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Freed from Thickets of Theology (30:0) Freed from the thickets with which theology has hedged religious understanding about, the mind is able to explore familiar scriptural passages through the eyes of Bahá'u'lláh. "Peerless is this Day," He asserts, "for it is as the eye to past ages and centuries, and as a light unto the darkness of the times." The most striking observation that results from taking advantage of this perspective is the unity of purpose and principle running throughout the Hebrew scriptures, the Gospel and the Qur'an, particularly, although echoes can readily be discerned in the scriptures of others among the world’s religions. Repeatedly, the same organizing themes emerge from the matrix of precept, exhortation, narrative, symbolism and interpretation in which they are set. Of these foundational truths, by far the most distinctive is the progressive articulation and emphatic assertion of the oneness of God, Creator of all existence whether of the phenomenal world or of those realms that transcend it. "I am the Lord," the Bible declares, "and there is none else, there is no God beside me", and the same conception underpins the later teachings of Christ and Muhammad (30:1) Humanity - focal point, inheritor and trustee of the world - exists to know its Creator and to serve His purpose. In its highest expression, the innate human impulse to respond takes the form of worship, a condition entailing wholehearted submission to a power that is recognized as deserving of such homage. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever." Inseparable from the spirit of reverence itself is its expression in service to the Divine purpose for humankind. "Say: All bounties are in the hand of God: He granteth them to whom He pleaseth: and God careth for all, and He knoweth all things." Illumined by this understanding, the responsibilities of humanity are clear: "It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards East or West", the Qur'an states, "but it is righteousness - to believe in God .. to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask.." "Ye are the salt of the earth", Christ impresses on those who respond to His call. "Ye are the light of the world." Summarizing a theme that recurs time and again throughout the Hebrew scriptures and will subsequently reappear in the Gospel and the Qur'an, the prophet Micah asks, "..what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
(30:2)
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