Ben wrote,
"This does raise a difficult problem for organized religion if they change
their doctrines to adapt to changing cultural norms. The tacit message is
"God's word, which I spoke, has changed." But God is supposed to be
"unchanging" and so one would assume so would his "word." Its a
philosophical conundrum for those religions who try to change with
society."
I think you're right, the word of God is supposed to be unchanging, but as
a Baha'i, I believe in progressive revelation; that each Messenger (the
Prophets of each of the world's great religions) reiterates the message of
the ones before him, and then adds the components that humanity is ready
to hear at that point in it's evolution. Jesus said 'I have much more to
tell you, but you are not yet ready to hear it'. Muhammad built on
Jesus's message, etc. Humanity is continuously evolving, maturing, and
God's covenant with man says that He/She will never abandon us - a part of
the puzzle is therefore added interminently as man evolves in its capacity
to understand.
In 'Gleanings from the writing of Baha'u'llah', He says it much more
eloquently than I can:
'And now concerning thy question regarding the nature of religion . Know
thou that they who are truly wise have likened the world unto the human
temple. As the body of man needeth a garment to clothe it, so the body of
mankind must needs be adorned with the mantle of justice and wisdom. Its
robe is the Revelation vouchsafed unto it by God. Whenever this robe hath
fulfilled its purpose, the Almighty will assuredly renew it. For every age
requireth a fresh measure of the light of God. Every Divine Revelation
hath been sent down in a manner that befitted the circumstances of the age
in which it hath appeared.'
and further
'There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever
race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and
are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under
which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and
exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. All of them, were
ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose. Arise and,
armed with the power of faith, shatter to pieces the gods of your vain
imaginings, the sowers of dissension amongst you. Cleave unto that which
draweth you together and uniteth you.' (which he says is the animating
purpose of religion in the first place)
Baha'u'llah cautions people "of insight" not to allow their
interpretations of the Holy Scriptures to prevent them from recognizing
the other Manifestations of God. Followers of each religion have tended to
allow their devotion to its Founder to cause them to perceive His
Revelation as the final Word of God and to deny the possibility of the
appearance of any subsequent Prophet. This has been the case of Judaism,
Christianity and Islam. Baha'u'llah denies the validity of this concept
of finality both in relation to past Dispensations and to His own.
We don't necessarily like the rules, the laws that are given to us by
those Messengers, and we are constantly trying to adjust them to meet our
own purposes and wishes, but if we examine them from a perspective of the
progression of the peoples of the earth towards unity, security and
wellbeing, they are the best recipe we have.
Salut
Suzanne
ssauve@mus-nature.ca
--Suzanne =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Sauv=E9?= <SSAUVE@MUS-NATURE.CA>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>