Bahá'ís observe "Day of the Covenant"

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE”

December 4, 2002

One of the unique features of the Bahá'í Faith is the Covenant which its Founder, Bahá'u'lláh made with His followers in order to prevent division of the faith into sects and denominations.  November 26 is the day on which Bahá'ís commemorate the establishment of this Covenant.

The Ancient or Eternal Covenant between God and man is God's commitment that He will always provide guidance to humanity; humanity's obligation is to follow that guidance. Bahá'u'lláh teaches that "The source of all learning is the knowledge of God," and this comes about only "through the knowledge of His Divine Manifestations."  Bahá'ís recognize the Founders of the World's major religions as Divine Manifestations sent by the same God, a God, known by various names, who is beyond human capacity to contain or describe.

It was on a visit to Myanmar (Burma) in 1991 that Oak Ridge Bahá'í, David Sperry, realized the extent to which the concept of the Covenant is found in religions throughout the world.  He had been asked by the national Bahá'í governing body for Myanmar to speak about the Covenant with some recently declared Bahá'ís in a predominately Buddhist village.  

When the new Bahá'ís were asked what they understood the Covenant to be, one elderly man stated: "Buddha gave us the five-fold path, and it is our obligation to follow that path."  For Sperry, the thought that immediately came to mind was that God's guidance was implied in that statement when viewed in the context of the Biblical verse, John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."

The Bahá'í Writings (scriptures) further define two components of the Covenant as the "Greater Covenant" in which the Founder of the religion promises a "return" or next coming, and the "Lesser Covenant" which provides for leadership and authority within the religion.

Never before in religious history, has this Lesser Covenant been as clearly defined as in the Bahá'í Faith.  Bahá'u'lláh, in His "Book of the Covenant" designated His son, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as the "Center of the Covenant" and sole interpreter of His Writings. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in his "Will and Testament," designated Bahá'u'lláh's great grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as "The Guardian" of Faith and the sole interpreter of the Bahá'í Writings.  

Following Shoghi Effendi's passing, in 1963 a nine-member, internationally elected council, designated by Bahá'u'lláh as the "Universal House of Justice," was first established.  In the Bahá'í Faith, authority rests in the institutions of the Faith, not in individuals, with the Universal House of Justice as a channel for God's guidance today and the final court of appeal.

The Bahá'í Faith is an independent monotheistic religion (the second most-widespread in the world after Christianity), with more than 5 million followers.  It originated in Iran in 1844 and has its own sacred scriptures, laws ,calendar and holy days. The main theme of the Bahá'í Faith is unity.  In spite of the current state of the world, Bahá'ís hold confidently to Bahá'u'lláh's emphatic promise: "These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the 'Most Great Peace' shall come."

For more information, call 482-0133, visit www.korrnet.org/bahais or email bahais@korrnet.org.

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©Copyright 2002, Bahá'ís of Oak Ridge (TN, USA)