THE SEARCH FOR A JUST SOCIETY
JOHN HUDDLESTON
GEORGE RONALD 1989
PART 16
Chapter 27: The Big Picture (Cont)
The cycles of religions
Here, then, is something of the Bahá’í teachings on human nature. There remains one vital factor to complete the picture linking man to God. Bahá’ís believe that though man is free to choose between the pull of the two parts of his nature, there are limits beyond which he cannot develop his higher potential without external assistance, for it takes inspiration and imagination beyond anything he possesses to show him his own unsuspected potential. The normal sources of knowledge – empirical investigation, rational deduction and induction – are inadequate. The required inspiration and vision come at certain points in the cycles of history from great ‘educators’, or manifestations of God, who have perspective and extraordinary insight into the meaning of life. There is nothing unnatural about the coming of these Educators. They come forward as part of what might be called a spiritual law, in response to the needs of society at the times of great moral confusion and despair which coincide with the decline of established beliefs, or because new circumstances have arisen for which traditional answers are no longer suitable. The Educators are the founders of the great religions. Many lived before recorded history; others have come to societies that have lost much of their record of the past. Those about whom we know at least a little are Noah, Abraham, Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad.
The great Educators are distinctive in several respects. The first is the beauty and profundity of their teachings which if examined at their source, with scrupulous absence of prejudice, are clearly for the good of all mankind. Another is the example of their lives which fire love and respect in all men of sensibility. Like mirrors reflecting the light of the sun, the great Educators reflect the qualities of God in the manner of their lives. The depth of feeling they inspire is quite different from what may be felt about other men. The love that men may feel for a great artist or national hero is as nothing compared with what is felt for Jesus or Muhammad. Governments and established churches, seeing the influence of these Teachers as a threat to their own position, may try to repress them, but once they have made their claim to be the Educator for that age, thy will never retract even unto death. Their followers, too, will risk all to break with the shackles of the past and to put into practice the new teachings, stumbling often, but nevertheless gloriously pressing forward to the highest attainments of life. This is the ultimate answer to the question of how we distinguish true prophets from the false.
After religion’s springtime comes the summer, when there is a phoenix-like rise of a new and more advanced civilization out of a previously moribund society. Thus, whatever may have been the weaknesses of early Christian society, no objective assessment could fail to remark on its progressiveness with the circus culture of Rome at the time of Tiberius and Caligula. The same thrust forward in the quality of society is noticeable in the Persia of Cyrus after Zoroaster, India after Buddha, the Kingdom of David after Moses, and the great Islamic civilization which followed Muhammad. It should be added that Bahá’u’lláh said that the rise of Greek civilization was in response to the teachings of the prophets of Israel.
Then comes the autumn. Over a period of time men gradually lose touch with the real nature of the Educator. They start to elaborate on his teachings, adding to them their own interpretations which soon carry the force of law. Parables, used by educators to make a spiritual or moral point easier to understand and remember, are later read literally and the point is lost. Different views evolve and quarrels break out, superstition becomes widespread and the true religious spirit begins to die. Men become hollow; they continue for a time to pay lip service to religion but their actions have less and less connection with their words. The fabric of society itself begins to weaken and tear. New conditions and problems arise for which there seems to be no answer. Winter has come. Then men begin to feel instinctively that something must happen to help society find its direction. It is time for the cycle of life to begin again and for a new Educator to appear with new teachings.
In the Bahá’í view, the teachings of each Educator have two broad aspects. First there are universal themes about man’s relationship with God, his fellow human beings, and the universe at large: love, justice, detachment from personal desire, honesty, selflessness, faithfulness, humility, forgiveness, charity, obedience, mercy, trustworthiness, sincerity, truthfulness, moderation. These themes are common to the teachings of all the Educators, and so in that sense each Educator is a Renewer, the means for the spiritual candle of mankind to burn brightly again after it has all but stuttered out. The second aspect is a group of social teachings which are the practical application of those general themes, adapted to the conditions of the time and the level of maturity of society. These are transitional and will be added to or replaced by subsequent Educators as circumstances change.
Each divine revelation is divided into two parts. The first part is essential and belongs to the eternal world. It is the exposition of Divine truths and essential principles. It is the expression of the Love of God. This is one in all the religions, unchangeable and immutable. The second part is not eternal; it deals with practical life, transactions and business, and changes according to the evolution of man and the requirements of the time of each prophet.
Some particular quality or teaching may be especially identified with an Educator, because of the circumstances of the time in which He lived. Thus Moses is associated with law, a vital requirement of a people setting up a new society in a strange land; Jesus, with love because of the need to temper the practices of religious leaders obsessed with the letter of the law rather than its spirit; Muhammad, with one God and one nation because of the extreme superstition and violent division of the Arab peoples amongst whom he taught. The teachings of each Educator will be, of course, ahead of the thinking of contemporary society, but not so far ahead that all men cannot understand them. They will be so much in tune with the needs of the time that should there be excessive resistance by government or a prejudiced people, the agony which society is then undergoing will become much greater.
As a pupil passes through a school, each teacher in turn builds on what the pupil was taught in his previous class. So too with great Educators; each expresses the greatest love and respect for his predecessors, speaks of them as his equals, and far from destroying their work, strengthens and adds to it. Each has also had the vision to see that there would be a need for further educators after himself. Each in his teachings refers to his own return, not as a bodily reincarnation (as some mistakenly believe) but in the spirit. Sometimes the reference is to periodic returns, sometimes to one specific return when mankind would make a particularly significant advance in civilization (for instance what is referred to in the Bible as ‘the time of the end’). Bahá’u’lláh himself said that as new problems arose in the distant future, new guidance would be needed and a new Educator would arise to provide it.
One of the most common criticisms of religion is its apparent division, as reflected in the existence of many different prophets and conflicting teachings, and with followers who claim that their particular version is the only truth. The Bahá’í theme of ‘progressive revelation’ points to a different conclusion. Religions are united by common universal themes, a progressive development of social teachings as civilization advances, and Founders who attitudes to each other are characterized by respect and love. Apparent differences come from not recognizing the temporary nature of the social teachings of a religion, and from man-made additions to and corruption of) the original pure teachings of the Founder. In the Bahá’í view ‘progressive revelation’ is the most significant force in history. Other approaches to history, such as that propounded by Karl Marx, may illumine certain aspects of man’s experience, but what is important in the long run is the spiritual evolution of man: and this goes hand in hand with the development of the just society.