elevates
them to sovereignty, transforms their ignorance into knowledge
and endows them with an impetus of advancement in all degrees
of development—(this is not theory, but historical fact)—it becomes
evident that religion is the cause of man’s attainment to
honor and sublimity.
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But when we speak of religion we mean the essential foundation
or reality of religion, not the dogmas and blind imitations
which have gradually encrusted it and which are the cause of
the decline and effacement of a nation. These are inevitably
destructive and a menace and hindrance to a nation’s life,—even
as it is recorded in the Torah and confirmed in history that when
the Jews became fettered by empty forms and imitations the wrath
of God became manifest. When they forsook the foundations of the
law of God, Nebuchadnezzar came and conquered the Holy Land.
He killed and made captive the people of Israel, laid waste the
country and populous cities and burned the villages. Seventy
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thousand Jews were carried away captive to Babylon. He destroyed
Jerusalem, despoiled the great temple, desecrated the holy of holies
and burned the Torah, the heavenly book of scriptures. Therefore
we learn that allegiance to the essential foundation of the divine
religions is ever the cause of development and progress, whereas
the abandonment and beclouding of that essential reality through
blind imitations and adherence to dogmatic beliefs is the cause
of a nation’s debasement and degradation. After their conquest
by the Babylonians, the Jews were successively subjugated by the
Greeks and Romans. Under the Roman general Titus, 70 A.D.,
the Holy Land was stripped and pillaged, Jerusalem razed to its
foundations and the Israelites scattered broadcast throughout the
world. So complete was their dispersion that they have continued
without a country and government of their own to the present day.
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From this review of the history of the Jewish people we
learn that the foundation of the religion of God laid by His Holiness
Moses was the cause of their eternal honor and national prestige,
the animating impulse of their advancement and racial supremacy
and the source of that excellence which will always command
the respect and reverence of those who understand their
peculiar destiny and outcome. The dogmas and blind imitations
which gradually obscured the reality of the religion of God proved
to be Israel’s destructive influences causing the expulsion of these
chosen people from the Holy Land of their Covenant and promise.
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What then is the mission of the divine prophets? Their mission
is the education and advancement of the world of humanity. They
are the real teachers and educators, the universal instructors of
mankind. If we wish to discover whether any one of these great
souls or messengers was in reality a prophet of God we must
investigate the facts surrounding His life and history; and the first
point of our investigation will be the education He bestowed upon
mankind. If He has been an educator, if He has really trained a
nation or people, causing it to rise from the lowest depths of
ignorance to the highest station of knowledge, then we are sure that
He was a prophet. This is a plain and clear method of procedure,
proof that is irrefutable. We do not need to seek after other
proofs. We do not need to mention miracles, saying that out of
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rock water gushed forth, for such miracles and statements may be
denied and refused by those who hear them. The deeds of Moses
are conclusive evidences of His prophethood. If a man be fair,
unbiased and willing to investigate reality he will undoubtedly
testify to the fact that Moses was verily a man of God and a great
personage.
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In further consideration of this subject, I wish you to be fair
and reasonable in your judgment, setting aside all religious prejudices.
We should earnestly seek and thoroughly investigate realities,
recognizing that the purpose of the religion of God is the education
of humanity and the unity and fellowship of mankind. Furthermore
we will establish the point that the foundations of the
religions of God are one foundation. This foundation is not multiple
for it is reality itself. Reality does not admit of multiplicity
although each of the divine religions is separable into two divisions.
One concerns the world of morality and the ethical training of
human nature. It is directed to the advancement of the world
of humanity in general; it reveals and inculcates the knowledge
of God and makes possible the discovery of the verities of life.
This is ideal and spiritual teaching, the essential quality of divine
religion and not subject to change or transformation. It is the
one foundation of all the religions of God. Therefore the religions
are essentially one and the same.
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The second classification or division comprises social laws and
regulations applicable to human conduct. This is not the essential
spiritual quality of religion. It is subject to change and transformation
according to the exigencies and requirements of time and
place. For instance in the time of Noah certain requirements
made it necessary that all sea foods be allowable or lawful. During
the time of the Abrahamic prophethood it was considered allowable
because of a certain exigency that a man should marry his aunt,
even as Sarah was the sister of Abraham’s mother. During the
cycle of Adam it was lawful and expedient for a man to marry his
own sister, even as Abel, Cain and Seth the sons of Adam married
their sisters. But in the law of the Pentateuch revealed by Moses
these marriages were forbidden and their custom and sanction
abrogated. Other laws formerly valid were annulled during the
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time of Moses. For example, it was lawful in Abraham’s cycle to
eat the flesh of the camel, but during the time of Jacob this was
prohibited. Such changes and transformations in the teaching of
religion are applicable to the ordinary conditions of life but they
are not important or essential. His Holiness Moses lived in the
wilderness of Sinai where crime necessitated direct punishment.
There were no penitentiaries or penalties of imprisonment. Therefore
according to the exigency of the time and place it was a law
of God that an eye should be given for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth. It would not be practicable to enforce this law at the present
time; for instance to blind a man who accidentally blinded you.
