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I just thought of something I hadn't before, and while it is hypothetical I'm
fascinated to know the answer. Again the passage:
O ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon the Guardian of the Cause of God
to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become
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The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number nine persons
that shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of
the Guardian of the Cause of God. The election of these nine must be carried
either unanimously or by majority
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We see the Remeyites as ignoring or misunderstanding the Will and Testament.
Yet there is one key part they understand better than did the Hands of the
Cause and House of Justice. It is the 'in his own lifetime' part. I realize
their basis for claiming that
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Not knowing either Farsi or Arabic is obviously a big disadvantage for anyone
wanting to contribute to Baha'i Studies. A number of questions I've asked
about the Writings here have been answered through recourse to the original
languages. So I'm interested in
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I found the answer to my own question. The site claiming to be the official
UHJ site is really referring to the supposed Second International Council,
although it doesn't say so. Presumably they neither mention this or names like
Mason Remey because they know
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Dear Susan,
I don't think it is the same person, but I'm wondering if it might be his son.
Actually I just noticed the person was in Young Concert Artists in 1971, so
would probably be born around 1950. Not the same person. Since the article
mentioned
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Dear Susan,
I suspect Joel Marangella's group is the largest and I doubt if they
number more than a couple of hundred. In a recent court case in the US
they admitted to only having about thirty in this country.
Was Joel Marangella's move to Australia prompted
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Dear Susan,
There was a recent court case wherein our NSA sought to enforce and
existing court order which prohibited the Remeyites from using our
trademarks. This came about largely as a result of a Jensenite website
which claimed to be the UHJ website.
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
It turns out Wikipedia has an article on Orthodox Baha'is. It doesn't give any
certain figure as to their numbers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodox_Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_Faith#cite_note-1
I haven't regularly checked articles in Wikipedia on the Faith. So I'm
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Which is the largest covenant breaker group, and how many members does it have?
Perhaps we don't know for sure.
Regards,
David
_
View photos of singles in
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Another question, there have been covenant breakers who rejected 'Abdu'l-Baha
or Shoghi Effendi. Do any of the covenant breakers today reject either, or are
they all in agreement with us up to Shoghi Effendi's successor? I'm not
counting Babi's in this question.
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Just looking at something in an old message I hadn't deleted concerning the
Universal House of Justice:
Bahá'u'lláh responded by stating that the application of any of His laws was
conditional upon the exercise of wisdom. He explained that the establishment of
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Dear Susan,
Further to our letter dated 27 September 2009, we have been asked to
inform you that
the Research Department has become aware that one of the Tablets in
the volume Tablets of
Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, A1l-i-Kullu’l-Khayr
(Words
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I take it that the inclusion of the Tablet in a collection of Tablets
post-dating the Aqdas means that the Research Department thought there was
compelling evidence that it was written after? Surely if they weren't sure
they would have left it out.
Regards,
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Does anyone have a figure for how many covenant-breakers there are currently?
Am I correct in stating that most countries have none?
Regards,
David
_
New
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I have heard it claimed that the covenant-breaker groups show the prediction
the Baha'i Faith would not become divided to be false. I'd like discussion on
what the texts actually predict. Do they actually say there will be no Baha'i
sects? I've often known
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It says in the Aqdas work is forbidden on Holy Days. So what happens when all
the world is Baha'i? The Aqdas doesn't mention any exceptions, though one
would think some would be allowed. What about hospitals? Surely they couldn't
close. What about motels and
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I asked a while back about what is available of Baha'i texts not yet translated
into English. I was told that it's pretty much the same as what is translated.
This raises a question. How is it that Baha'i scholars often show knowledge
of various untranslated
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I have another question. What happens if a Baha'i gets a gambling problem that
is negatively affecting the lives of the whole family and the person isn't
betting on horses? What can assemblies do to help? They can't say the person
has a 'gambling problem' as that
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What a way to turn things into knots! Why not let professionals define what
is gambling. Contact Gamblers Anonymous in your area and ask them. I am sure
they can determine very quickly if a family is being harmed by the gambling
of one of it's members. Thereupon an
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
To me, the biggest mistake made in our campaign was the way most of us were
dressed. What happened at one house confirmed my suspicions. A person was out
back and without seeing us called out hello. As soon as he did see us he said
We're not interested, thanks.
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So is anything currently regarded as gambling?
