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From: mpatent@mhuxh.UUCP (Verbus M. Counts)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: The purpose of God in creating man ...
Message-ID: <303@mhuxh.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 9-Jul-85 00:11:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: mhuxh.303
Posted: Tue Jul  9 00:11:11 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 9-Jul-85 07:38:25 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 72


 From the writings of the Bab.


 " In the Name of God, the Most Exalted, the Most High.

 Verily I am God, no God is there but me, and aught except Me is but  My
creation. Say, worship Me then, O ye, My creatures.
  I have called Thee into being, have  nurtured  Thee,  protected  Thee,
loved  Thee,  raised  Thee  up and have graciously chosen Thee to be the
manifestation of Mine Own Self, that thou mayest  recite  My  verses  as
ordained  by  Me,  and  may  summon  whomsoever  I  have created unto My
Religion which is none other than this glorious and exalted Path.
  I have fashioned all created things for  Thy  sake,  and  I  have,  by
virtiue  of  my  Will,  set  Thee  sovereign  Ruler  over  all  mankind.
Moreover, I have decreed that whoso embraceth My religion shall  believe
in My unity, and I have linked this belief with remembrance of Thee, and
after Thee the remembrance of such as Thou hast, by My leave, caused  to
be  the 'Letters of the Living', and of whatever hath been revealed from
My religion in the Bayan.  This, indeed, is what will enable the sincere
among My servants to gain admitteance into the  celestial Paradise.
 Verily, The sun is but a token  from  My  presence  so  that  the  true
believers  among  My  servants  may discern in its rising the dawning of
every Dispensation.
 In truth I have created Thee through Thyself, then  at My Own behest  I
have fasioned all things through the creative power of thy Word.  We are
All-Powerfull.  I have appointed The to be the Beginning  and  the  End,
the Seen and the Hidden.  Verly We are the All-Knowing.
 No one hath  been or will ever be invested with prophethood other  than
Thee,  nor  hath  any  sacred Book been or will be revealed unto any one
except Thee.  Such is the  decree  ordained  by  Him  Who  is  the  All-
Encompassing, the Best Beloved.
 The Bayan is in truth our conclusive proof for all created things,  and
all  the peoples of the world are powerless before the revelation of its
verses.  It enshrineth the sum total of all the scriptures,  whether  of
the  past  or  of the future, even as Thou art the Repository of all Our
proofs in this Day.  We cause whomsoever We desire to be  admitted  into
the  gardens  of  our  most holy, most sublime Paradise.  Thus is divine
revelation inaugurated in each Dispensation at Our behest.  We are truly
the  supreme  Ruler.  Indeed no religion shall We ever inaugurate unless
it be renewed in the days to come.  This is a promise We  solemnly  have
made.  Verly We are supreme over all things..."

(Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp 158-159)


 From the writing of Baha'u'llah


"Having created the world and all that liveth and  moveth  therein,  He,
through  the  direct  operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will,
chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him
and to love Him-a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating
impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation."

(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 65)



"The purpose of God in creating man hath been,  and  will  ever  be,  to
enable him to know his Creator and to attain His Presence."

(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 70)




Regards,
Verbus M. Counts   AT&T Bell Labs             The Word of God(religion) is one,
(201) 564-2510     101 JFK Parkway            though the speakers are many ...
ihnp4!hou2h!vc     Room 1L-423
July 8,1985        Short Hills, NJ 07078                  The Baha'i Faith