Justice is, in this day, bewailing its plight, and Equity groaneth beneath the yoke of oppression. The thick clouds of tyranny have darkened the face of the earth, and enveloped its peoples. Through the movement of Our Pen of glory We have, at the bidding of the omnipotent Ordainer, breathed a...
Lutheranism took off almost immediately in many parts of Germany. It was a broad based religious movement just about from the beginning. I think Zwingli may not have been as mainstream though. Resentment against Rome was pretty widespread at the time, so they were pretty popular considering how...
I've practiced celibacy, and more or less am today. From the perspective of non-celibacy it's of course going to look really hard. But from my celibate perspective, what the other 99% of the population does looks exhausting emotionally, and spiritually. Once celibates learn how to discipline...
Luther's revolt against Rome was popular with people from many different walks of life, including nobility. What made the Protestant Reformation distinct from earlier religious movements was that it was sponsored by princes and kings who resented Roman influence in their territories. The...
where do we draw the line?
Where ever those in power say the line should be drawn, of course. The difference between the two is whether or not you agree with what they're doing. I don't want to be cynical. But I think that's just about all it comes down to.
With progressive revelation, things will be reiterated and clarified, but other times certain teachings will be entirely new. The passage being referred to is from the Book of Certitude, which is full of concepts and interpretations of scripture unique to the Baha'i faith. For example, nobody...
The Gospels shouldn't be treated as histories because there's no reason to believe that was their intention. Sure, we don't positively know the intentions of the evangelists but most reasonable and informed people would agree that the purpose of the Gospels was to spread the good news of Jesus...
Sadly Lao Tzu is merely considered to just be a really wise philosopher. I'm a big fan of him so I was kind of hoping for a fairly high position for him within the Baha'i faith. Nonetheless, I understand why he doesn't quite meet the criteria to be a manifestation of God.
I'm pretty sure that...
Does it really matter whether or not Jesus was descended from David or not? So here comes a carpenter from the backwaters of Israel who for some reason shows incredible wisdom regarding God, the purpose of the Mosaic law, life in the spirit, etc. despite his total lack of formal education. He...
People in less literate societies than our own are a lot better about memorization and recall then those who can afford to rely on books. I think it's fair to say that most of the Gospels is paraphrasing, but I believe that the oral knowledge of the Jesus' teachings would have been rich enough...
And there are other sheep I have
that are not of this fold,
and I must lead these too.
They too will listen to my voice,
and there will be one flock,
one sheperd.
John 10:16
Go Go Gadget, Unity of Religions!
I'm reminded of Matthew.
every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom new things as well as old.
Matthew 13:52
That's awesome! Have you heard of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. They branched off of the Capuchins back in the eighties. I was looking into them before Baha'u'llah, God, what have you led me elsewhere.
I must admit, I feel more like a priest being just an ordinary Baha'i than I did when I was a Catholic firmly committed to going into the priesthood. The duties of proclaiming Baha'u'llah and serving his cause are a bit more challenging.