The Baha'i Studies Listserv > I think that the confusion begins with putting Covenant in the > category of legal agreement and thinking about it, and about grace > and forgeiveness themselves, in a legalistic way, as something > dependent on "satisfaction" - which looks to me like a translation of > quid pro quo or the "consideration" that must be exchanged in > contract law. Covenant is about committment in fellowship, it's the > walk with God, the musketeers saying all for one and one for all and > then living it. Having misunderstood covenant as contract, other > things are called covenants when they are not, and the Covenant is > used as a sort of legal framework to explain what makes commandments > binding, punishments just, "satisfaction" necessary, and so on.
There were always legalistic aspects to the Covenant at least if we begin with the Sinai event. That Covenant is modeled after the unequal treaties that were typically made between a king and his underling allies in the Near East. We see the same rituals being followed during the Sinai event as accompanied such treaties of alliance. For instance, there was always a ceremonial meal which sealed the pact. This is mentioned in Exodus 19. Likewise, such treaty alliances included 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.) The blessing and curse sections of the Deuteronomy also demonstrate the 'legal' aspects of this Covenant. The meal and witnesses seen as necessary for sealing such a Covenant appear as tropes in both Islamic and Baha'i literature. The Qur'an, of course, places the Sinai event outside of time, but the element of testimony sealing the Covenant remains important: "And (remember) when thy Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their reins, their seed, and made them testify of themselves, (saying): Am I not your Lord? They said: Yea, verily. We testify. (That was) lest ye should say at the Day of Resurrection: Lo! of this we were unaware; Or you should say: Only our fathers associated others (with Allah) before, and we were an offspring after them: Wilt Thou then destroy us for what the vain doers did?" (Surih 7) And note the references to witnesses in this passage from the Hidden Words: "O My Friends! Call ye to mind that covenant ye have entered into with Me upon Mount Paran, situate within the hallowed precincts of Zaman. I have taken to witness the concourse on high and the dwellers in the city of eternity, yet now none do I find faithful unto the covenant Of a certainty pride and rebellion have effaced it from the hearts, in such wise that no trace thereof remaineth. Yet knowing this, I waited and disclosed it not." (Baha'u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words) Note the reference to the ceremonial meal which seals the Covenant in this passage: "I beseech Thee by Thy generosity, whereby the portals of Thy bounty and grace were opened wide, whereby the Temple of Thy Holiness was established upon the throne of eternity; and by Thy mercy whereby Thou didst invite all created things unto the table of Thy bounties and bestowals; and by Thy grace whereby Thou didst respond, in thine own Self with Thy word "Yea!" on behalf of all in heaven and earth, at the hour when Thy sovereignty and Thy grandeur stood revealed, at the dawn-time when the might of Thy dominion was made manifest." (Gleanings.) Of course, the Covenant is much *more* than a legal agreement but it was original modeled on treaty alliances which were legal in nature. __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