Regards,
David
_
Feeling the financial pinch? Check on MSN NZ Money for a hand
http://money.msn.co.nz
__
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The activities that are included in this prohibition have not
been outlined in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. As both
Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi have indicated, it is left to
the Universal House of Justice to specify the details of this
prohibition. In response to
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In a House of Worship only the word of God is spoken (as part of a program).
I'm wondering if there's anything saying whether Baha'i choirs are allowed to
add nonsense words (la's or da's etc) to their performance of the Word of God.
In Sydney the choir often adds
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We need to remember that there have only been a handful of such cases in the
history of the Faith - 7 or 8, I believe.
Just wondering, are all of these cases during the time of the House of Justice?
Did Shoghi Effendi ever do this?
Regards,
David
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I'm interested in what exactly the House of Justice considers private
information. Recently the subject of Sen being disenrolled came up, and Susan
suggested someone to write to the House if they wanted clarification about the
reasons. This must mean that the
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Progressive revelation teaches that Prophets are sent in succession with a
message appropriate for the time. When the new Prophet comes, we should turn
to them. It appears to me that prior to Jesus the Baha'i Faith teaches that
this was not the case globally. In
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There is a dimension to this that hasn't been brought up. If the
Guardian were to nominate a successor in a Will, and this choice were
then rejected by the Hands, there would be no opportunity for the
deceased Guardian to nominate any other candidate, ...
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He would have, during his lifetime, named his successor in his will. He would
have called together the nine hands, and presented to them his will.
This leads me to a question. Shoghi Effendi was not a prophet. He didn't know
when he would die and wouldn't
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Dear Sen,
The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number nine persons
that shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of
the Guardian of the Cause of God. The election of these nine must be carried
either unanimously or by
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Moreover, that same Will had provided a clear means for the confirmation of the
Guardian's appointment of his successor, as you are aware. The nine Hands to be
elected by the body of the Hands were to give their assent by secret ballot to
the Guardian's choice. In
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Hi Susan,
(If you're around at the moment) This is a thread from a while back. We were
discussing who you might write to for answers to questions about the Faith
instead of or before the House. You suggested ABM's as a source with access to
a lot of House
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There is a place I go to for a quiz night and I happened to find a quiz book
that they get a lot of their questions from. I studied up on it to learn the
answers. I've been discussing this on a quiz forum and many think its
unethical to look at a source they get
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Here's part of an article from Baha'i Library about whether the Guardianship is
anticipated in the Aqdas:
Although there is no explicit reference to the Guardianship in the
Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Synopsis and Codification lists Anticipation of the
Institution of the
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
It puzzles me that Shoghi Effendi was so surprised to find that he had been
appointed Guardian. Wasn't it pretty obvious he was going to be the one
chosen? Who did Shoghi Effendi think was going to be chosen, if not him? Was
he the only person who was surprised?
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Dear Sen,
The very existence of the Guardianship was unknown, until the Will
and Testament was read. It seems that Abdu'l-Baha had told no-one. so
everyone was surprised
Oh. That's an embarrassing mistake on my part. I don't know why I didn't
think of
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
The very existence of the Guardianship was unknown, until the Will
and Testament was read. It seems that Abdu'l-Baha had told no-one. so
everyone was surprised
Now that I think of it, didn't 'Abdu'l-Baha say that Isaiah 11:6 (a little
child shall lead them)
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I have read this booklet and didn't find myself that impressed. It seemed
lightweight and if I were a non-Baha'i it's difficult to imagine that I'd
suddenly feel reassured about the future. Can someone tell me what's so good
about it?
Regards,
David
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Hi Sen,
Anyone who is willing to take the time to study the examples can see that
Abdu'l-Baha uses qarn and `asr, often as a pair together, to refer to an
age, era, dispensation etc; and that Shoghi Effendi regularly translates
this as age, era,
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Religious and sectarian antagonism, the hostility of races and peoples, and
differences among nations, will be eliminated. All men will adhere to one
religion, will have one common faith, will be blended into one race, and
become a single people. All will dwell in
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
The Universal House of Justice Date: 26 December 2002 From: Research
Department Transsexuality The Research Department has studied the questions
concerning the Bahá’í perspective on the “medical and social treatments of
transsexual people” raised by Mr. … in his
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Let's say they had an election for the House and of the nine with the most
votes one is a man who was born a woman and had a sex change. Presumably the
House has not legislated on whether a former women is eligibible to serve. If
they haven't, what happens?
