November 2012
The Day of the Covenant
26/11/12 17:08 Filed in: Bahai
The Day of the Covenant.
November 26th, is the day that Bahai's the world over celebrate the Day of the Covenant and the appointment of Abdu'l-Baha as the center of that Covenant.
What is a Covenant you ask? A covenant is an agreement between two or more persons to do something specific. In the context of what we are talking about it is an agreement between God and humanity. This agreement says in exchange for us as individuals following the teachings of God as shared by the Manifestations of this time we will in exchange by God, be shared various bounties and not be left alone without guidance.
The really important point for this current dispensation is that never before has mankind had such a Covenant given to it. In previous times mankind was unable to grasp this important concept and it was not ready for what has been shared now. This is so exciting as it shows that we really are living in an amazing time where there is so much occurring and there is so much that we can achieve in the advancement of humankind, peace and unity.
The following has been written by the Universal House of Justice:
A Covenant in the religious sense is a binding agreement between God and man, whereby God requires of man certain behavior in return for which He guarantees certain blessings, or whereby He gives man certain bounties in return for which He takes from those who accept them an undertaking to behave in a certain way. There is, for example, the Greater Covenant which every Manifestation of God makes with His followers, promising that in the fulness of time a new Manifestation will be sent, and taking from them the undertaking to accept Him when this occurs. There is also the Lesser Covenant that a Manifestation of God makes with His followers that they will accept His appointed successor after Him. If they do so, the Faith can remain united and pure. If not, the Faith becomes divided and its force spent. It is a Covenant of this kind that Baha’u’llah made with His followers regarding ‘‘Abdu’l-Bahá and that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá perpetuated through the Administrative Order… From a letter written by The Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, 23 March 1975
The Covenant in the Bahai Faith is so strong it was designed to prevent it breaking into sects and factions. And to this end it has resisted all these attempts to date. This is an important factor that was not available in previous Dispensations where other religions have separated in to other sects and given different interpretations to the original teachings of the Manifestation. The Bahai Faith has this Covenant which is designed to prevent this from happening and so forth give unity and universal acceptance to its teachings and only through this way will mankind be able to progress to a society where we will see everyone working together in fellowship and true friendship.
Abdu'l-Baha is pure the exemplar of the Bahai way of life and is the only person who is the sole interpreter of Baha'u'llahs writings. He is referred to as the Most Mighty Branch and the one to "turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root." This is what Baha'u'llah has stated and is another way in which the writings cannot be changed or the Covenant modified.
I would love your thoughts and any questions regarding this momentous Covenant. It is something that requires reviewing all the time and reminding ourselves of.
November 26th, is the day that Bahai's the world over celebrate the Day of the Covenant and the appointment of Abdu'l-Baha as the center of that Covenant.
What is a Covenant you ask? A covenant is an agreement between two or more persons to do something specific. In the context of what we are talking about it is an agreement between God and humanity. This agreement says in exchange for us as individuals following the teachings of God as shared by the Manifestations of this time we will in exchange by God, be shared various bounties and not be left alone without guidance.
The really important point for this current dispensation is that never before has mankind had such a Covenant given to it. In previous times mankind was unable to grasp this important concept and it was not ready for what has been shared now. This is so exciting as it shows that we really are living in an amazing time where there is so much occurring and there is so much that we can achieve in the advancement of humankind, peace and unity.
The following has been written by the Universal House of Justice:
A Covenant in the religious sense is a binding agreement between God and man, whereby God requires of man certain behavior in return for which He guarantees certain blessings, or whereby He gives man certain bounties in return for which He takes from those who accept them an undertaking to behave in a certain way. There is, for example, the Greater Covenant which every Manifestation of God makes with His followers, promising that in the fulness of time a new Manifestation will be sent, and taking from them the undertaking to accept Him when this occurs. There is also the Lesser Covenant that a Manifestation of God makes with His followers that they will accept His appointed successor after Him. If they do so, the Faith can remain united and pure. If not, the Faith becomes divided and its force spent. It is a Covenant of this kind that Baha’u’llah made with His followers regarding ‘‘Abdu’l-Bahá and that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá perpetuated through the Administrative Order… From a letter written by The Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, 23 March 1975
The Covenant in the Bahai Faith is so strong it was designed to prevent it breaking into sects and factions. And to this end it has resisted all these attempts to date. This is an important factor that was not available in previous Dispensations where other religions have separated in to other sects and given different interpretations to the original teachings of the Manifestation. The Bahai Faith has this Covenant which is designed to prevent this from happening and so forth give unity and universal acceptance to its teachings and only through this way will mankind be able to progress to a society where we will see everyone working together in fellowship and true friendship.
Abdu'l-Baha is pure the exemplar of the Bahai way of life and is the only person who is the sole interpreter of Baha'u'llahs writings. He is referred to as the Most Mighty Branch and the one to "turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root." This is what Baha'u'llah has stated and is another way in which the writings cannot be changed or the Covenant modified.
I would love your thoughts and any questions regarding this momentous Covenant. It is something that requires reviewing all the time and reminding ourselves of.
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