tag name: Evil type: Miscellaneous; Philosophy; Religion, general web link: bahai-library.com/tags/Evil related tags: – Concepts, Philosophical; – Concepts, Religious referring tags: Devil (Satan); Evil eye; Evil spirits; Forces of light and darkness (social forces); Iblis; Luck (fortune); Theodicy Inventory subject: Nonexistence of evil; relativity of good and evil; Theodicy; the mystery of evil; of suffering notes: "... Briefly, intelligible realities such as the praiseworthy attributes and perfections of man are purely good and have a positive existence. Evil is simply their non-existence. So ignorance is the want of knowledge, error is the want of guidance, forgetfulness is the want of remembrance, foolishness is the want of understanding: All these are nothing in themselves and have no positive existence. As for sensible realities, these are also purely good, and evil is merely their non-existence; that is, blindness is the want of sight, deafness is the want of hearing, poverty is the want of wealth, illness is the want of health, death is the want of life, and weakness is the want of strength... It is thus evident that all evil is mere non-existence. Good has a positive existence; evil is merely its absence."
– 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, chapter 74
"... As to the differences of character arising from education, they are great indeed, for education exerts an enormous influence. Through education the ignorant become learned, the cowardly become courageous, the crooked branch becomes straight, the acrid and bitter fruit of the mountains and woods becomes sweet and succulent, and the five-petalled flower puts forth a hundred petals. Through education barbarous nations become civilized and even animals take on human-like manners. Education must be accorded the greatest importance; for just as diseases are highly communicable in the world of bodies, so is character highly communicable in the realm of hearts and spirits. The differences caused by education are enormous and exert a major influence.
... Capacity is of two kinds: innate and acquired. The innate capacity, which is the creation of God, is wholly and entirely good—in the innate nature there is no evil. The acquired capacity, however, can become the cause of evil. For example, God has created all men in such a fashion, and has given them such a capacity and disposition, that they are benefited by sugar and honey and are harmed or killed by poison. This is an innate capacity and disposition that God has bestowed equally upon all men. But man may begin little by little to take poison by ingesting a small quantity every day and gradually increasing it until he reaches the point where ... his innate capacities are completely subverted. Consider how the innate capacity and disposition can be so completely changed, through variation of habit and training, as to be entirely perverted. It is not on account of their innate capacity and disposition that one reproaches the wicked, but rather on account of that which they themselves have acquired..." – 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, 14.8-9 The Differences in Human Character
Related subjects: 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, Chapters 74, 70, 60, 57, 30 and 14.
"We must never take one sentence in the Teachings and isolate it from the rest... We know absence of light is darkness, but no one would assert darkness was not a fact. It exists even though it is only the absence of something else. So evil exists too, and we cannot close our eyes to it, even though it is a negative existence. We must seek to supplant it by good, and if we see an evil person is not influenceable by us, then we should shun his company for it is unhealthy."
– From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, October 4, 1950, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1734
"Hear no evil, and see no evil, abase not thyself, neither sigh and weep. Speak no evil, that thou mayest not hear it spoken unto thee, and magnify not the faults of others that thine own faults may not appear great; and wish not the abasement of anyone, that thine own abasement be not exposed. Live then the days of thy life, that are less than a fleeting moment, with thy mind stainless, thy heart unsullied, thy thoughts pure, and thy nature sanctified, so that, free and content, thou mayest put away this mortal frame, and repair unto the mystic paradise and abide in the eternal kingdom forevermore."
– Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words, Persian no. 44
See also:
– 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í Sacred Writings, Chapter 13, section "Evil"
references: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absence_of_good; bahai9.com/wiki/Evil; bahaiquotes.com/subject/evil; bahaiquotes.com/subject/evil-spirits; www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/search#q=Evil
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