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
This is the stage which the world is now approaching, the stage of world
unity, which, as Abdu'l-Baha assures us, will, in this century, be securely
established. (PDC)
How would one explain to a non-Baha'i that we already have world unity, that
the nations are
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
I was looking through the letter from the research department on the Lesser
Peace and found something interesting. They say that the unity of nations
should not be regarded as being synonymous with the Lesser Peace, yet from a
House letter from the 80's it appears
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Dear Susan, Baha'is could generally save the World Centre a lot of trouble if
they asked such questions of their ABM or NSA first. They generally have
files of such documents and can produce them when the need arises.
So they have files of documents including stuff
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
I brought this issue up some time back. If I'm not mistaken, it was agreed
that mental illnesses/disorders can be cured through prayer. Everything in my
experience has been that prayer doesn't work for this. I've got an anxiety
disorder and I gave up praying for
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
It seems to me that it may be impossible to know whether someone you tell of
the Faith to is receptive, unless they ask to be invited to a meeting. The
fact that they show interest when you tell them about the Faith does NOT
necessarily indicate they are receptive.
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Some years ago I sent 'Abdu'l-Baha's proof of God's existence from SAQ to a few
atheists to see what they thought. It was not well received and they found a
lot of problems with it. I'm interested to know other people's experience. I
think 'Abdu'l-Baha's proofs
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I was wondering if the prohibition on associating with covenant-breakers
includes people of all ages. If people reach maturity at 15 and decide to
become Baha'is then is it okay to associate with covenant-breakers who are less
than 15 years-old?
Regards,David
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
Dear Susan, I presume you mean the children of Covenant breakers? Baha'is are
asked to avoid them as well.
What about toddlers?
Regards,David
_
__
You
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Let me say firstly that I don't believe in astrology, lest it be assumed
otherwise. Shoghi Effendi is said not to be infallible when it comes to
science. Shoghi Effendi said that astrology is a pseudoscience. Is this to be
regarded as the Baha'i position, or
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
I am involved in quizzing and a few days ago I had the idea of writing a Baha'i
quiz book. I imagine I could do a good job but I'm doubtful as to whether
there would be the market. Obviously it would only be for Baha'i book stores
but I don't know if a publisher
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
It's been a while since I've reviewed all Baha'i passages on this subject. I
will do so again later today. When I did so last it seemed clear to me that
animals have no further existence after they die. Can people here site
passages they think most clearly answer
The Baha'i Studies Listserv
It is upsetting to me that animals do not go to heaven. It is difficult to see
heaven as that wonderful if I don't get to see the pets I've had. Can anyone
help me on this?
Regards,
David
_
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david, i am tempted to wonder why you don;t ask the House this...:-)
If you're referring to the House and women issue, I'd prefer not to ask, since
I think I can guess basically what the letter would say. They wouldn't try to
give a reason.
Regards,
David
Dear Susan, David, they are very busy at the World Centre. You shouldn't be
bothering them with question just to satisfy your curiosity. You don't have
any children, do you? How then does this question concern you?
It doesn't currently, but I was interested to know for when I do have children.
I do not see where you could possibly construe such a thing from the text of
the response.
Well, if that's not what I'm supposed to understand then I can't see what in
the first letter responded to my question of whether Baha'i adults are allowed
to decide what their children watch or the
Dear Ben,
It seems to me the point of the first letter is that the Universal House of
Justice does not want to legislate every part of Baha'i life, including what
movies you should/should not watch. In response, essentially, you've again
asked them to legislate upon an issue (should Baha'i
I sent another letter to the House because there was something I wasn't sure of
from their last letter. They felt they had already addressed those issues in
their last letter:
Regarding the questions raised therein, it is
felt that the answers provided to your previous questions in our email
I guess really it wasn't so much the rebuttal but that I didn't see it as being
a strong proof of the validity of the Faith.
Regards,David
The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto (e-mail)
is sent by the Johnson County Community College (JCCC) and is intended
I have read this treatisebefore. It was praised by 'Abdu'l-Baha but I didn't
think it was that great. What's so good about it?
Regards,David
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is sent by the Johnson County Community College (JCCC) and is
PROTECTED]: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Re: House letter to meDate: Wed, 2
Jan 2008 08:07:14 -0800
Yes. It is very interesting.
guard your eyes against that which is not seemly.
