Another 'bump' for the Seven Valleys.
It is a gorgeously written text, in the style of the great Sufi Persian epics like Attar's Conference of the Birds and Rumi's Masnavi.
I read it many years ago and found it aesthetically beautiful, as well as rich in imagery and mysticism.
Baha'u'llah knew his Persian literature and could write with erudition, that's for sure.
But agreed on the theocracy / divine law / government side of the equation. That's also my biggest issue with Baha'i theology.
Unsurprisingly, coming at the Baha'i scriptures from a Christian perspective, I found the Valleys, Iqan and Hidden Words very pleasing but the "divine law" book, the Aqdas less so (its a much more Islamic Hadith / Jewish Deuteronomy style-text, in its law-giving nature. I'd be curious to know Islamic thoughts on it, as I imagine they might be fairly positive as to its style and tone in light of the importance of the shariah to Islam).
I know I said I was leaving this thread, but I changed my mind.... You know, women are allowed to do that.
I have been unable to keep up with you and Adrian, your long posts, but now that I have a little time I might go back and read some of those...
A little about me: My mother was raised Greek Orthodox and my father was raised in the Anglican Church, but both my parents dropped out of Christianity before their three children were born so I never saw the inside of a Church or a Bible in the house and I cannot recall either one of them talking about God.
I think my mother retained her belief in God but my father became an atheist. In my first year of college I found out about the Baha'i Faith from my older brother and both my sister and I became Baha'is. Five years later my mother became a Baha'i, so that was the whole family, because my dad died before he ever heard of the Baha'i Faith.
Nobody believes me but this is the truth. I never read one page of the Bible until I came to forums about seven years ago when I was 60 years old. I had no reason to read it because until recently I did not know its connection to the Baha'i Faith. By contrast, my brother had read the Bible five times before he became a Baha'i.
I had a lot of catching up to do and most of what I have learned about Christianity and the Bible I learned from discussions on other forums I was on before I came here two years ago, and from looking up so many Bible verses online, but I never read the Bible in its entirety. Most of the Christians I posted to were Protestants, I cannot recall any Catholics on those forums. There was one forum I posted on called The Holy Trinity but the owner considered Catholicism a heresy. Go figure.
So the reason I do not get very involved in discussions about Christianity or Judaism is because I do not know enough about the Bible to have a discussion like you have with Adrian.
On another note, I have been a Baha'i for 49 years and my husband has been a Baha'i for 54 years. My husband was raised as a Protestant but it never took because his childhood experiences led him to believe that Protestants were hypocrites. After he left home and went into the Army he wanted to be a Catholic. One reason he became a Baha'i was because he could not believe in certain Church doctrines but he always held Catholicism in high regard. He also told me that the Baha'i Faith made sense out of Christianity for him. One thing he liked about Catholicism is its mystical approach to God and that good works are emphasized, which is of course similar to the Baha'i Faith.
Since I was not raised in any religion, I always had a problem being connected to God, even after I became a Baha'i, so that is probably the reason I like Christian music so much... It helps me be connected to God and gives me hope that God really cares, because that has definitely been a problem for me.
