Taking things too literally – particularly religious texts – can be a problem – as we tragically see in our world. In some cases it contributes to murderous results. In other cases it creates irresolvable conflicts between communities and points of view. This article discusses how Bahá’u’lláh interprets religious texts to lay the foundations of unity. As noted in previous articles, the overriding purpose of Bahá’u’lláh’s life’s work is the fostering of unity and friendship among human beings. How we understand and interpret religious texts affects our ability to build unified harmonious communities. To take one dimension, overly literal readings of religious texts is one factor which holds back a coherence between scientific and…