In the Torah there are many commands concerning the punishment
of a murderer. It would not be allowable or possible to carry out
these ordinances today. Human conditions and exigencies are such
that even the question of capital punishment,—the one penalty
which most nations have continued to enforce for murder,—is now
under discussion by wise men who are debating its advisability. In
fact, laws for the ordinary conditions of life are only valid temporarily.
The exigencies of the time of Moses justified cutting off
a man’s hand for theft but such a penalty is not allowable now.
Time changes conditions, and laws change to suit conditions. We
must remember that these changing laws are not the essentials;
they are the accidentals of religion. The essential ordinances established
by a Manifestation of God are spiritual; they concern moralities,
the ethical development of man and faith in God. They are
ideal and necessarily permanent; expressions of the one foundation
and not amenable to change or transformation. Therefore the
fundamental basis of the revealed religion of God is immutable,
unchanging throughout the centuries, not subject to the varying
conditions of the human world.
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Christ ratified and proclaimed the foundation of the law of
Moses. Muḥammad and all the prophets have revoiced that same
foundation of reality. Therefore the purposes and accomplishments
of the divine messengers have been one and the same. They
were the source of advancement to the body-politic and the cause
of the honor and divine civilization of humanity the foundation
of which is one and the same in every dispensation. It is evident
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then that the proofs of the validity and inspiration of a prophet
of God are the deeds of beneficent accomplishment and greatness
emanating from Him. If He proves to be instrumental in the elevation
and betterment of mankind, He is undoubtedly a valid and
heavenly messenger.
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At the time when the Israelites had been dispersed by the power
of the Roman empire and the national life of the Hebrew people
had been effaced by their conquerors,—when the law of God had
seemingly passed from them and the foundation of the religion of
God was apparently destroyed,—Jesus Christ appeared. When
His Holiness arose among the Jews, the first thing He did was to
proclaim the validity of the Manifestation of Moses. He declared
that the Torah, the Old Testament, was the Book of God and that
all the prophets of Israel were valid and true. He extolled the mission
of Moses and through His proclamation the name of Moses
was spread throughout the world. Through Christianity the greatness
of Moses became known among all nations. It is a fact that
before the appearance of Christ, the name of Moses had not been
heard in Írán. In India they had no knowledge of Judaism and
it was only through the Christianizing of Europe that the teachings
of the Old Testament became spread in that region. Throughout
Europe there was not a copy of the Old Testament; but consider
this carefully and judge it aright;—through the instrumentality of
Christ, through the translation of the New Testament, the little
volume of the Gospel, the Old Testament, the Torah, has been
translated into six hundred languages and spread everywhere in the
world. The names of the Hebrew prophets became household words
among the nations, who believed that the children of Israel were
verily the chosen people of God, a holy nation under the especial
blessing and protection of God, and that therefore the prophets
who had arisen in Israel were the day springs of revelation and
brilliant stars in the heaven of the will of God.
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Therefore His Holiness Christ really promulgated Judaism for
He was a Jew and not opposed to the Jews. He did not deny the
prophethood of Moses; on the contrary He proclaimed and ratified
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it. He did not invalidate the Torah; He spread its teachings. That
portion of the ordinances of Moses which concerned transactions
and unimportant conditions underwent transformation but the
essential teachings of Moses were revoiced and confirmed by Christ
without change. He left nothing unfinished or incomplete. Likewise
through the supreme efficacy and power of the Word of God
He united most of the nations of the east and the west. This was accomplished
at a time when these nations were opposed to each other
in hostility and strife. He led them beneath the overshadowing
tent of the oneness of humanity. He educated them until they became
united and agreed and through His spirit of conciliation the
Roman, Greek, Chaldean and Egyptian were blended in a composite
civilization. This wonderful power and extraordinary efficacy of
the Word prove conclusively the validity of His Holiness Christ.
Consider how His heavenly sovereignty is still permanent and lasting.
Verily this is conclusive proof and manifest evidence.
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From another horizon we see Muḥammad the prophet of Arabia
appearing. You may not know that the first address of Muḥammad
to His tribe was the statement, “Verily, Moses was a prophet of
God and the Torah is a book of God. Verily, O ye people, ye
must believe in the Torah, in Moses and the prophets. Ye must
accept all the prophets of Israel as valid.” In the Qur’án, the
Muḥammadan Bible, there are seven statements or repetitions of the
Mosaic narrative, and in all the historic accounts Moses is praised.
