Oneness of Religion
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Solving Problems Beyond Solution – The Book of Certitude
The goal of Bahá’u’lláh’s entire life’s work, as he describes, is to foster unity among human beings. Of his writings, the Book of Certitude plays a particular role in this purpose. Accordingly, it has been said of the Book of Certitude that by sweeping away the age-long barriers that have so insurmountably separated the great religions of the world, [it] has laid down a broad and unassailable foundation for the complete and permanent reconciliation of their followers.[1] In works such as the Hidden Words, we primarily find guidance directed to the spiritual life of the individual. In Bahá’u’lláh’s later writings, such as those published in the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, we find…
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The Oneness of Religion
The oneness of religion is a core principle of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings. The following is an incomplete introduction. The principle is perhaps also one of the most widely misunderstood of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings. In one form, the misunderstanding is that it involves in some sense “combining” different religions or taking elements from different religions to create a new religion. This is not at all the meaning of oneness of religion. It is easier perhaps to understand the concept if we think of the term “religion” in the phrase “oneness of religion” as not referring so much to individual religions (such as Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, or the Baha’i Faith) as to the phenomenon of religion as…
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Against Religious Fanaticism and Hatred
Bahá’u’lláh condemned religious fanaticism and hatred, perhaps most strikingly in the following passage: Religious fanaticism and hatred are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench. The Hand of Divine power can, alone, deliver mankind from this desolating affliction.[1] I admit that when I first read this passage sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s, I found it difficult to visualise how religious fanaticism could be a “world-devouring fire”. At the time, religious fanaticism did not seem likely to threaten the world; surely (I thought) it was largely a thing of the past. Tragically the truth of Bahá’u’lláh’s words are all too evident in the 21st century. It is not the only occasion that…
