Dear Susan, Thank you for sharing this with us. The idea that responsibility pertains to having the ability to respond is to honor our inherent freewill. To recognise/respond "Am I not your Lord?" is a choice. Karen
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Dear friends, > > As the last announcement indicated, I'm presenting a > paper at the > American Academy of Religion this weekend. I've not > written the > conclusion yet, but I'd like to share with you what > I have and get > your feedback. > > warmest, Susan > > The Covenant as Responsiveness > > > When Baha'is discuss the concept of covenant as it > applies to their > teachings they usually describe the chain of > authority designed to > maintain their unity. They typically focus on what > is commonly called > the Lesser Covenant as embodied in such documents > such as the Kitab-i > Ahd, Baha'u'llah's will appointing Abdu'l-Baha as > His successor and > the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha which > appointed Shoghi Effendi > as Guardian of the Baha'i Faith after Him and called > for the election > of the Universal House of Justice. Hence, the > Covenant is seen as > that which obliges individual Bahá'ís to accept the > leadership of > Bahá'u'lláh's appointed successors and the > administrative institutions > of the Faith. > > But there is another Covenant upon which this > lesser Covenant is > predicated. Frequently this is called the 'greater > Covenant', namely > the Covenant which God has made with all humanity, > wherein He promises > us continuing guidance through His Messengers > Manifestations as > Baha'is call them, while we are obligated to > recognize and obey them. > It is primarily this greater Covenant I wish to > focus my attention on > today, for it is my contention that unless our > understanding of the > Lesser Covenant is grounded in the greater one, the > depth of its > significance will largely be missed. > > > If we look at this greater Covenant as it has > been described > and understood throughout much of history we will > find that this > obligation to recognize and obey has been > articulated in terms of > responsiveness and remembrance. It is this theme of > responsiveness and > remembrance that will be examined in this paper. > > The Baha'i Faith concept of covenant, was not > born in a vacuum. > It sees itself as a continuation of the Abrahamic > line of religions > and its concept of covenant is ultimately linked to > those traditions. > Christians divide their Bible into two sections, the > Old and New > Testament, the term testament signifying covenant. > In Judaism the > term covenant in relationship to God appears first > in the Torah in > connection with the story of Noah wherein God > assured Noah that the > judgment would not again come to men in the form of > a flood; and that > the recurrence of the seasons and day and night > should not cease. The > Adamic exhortation to 'be fruitful and multiply' is > reaffirmed. Noah > and his sons are encouraged to eat all manner of > meat, but a taboo is > placed on the consumption of animal blood and the > shedding of human > blood. The rainbow is presented as sign of this > covenant.1 Another > covenant is made with Abraham when he is asked to > leave his homeland > and journey to a land God ha > s promised to him and his descendents. It is > promised that through Him > all the nations of the world will be blest.2 Abraham > was told to > circumcise all the male members of his family as a > sign of this > Covenant.3 They key covenant of the Torah, however > is the one God made > with Israel on Mt. Sinai. This Sinai event forms > the basis of later > depictions of the establishment of the Greater > Covenant that God makes > with all mankind. > > While Israel was encamped here in front of the > mountain, > > > Moses went up the mountain to God. Then the LORD > called to him and > said, "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob; > tell the Israelites: > You have seen for yourselves how I treated the > Egyptians and how I > bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to > myself. > > Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my > covenant, you shall > be my special possession, dearer to me than all > other people, though > all the earth is mine. > > You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy > nation. That is what > you must tell the Israelites." > > > So Moses went and summoned the elders of the people. > When he set > before them all that the LORD had ordered him to > tell them, the people > all answered together, "Everything the LORD has > said, we will do." > Then Moses brought back to the LORD the response of > the people. 4 > > > It is only after this response is received > that Moses go back up > the Mountain and the 10 Commandments are revealed. > Three days letter > this even takes place and is described with these > words: > > On the morning of the third day there were peals of > thunder and > lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain, and > a very loud > trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp > trembled. > > But Moses led the people out of the camp to meet > God, and they > stationed themselves at the foot of the mountain. > > Mount Sinai was all wrapped in smoke, for the LORD > came down upon it > in fire. The smoke rose from it as though from a > furnace, and the > whole mountain trembled violently. > > The trumpet blast grew louder and louder, while > Moses was speaking and > God answering him with thunder. 5 > > > After the revelation of the Ten Commandments, the > Israelites again > affirm their Covenant with God and share a meal > together, for > ceremonial meals were considered an integral part of > treaty alliances > in the Near East, and the Covenant was conceived of > as precisely > that. Also a part of such treaty alliances was the > practice of > calling various deities as witnesses. In the case of > the Covenant of > Sinai the heaven and earth are called as witnesses. > (Deut. 4:26; > 30:19; 31:28 As we will see, all these elements will > likewise appear > as tropes in both Islamic and Baha'i descriptions of > the Covenant. > > The Sinai event is recalled in the Qur'an with > these words: > > "When We shook the Mount over them, as if it > had been a canopy, > and they thought it was going to fall on them (We > said): "Hold firmly > to what We have given you, and bring (ever) to > remembrance what is > therein; perchance ye may fear Allah." (7:171) > === message truncated === Karen Gould, Certified Coach PEAT Processor and Trainer IAM ProtocolT Facilitator CIH, Holistic Healing Coach, Reiki III http://www.workasworship.com http://www.peatprocessor.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] 817-658-3306 cell "The foundation of all the divine religions is one. 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