David, I have wondered about the same thing with regard to those Baha'is who have nothing of the Writings to read in the morning and at eventide. If even Mirza Yahya will be forgiven in the next world if he repents, it would appear, perhaps, that reunion with God, notwithstanding one's previous heedlessness, is not impossible.
Richard ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Friedman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Baha'i Studies" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 1:18 AM Subject: Salvation > "Those who have never had any opportunity of hearing of the Faith but who > lived good lives will no doubt be treated with the greatest love and mercy > in the next world, and reap their full rewards." > > -- Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 62. > > I'm just wondering what this quote indicates. Does it mean that these > people are saved, sort of saved, or what? We earlier discussed what > 'Abdu'l-Baha said about the Red Cross workers, and how they have a degree of > salvation. I guess the issue isn't necessarily as cut and clean in the > Baha'i Faith as in Christianity, in which one either goes to heaven or rots > in hell. The above quote obviously refers to the Baha'i Faith. What about > those who have heard about, say, Islam, but have rejected Muhammad? > Baha'u'llah says: > > "Be thou assured in thyself that verily, he who turns away from this Beauty > hath also turned away from the Messengers of the past and showeth pride > towards God from all eternity to all eternity." > > To Baha'is, rejection of one Prophet is rejection of all. We could apply > these words to the Prophet in every age. If we take a Christian who has > heard about Islam but has rejected Muhammad they do not really believe in > Jesus. If we look at the above words and consider what will happen to the > people who reject Baha'u'llah when they die it is evident that they won't be > saved. The same must surely be the case for a Christian who has rejected > Muhammad, so I'm having difficulty seeing how it would be as rosy for such a > Christian when they get to heaven as the quote at the top seems to indicate. > I don't see how knowledge of the Baha'i Faith is necessarily relevant, as > if one rejects an earlier Prophet they have rejected Baha'u'llah, and one > has to believe in the Manifestation of God for the age to be saved (GWB, p. > 182). Any thoughts? > > David > > _________________________________________________________________ > Surf the net and talk on the phone with Xtra Jetstream @ > http://www.xtra.co.nz/products/0,,5803,00.html ! > > > ---------- > You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Baha'i Studies is available through the following: > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st > news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st > http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) > http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public) ---------- You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
