The Baha'i Studies Listserv Yes, Don C, the onus of independent investigation requires everyone to investigate the claims of every Messiah, Christ, Paraclete, Holy Spirit, Mahdi, Manifestation, Avatar, Buddha, etc.
To repeat The greater covenant refers to the covenant made between each messenger from God, which the literature of the Bahá'í Faith name Manifestations of God, and his followers regarding the coming of the next Manifestation from God.[1] According to Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, God has promised that he will send a succession of messengers that will instruct humankind.[2] In Bahá'í belief, this covenant is seen to be expressed in prophecy in the religious scripture of each religion, and each Manifestation of God, such as Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and Bahá'u'lláh, prophesied the next Manifestation.[1] In return, the followers of each religion are seen to have a duty to investigate the claims of the following Manifestations.[1] Sent from my iPad On Apr 29, 2013, at 11:46, Stephen Kent Gray <skg_z...@yahoo.com> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > It's what Wikipedia says here. > > Greater covenant > > The greater covenant refers to the covenant made between each messenger from > God, which the literature of the Bahá'í Faith name Manifestations of God, and > his followers regarding the coming of the next Manifestation from God.[1] > According to Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, God has promised > that he will send a succession of messengers that will instruct humankind.[2] > In Bahá'í belief, this covenant is seen to be expressed in prophecy in the > religious scripture of each religion, and each Manifestation of God, such as > Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and Bahá'u'lláh, prophesied the > next Manifestation.[1] In return, the followers of each religion are seen to > have a duty to investigate the claims of the following Manifestations.[1] > Bahá'u'lláh taught that people have a two-fold obligation that they need to > meet in response to God's promise to continually send messengers.[2] The two > obligations are to recognize and accept the new Manifestation when he comes, > and secondly to obey and put into practice the teachings which they bring; > Bahá'u'lláh has stated that neither of these obligations is acceptable > without the other.[2] He wrote: > The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him > Who is the Day Spring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who > representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of > creation. Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good... It > behoveth every one who reacheth this most sublime station, this summit of > transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of > the world. These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without > the other.... They whom God hath endued with insight will readily recognize > that the precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the > maintenance of order in the world and the security of its! peoples.... Hasten > to drink your fill, O men of understanding They that have violated the > Covenant of God by breaking His commandments, and have turned back on their > heels, these have erred grievously in the sight of God, the All-Possessing, > the Most High.[12] > and: > Be thou assured in thyself that verily, he who turns away from this Beauty > hath also turned away from the Messengers of the past and showeth pride > towards God from all eternity to all eternity.[13] > > Sent from my iPad > > On Apr 22, 2013, at 17:26, Don Calkins <don59...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> The Baha'i Studies Listserv >> >> On Apr 20, 2013, at 2:11 28PM, Stephen Kent Gray wrote: >> >>> Baha'is say that people are supposed to use independent investigation of >>> truth to verify or falsify the claims of each and every religious claimant, >> >> I have never seen a statement like that in Baha'i Scripture. >> >> >>> but hypocritically have the list of eight religions they acknowledge. >>> >>> They say that we only need to know of religions and religious figure >>> specifically mentioned in scripture, but criticize people of other >>> religions for taking the exact same position. >> >> Well, we'll see in groups like Maitreya outlive their founder. >> >> Don C >> >> >> ------------ >> He who believes himself spiritual proves he is not. >> >> >> __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-699712-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
