Progressive Revelation ?'s

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hiecdorie

Progressive Revelation ?'s

Postby hiecdorie » Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:43 pm

Hi,

I have some questions regarding progressive revelation.

1.) What determines when and where someone is born?

2.) I know all people are equal, but does that hold true when comparing us to people of past eras who don't have the privilege of the knowledge we have today? I feel like they were unlucky!

Also people who are born during the next manifistation of God will have more divine knowledge than us. How is that fair? :)

3.) Why must humanity go through religious stages? Why didn't God start us all (humanity, past and present) with enough knowledge to understand modern teachings?

-Thank you all!

majnun
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a sort of answer

Postby majnun » Wed Jul 12, 2006 3:37 am

22 readers have passed.
I am the 23rd. No one answered your
questions simply because you must find
the answers to them, by yourself.

MJ.

brettz9
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Postby brettz9 » Wed Jul 12, 2006 11:27 am

Well, in some ways, we can say we are more lucky to be alive in this day. Our Writings speak of how the Prophets have all yearned to witness this Day.

So, we should be grateful.

On the other hand, God is merciful to each soul. The other souls who have past are judged according to the standards of their time. They were able to find joy, despite hardships which perhaps today we could not bear. And God compensates those who face hardships.

But essentially, many of these questions are in fact mysteries. The Universal House of Justice itself states:

"The world is clearly beset by ills and is groaning under the burden Of appalling suffering. The trials of the innocent are indeed heartrending and constitute a mystery that the mind of man cannot fathom. Even the Prophets of God Themselves have borne Their share of grievous afflictions in every age. Yet in spite of the evidence of all this suffering, God's Manifestations, Whose lives and wisdom show Them to have been far above human beings in understanding, unitedly bear testimony to the justice, love and mercy of God."

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-86, p. 661)


All creatures are going an eternal process of growth. Each has chances to develop. Although our minds can't fathom it because our sight is limited, God's infiniteness can grasp it. As far as your 3rd question about why we weren't all brought to a higher understanding immediately (or for your 2nd question, why we don't have a greater knowledge now and possibly for your first question if you were hinting at what we might think as the cruelty for someone born into poverty, etc.), 'Abdu'l-Bahá says in the chapter on reincarnation in Some Answered Questions on the need for perpetually growing development:

The idea that existence is restricted to this perishable world, and the denial of the existence of divine worlds, originally proceeded from the imaginations of certain believers in reincarnation; but the divine worlds are infinite. If the divine worlds culminated in this material world, creation would be futile: nay, existence would be pure child's play. The result of these endless beings, which is the noble existence of man, would come and go for a few days in this perishable dwelling, and after receiving punishments and rewards, at last all would become perfect. The divine creation and the infinite existing beings would be perfected and completed, and then the Divinity of the Lord, and the names and qualities of God, on behalf of these spiritual beings, would, as regards their effect, result in laziness and inaction! "Glory to thy Lord, the Lord Who is sanctified from all their descriptions." [Cf. Qur'án 37:180.]

(Some Answered Questions, Chapter 81)


As far as your concern for unfortunates, again from Some Answered Questions, 'Abdu'l-Bahá replies here to a question:

Question.--What is the condition of children who die before attaining the age of discretion or before the appointed time of birth?
Answer.--These infants are under the shadow of the favor of God; and as they have not committed any sin and are not soiled with the impurities of the world of nature, they are the centers of the manifestation of bounty, and the Eye of Compassion will be turned upon them.

(Some Answered Questions, Chapter [urlhttp://www.bahai-library.com/writings/abdulbaha/saq/66.html=]66[/url])

hiecdorie

Postby hiecdorie » Wed Jul 12, 2006 3:16 pm

Thanks for taking time out of your day to guide me brettz9, I greatly appreciate it!!! :D :D :D

brettz9
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Postby brettz9 » Thu Jul 13, 2006 9:27 am

Not at all...I hope they helped address your questions...

best wishes,
Brett

JusticeForAll
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Progressive Revelation ?'s

Postby JusticeForAll » Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:24 pm

Man wasn't ready for the knowledge God had to pass to us, thus some were blessed with the wittings of one Messenger and some another. Knowing that this Day is the progression from Adam to Baha-u-llah I, personally, feel doubly blessed. Another thousand millennium needs to pass before the same blessings can come again.

And, having pondered your question, I would also have to state if I were to be fortunate enough to be one of the first w/in 200 years of Christ to recognize him, I would feel just as blessed .. it isn't every day the god believes we are ready to hear his next Pearl. From Adam through Baha-u-llah I don't believe I would be disappointed, I know there is to be another, but when that Messenger arrives I will have passed from this Realm and have the same lesson given to be in the next world. It is a win-win situation :o)

~talmont

Tahirih99
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Postby Tahirih99 » Fri Jul 14, 2006 3:15 am

IMHO; Re your 1 & 2 question:

Considering a man reality is the spirit (which is eternity) and not the body (which is mortal). Then, time, space, before, after, material possession, academic knowledge,... are meaningless.

The real meaning of life are spiritual progress, spiritual joy, spiritual enlightenment and the love of God. These are not bound by time, space, marterial and earthly limitations. These reality has been the same from eternity and will be everlasting.

Re your 3rd question:

Look how a kid is happy to learn the alphabets and discover the whole new word of spelling, and how a teenager enjoys poetry. The excitement and the enjoyment are not lesser for the child, even though it is not poetry.

One of the greatest blessings we have is the joy of being enlightened with the knowledge of God and the love of God. If we were all born with the same ultimate knowledge with no new spiritual knowledge to gain, even in a hundred years or a thousand years, we would not have a chance to enjoy this happiness of being enlightened everyday, and every era. Thanks God that He has bestow on us this great blessing.

You could find the answers for your questions in: Some Answer Questions, Paris Talks, Light of Guidance, and more....
Tahirih99


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