Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84; site mhuxh.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxj!mhuxh!mpatent 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