Muḥammad announces that His Holiness Moses was the greatest
prophet of God, that God guided Him in the wilderness of Sinai,
that through the light of guidance Moses hearkened to the summons
of God, that He was the interlocutor of God and the bearer
of the tablet of the ten commandments, that all the contemporary
nations of the world arose against Him and that eventually Moses
conquered them, for falsehood and error are ever overcome by
truth. There are many other instances of Muḥammad’s confirmation
of Moses. I am mentioning but a few. Consider that His
Holiness Muḥammad was born among the savage and barbarous
tribes of Arabia, lived among them and was outwardly illiterate
and uninformed of the holy books of God. The Arabian people
were in the utmost ignorance and barbarism. They buried their infant
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daughters alive, considering this to be an evidence of a valorous
and lofty nature. They lived in bondage and serfdom under
the Íránian and Roman governments and were scattered throughout
the desert engaged in continual strife and bloodshed. When the
light of Muḥammad dawned, the darkness of ignorance was dispelled
from the deserts of Arabia. In a short period of time those
barbarous peoples attained a superlative degree of civilization which
with Baghdád as its center extended as far westward as Spain and
afterward influenced the greater part of Europe. What proof of
prophethood could be greater than this, unless we close our eyes to
justice and remain obstinately opposed to reason.
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Today the Christians are believers in Moses, accept Him as a
prophet of God and praise Him most highly. The Muḥammadans
are likewise believers in Moses, accept the validity of His prophethood,
at the same time believing in Christ. Could it be said that
the acceptance of Moses by the Christians and Muḥammadans has
been harmful and detrimental to those people? On the contrary,
it has been beneficial to them, proving that they have been fair-minded
and just. What harm could result to the Jewish people
then if they in return should accept His Holiness Christ and
acknowledge the validity of the prophethood of His Holiness
Muḥammad? By this acceptance and praiseworthy attitude the
enmity and hatred which have afflicted mankind so many centuries
would be dispelled, fanaticism and bloodshed pass away and the
world be blessed by unity and agreement. Christians and Muḥammadans
believe and admit that Moses was the interlocutor of God.
Why do you not say that Christ was the Word of God? Why do
you not speak these few words that will do away with all this
difficulty? Then there will be no more hatred and fanaticism, no
more warfare and bloodshed in the Land of Promise. Then there
will be peace among you forever.
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Verily, I now declare to you that Moses was the interlocutor of
God and a most noteworthy prophet; that Moses revealed the
fundamental law of God and founded the real ethical basis of the
civilization and progress of humanity. What harm is there in
this? Have I lost anything by saying this to you and believing
it as a Bahá’í? On the contrary it benefits me, and His Holiness
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Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Cause, confirms me, saying:
“You have been fair and just in your judgment; you have
impartially investigated the truth and arrived at a true conclusion;
you have announced your belief in Moses a prophet of God and
accepted the Torah the book of God.” Inasmuch as it is possible
for me to sweep away all evidences of prejudice by such a liberal
and universal statement of belief why is it not possible for
you to do likewise? Why not put an end to this religious strife
and establish a bond of connection between the hearts of men?
Why should not the followers of one religion praise the founder
or teacher of another? The other religionists extol the greatness
of His Holiness Moses and admit that He was the founder of
Judaism. Why do the Hebrews refuse to praise and accept the
other great messengers who have appeared in the world? What
harm could there be in this? What rightful objection? None whatever.
You would lose nothing by such action and statement. On
the contrary you would contribute to the welfare of mankind. You
would be instrumental in establishing the happiness of the world of
humanity. The eternal honor of man depends upon the liberalism
of this modern age. Inasmuch as our God is one God and the
creator of all mankind, He provides for and protects all. We
acknowledge him as a God of kindness, justice and mercy. Why
then should we, His children and followers, war and fight, bringing
sorrow and grief into the hearts of each other? God is loving and
merciful. His intention in religion has ever been the bond of unity
and affinity between humankind.
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Praise be to God! the mediaeval ages of darkness have passed
away and this century of radiance has dawned,—this century
wherein the reality of things is becoming evident,—wherein science
is penetrating the mysteries of the universe, the oneness of the
world of humanity is being established and service to mankind is
the paramount motive of all existence. Shall we remain steeped
in our fanaticisms and cling to our prejudices? Is it fitting that
we should still be bound and restricted by ancient fables and superstitions
of the past; be handicapped by superannuated beliefs and
the ignorances of dark ages, waging religious wars, fighting and
shedding blood, shunning and anathematizing each other? Is this
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becoming? Is it not better for us to be loving and considerate
toward each other? Is it not preferable to enjoy fellowship and
unity; join in anthems of praise to the most high God and extol
all His prophets in the spirit of acceptance and true vision? Then
indeed this world will become a paradise and the promised Day
of God will dawn. Then according to the prophecy of Isaiah the
wolf and the lamb will drink from the same stream, the owl and
the vulture will nest together in the same branches and the lion
and the calf pasture in the same meadow. What does this mean?
It means that fierce and contending religions, hostile creeds and
divergent beliefs will reconcile and associate, notwithstanding their
former hatreds and antagonism. Through the liberalism of human
attitude demanded in this radiant century they will blend together
in perfect fellowship and love. This is the spirit and meaning
of Isaiah’s words. There will never be a day when this prophecy
will come to pass literally, for these animals by their natures
cannot mingle and associate in kindness and love. Therefore this
prophecy symbolizes the unity and agreement of races, nations and
peoples who will come together in attitudes of intelligence, illumination
and spirituality.
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