(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 27)
- Original Message -
From: David Friedman
To: Baha'i Studies
Sent
I've never seen anything along those lines.
I saw it in a book at the Wilmette gift shop a while back. Probably just a
letter to an individual.
Regards,
David
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is sent by the Johnson County Community College
Well, Deborah was a 'prophetess' in the Old Testament...
Regards,
David
The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto (e-mail)
is sent by the Johnson County Community College (JCCC) and is intended to be
confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity
I saw a letter by Shoghi Effendi in a book some years ago, and it isn't
anything you'd find on MARS. In it he says we should be married by 25 at the
latest. Does anyone have the passage? I'm almost 30 and not yet married so
starting to get a bit worried!
Regards,David
The information
The pilgrim's note reports the Master as saying: 'Women and men must not
embrace each other when not married, or not about to be married. They must not
kiss each other... If they wish to greet each other, or comfort each other,
they may take each other by the hand.' In a letter to an individual
I had a look at the passages on cremation, and while I can't find anything
direct it looks to me like the following indicates Baha'is should not cremate
pets:
Concerning your question about cremation, the Baha'i law stipulates burial. The
instructions of Baha'u'llah contained in His Most Holy
You may find this interesting.
Dear Bahá’í Friend,
Your email letter of 7 December 2007 requesting guidance has been received by
the
Universal House of Justice and referred to our Department for response.
Your letter seeks guidance concerning films and television programmes that a
Bahá’í
I had always thought of the Ten Commandments as laws that will always be
upheld. But then I thought of the one commandment saying to keep the sabbath
holy and not work on it. Baha'is don't abide by that one. Are Baha'is
supposed to follow all of the Ten Commandments? I can't see anything on
A while ago I was part of a Baha'i history discussion forum. To my surprise I
found that there was full agreement from a number of prominent Baha'i scholars
that the number of Babi/Baha'i martyrs was much less than the normal figure of
20,000, probably two or three thousand if I recall. I had
I am interested to know if the House has the authority to officially declare
someone a martyr. Shoghi Effendi was careful in who he applied the word to. I
know of a situation a while back where a Baha'i died for their faith, and the
House said that person was a martyr. This didn't sit well
At this point in time much of the world have not heard about the Baha'i Faith.
I am assuming more than half, though I could be wrong. Baha'is could have done
things differently with proclamation so that the vast majority would have heard
of the Faith already. I am interested to know why we
It could potentially be the case that 6 members on an Assembly disagreed with
an Assembly decision. This would happen if a decision were carried by a
majority of 3 when 5 members were present and the four who were absent would
not have agreed. My question is, are those who weren't present and
Dear Susan, Recently the church announced that purgatory isn't biblically
based. Dear David, Do you have a link to this? My understanding is that
the Pope recently argued that limbo for non-baptised babies is not biblically
based, not purgatory.
My mistake. I got confused.
Regards,
I hope this is allowed though it's off topic. I figure people here can answer
it.
The Catholic church has made many changes in doctrine and administration. I'm
interested in how Catholics see these changes in light of their belief in Papal
Infalliblity. Recently the church announced that
I'm just wondering if there is anything in the Writings in regards to parental
responsibilities in relation to the age of the offspring. When the children
are young the parent will discipline the child when they do something wrong or
tell them they have done something wrong. Surely they
It says in the Writings that if religion should cause unity. If there is
not unity that it is better to have no religion. This sounds good to say,
but would we as Baha'is willing to back up this tenet by our actions?
Certainly we can all agree that in Iran religion is not the cause of unity.
Dear Susan,
The Guardian doesn't have to have mentioned those. Electorial
proceedures fall ultimately under the purview of the authority of the
Universal House of Justice, not the Guardianship.
Interesting. So then the House are introducing something new now?
Regards,
David
The
Dear Susan,
Look at the last sentence from the letter written on the Guardian's
behalf and its emphasis on 'varied.' It seems to me this is very much
in accord with the House's letter:
The
Assembly should be representative of the choicest and most varied
and
capable elements in every
At the Feast tonight we were told about a recent House letter giving
guidance about voting in Baha'i elections. It is a March 25 letter that
others here must have seen. What we were told about it makes me think it
has been totally misunderstood because the House of Justice advice about
In order to advance to an A cluster a certain number of people must complete
a few of the courses. Since I don't really learn anything or enjoy Ruhi I
was wondering if there is some way one can 'do' a course without going in a
course with others. Would I be able to do it in my own time and
In a recent cluster meeting it had a list of things like home visits and
devotional meetings that people could aim to take part in. It seems to me
that home visits can be limited by ones age and gender. I'm 29 and most
people in my community are middle aged. If I rang one of them up asking
It saying in the Writings (or maybe Shoghi Effendi) that opposition from
non-Baha'is will be a good thing helping us grow. Wisdom in teaching is
stressed in the Writings. Since lack of wisdom in teaching would increase
opposition, why the importance of wisdom? What I'm trying to say is that
Dear Susan,
Baha'u'llah doesn't use the word 'saved' that passage you cited.
