Chapter 64
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Conflicting writings on communion as a divine teaching. Last updated: May 8th, 2024.
Compare passage 1 by Shoghi Effendi, where "communion" is included among "unwarranted practices" in past dispensations, with passages 2 and 3. Other conflicts in the letter are shown in Chapter 9 and Chapter 63. At the following link is a video on Apostle
Paul's explanation of the meaning of communion -- as a reminder of the
evils Christ faced at the hands of the ungodly, as a warning
not to fall from righteousness, that one may recognise Christ when he Returns [i.e. as a future Manifestation of God].
1)
34.5
We should also bear in mind that
the distinguishing character of the Bahá’í Revelation does not solely
consist in the completeness and unquestionable validity of the
Dispensation which the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have
established. Its excellence lies also in the fact that those elements
which in past Dispensations have, without the least authority from
their Founders, been a source of corruption and of incalculable harm to the Faith of God, have been strictly excluded by the clear text of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings. Those unwarranted practices,
in connection with the sacrament of baptism, of communion, of
confession of sins, of asceticism, of priestly domination, of elaborate
ceremonials, of holy war and of polygamy,
have one and all been rigidly suppressed by the Pen of Bahá’u’lláh;
whilst the rigidity and rigor of certain observances, such as fasting,
which are necessary to the devotional life of the individual, have been
considerably abated.
(From a letter dated 21 March 1930 written by Shoghi Effendi, in The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 19–22)
Full text at: https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/compilations/universal-house-of-justice-compilation/universal-house-of-justice-compilation.xhtml?795fc615
2)
11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto
you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took
bread:
11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat:
this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped,
saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft
as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
-- King James Bible, 1 Corinthians
3)
The Prophets of God should be regarded as physicians whose task is to
foster the well-being of the world and its peoples, that, through the
spirit of oneness, they may heal the sickness of a divided humanity. To
none is given the right to question their words or disparage their
conduct, for they are the only ones who can claim to have understood
the patient and to have correctly diagnosed its ailments. No
man, however acute his perception, can ever hope to reach the heights
which the wisdom and understanding of the Divine Physician have
attained. Little wonder, then, if the treatment prescribed by the
physician in this day should not be found to be identical with that
which he prescribed before. How could it be otherwise when the ills
affecting the sufferer necessitate at every stage of his sickness a
special remedy? In like manner, every time the Prophets of God have
illumined the world with the resplendent radiance of the Day Star of
Divine knowledge, they have invariably summoned its peoples to embrace
the light of God through such means as best befitted the exigencies of
the age in which they appeared. They were thus able to scatter the
darkness of ignorance, and to shed upon the world the glory of their
own knowledge. It is towards the inmost essence of these Prophets,
therefore, that the eye of every man of discernment must be directed,
inasmuch as their one and only purpose hath always been to guide the
erring, and give peace to the afflicted.... These are not days of
prosperity and triumph. The whole of mankind is in the grip of manifold
ills. Strive, therefore, to save its life through the wholesome
medicine which the almighty hand of the unerring Physician hath
prepared.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 80
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