tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1476021268212238693.post7290673962696055541..comments2023-06-22T13:33:29.331+00:00Comments on Bahá'í Epistolary: Divine Retribution against Jews: Beyond Anti-semitismWHY CLOUD CONFERENCES?http://www.blogger.com/profile/04092770735847449951noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1476021268212238693.post-51524426537696978512007-05-29T20:28:00.000+00:002007-05-29T20:28:00.000+00:00Thank you for this insightful post on a very chall...Thank you for this insightful post on a very challenging subject. It is perhaps useful to understand the broader theological perspective offered by the Bahá’í teachings regarding the spiritual and material consequences that rejection of God’s designated Teachers and Messengers entails. “The Prophets of God, those Pearls of the ocean of Divine Unity and the Repositories of Divine Revelation, have ever been the object of men's repudiation and denial,” Bahá’u’lláh states. Such repudiation, Bahá’u’lláh clearly indicates, has occurred throughout religious history: “Behold how the people, as a result of the verdict pronounced by the divines of His age, have cast Abraham, the Friend of God, into fire; how Moses, He Who held converse with the Almighty, was denounced as liar and slanderer. Reflect how Jesus, the Spirit of God, was, notwithstanding His extreme meekness and perfect tender-heartedness, treated by His enemies…Ponder that which befell Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, may the life of all else be a sacrifice unto Him.” The inevitable outcome of this rejection of God’s guidance and light was immersion in spiritual darkness—a suffering designed to reawaken those who had been the recipient of a merciful Divine judgement to the path of love and realization of their true purpose: “Abandon that which ye possess, and seize that which God, Who layeth low the necks of men, hath brought. Know ye of a certainty that if ye turn not back from that which ye have committed, chastisement will overtake you on every side, and ye shall behold things more grievous than that which ye beheld aforetime." But as Shoghi Effendi explains: “God…does not only punish the wrongdoings of His children. He chastises because He is just, and He chastens because He loves. Having chastened them, He cannot, in His great mercy, leave them to their fate. Indeed, by the very act of chastening them He prepares them for the mission for which He has created them. "My calamity is My providence," He, by the mouth of Bahá'u'lláh, has assured them, "outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy."<BR/><BR/>This perspective, then, provides a fuller context in which to understand the unique station and destiny of the Jewish people as the chosen people. ‘Abdu’l-Baha simultaneously speaks of the greatness of the Jews, of their past and future potential, and the spiritual causes of their “ignominy” and suffering: “From this review of the history of the Jewish people we learn that the foundation of the religion of God laid by 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.<BR/><BR/>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 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.” (Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 363)<BR/><BR/>And further, that the Jewish people, have now entered a dramatic new phase in their history: “Moreover, materially as well (as spiritually), the Israelites will gather in the Holy Land. This is irrefutable prophecy, for the ignominy which Israel has suffered for will-nigh twenty-five hundred years will now be changed into eternal glory, and in the eyes of all, the Jewish people will become glorified to such an extent as to draw the jealousy of its enemies and the envy of its friends.” (Lights of Guidance, p. 499)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com