Okay, but doesn't it seem obvious that we can infer that meaning?
I don't think it is our place to make judgements as to why others
believe or don't believe. We should concern ourselves with our own
spiritual
The Baha'i Writings say one must believe in and follow the laws of the
Manifestation to be saved:
The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him
Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who
representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom
Dear Susan,
Yes, we are *supposed* to want more. But we don't do the determiantion
of when we've had enough. Tests don't stop until we die in any case.
It says in the Writings that God doesn't burden a soul beyond its capacity.
I'm just wondering how one could determine what a person's
Dear Susan,
Well, you could also ask for them. But God has been so bountiful to me
on this account that I've never felt any compulsion to pray for tests.
How is one to determine whether they have enough tests in their life? And
if we grow from tests aren't we supposed to want more?
Just wondering, are non-Baha'is allowed to be Ruhi tutors and be youth
animators?
Regards,
David
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by the Johnson County Community College (JCCC) and is intended to be confidential and
for the use of only
Indeed shouldst Thou desire to confer blessing upon a servant Thou wouldst
blot out from the realm of his heart every mention or disposition except
Thine Own mention; and shouldst Thou ordain evil for a servant by reason of
that which his hands have unjustly wrought before Thy face, Thou
Many people say prayers for peace. For there to peace requires people to
turn away from evil. I was wondering how God could answer prayers for peace
without violating free will. If an answer to a prayer means God making more
peace then wouldn't this require Him intervening to make people
Hi Susan,
Well, you could also ask for them. But God has been so bountiful to me
on this account that I've never felt any compulsion to pray for tests.
Are you saying you think the answer to my question Does God intervene to
make bad things happen so as to test people? is yes? Asking surely
I am unable to refute the idea that luck can be involved in one's salvation.
If luck can be involved then the importance of salvation would be
diminished and it would raise the question of fairness. We are told in the
Writings that how we end our life determines our salvation when we get to
I'm interested to hear if others have often have my experience. Often
someone will say the Baha'i Writings say something they do not. I then
suggest that the Baha'i Writings in fact say no such thing. They insist the
Baha'i Writings does. I'm like okay, but where? They don't know where but
I'm interested to know what is going to happen in the future as far as Christian belief. As far as I know, young earth creationists all acknowledge that the world was created around 4000 BC. Surely in another 1000 years they would have to admit 6000 years had passed and thus abandon young
If a Baha'i is married to a non-Baha'i the non-Baha'i can get a divorce prior to the conclusion ofa year of patience. They can do this because Baha'i law is subordinate to civil law. My question is, if this happens must the Baha'i observe the rest of the year of patience even though
The century the Book of Daniel was composed in is disputed. Generally, believers believe it was written in the sixth century BC, whereas non-believers believe it was written in the second century BC. It seems pretty obvious to me that the latter is correct. If others here agree on that I'm
I hope I can get away with one off-topic question which I'd like the answer to. My question is why governments (like US for example) haven't banned the sale of cigarettes. If they care about the health and well-being of society it would be a good idea. Why is it that many less problematic
There's another issue. 'Abdu'l-Baha refers to alleged miracles in the Gospels, saying that receiving sight and hearing referred to a spiritual awakening. If the writers used this to refer to a spiritual awakening as 'Abdu'l-Baha says then why don't the resurrection narratives have the
One issue of major importance for Baha'is with relation to Christians is the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection is connected to the ascension and return of Christ. If there was a bodily resurrection then there was a bodily ascension and the return of Christ would be the very same person
Dear Susan,
Frankly, David, I haven't the foggiest idea which Writings you aretalking about. I can think of places where the Guardian or the Housesaid something to this effect, but nothing from the Writingsthemselves.
Okay, I was wrong in saying that the Writings says anything like that. I
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