February 25, 2016

There are Three Versions of the Torah


“ …the Torah, held to be the most ancient of histories, existeth today in three separate versions: the Hebrew, considered authentic by the Jews and the Protestant clergy; the Greek Septuagint, which was used as authoritative in the Greek and other eastern churches; and the Samaritan Torah, the standard authority for that people. These three versions differ greatly, one from another, even with regard to the lifetimes of the celebrated figures.

In the Hebrew Torah, it is recorded that from Noah's flood until the birth of Abraham there was an interval of two hundred and ninety-two years. In the Greek, that time span is given as one thousand and seventy-two years, while the Samaritan, the recorded span is nine hundred and forty-two years. Refer to the commentary by Henry Westcott [the transliteration of this name is not certain] for tables are supplied therein which show the discrepancies among the three Torahs as to the birth date of a number of the descendants of Shem, and thou wilt see how greatly the versions differ from one another.

February 15, 2016

Bahá'u’lláh was born into an ancient and noble family


On 12 November 1817 a child named Mirzá Husayn-'Ali was born in Tihrán, the capital of Persia. His father was a nobleman and a favored minister of Fath-'Ali Sháh; his mother was Khadijih Khánum. His family's ancestral home was in the village of Tákur in the district of Núr (Light) in the northern province of Mázindarán, which lies along the shore of the Caspian Sea. Though Mirzá Husayn-'Ali received little formal education, He showed signs in childhood of innate knowledge and unusual nobility of character -- signs that foreshadowed the divinely ordained role He would later assume as Bahá'u’lláh, the Glory of God. His revelation would shake Persia to its depths, revolutionize the fortunes of the world, and usher in a new and glorious age in human history.
- Geoffry Marks  (‘Call to Remembrance’)

February 5, 2016

'Abdu'l-Baha: The "unerring Interpreter of His [Baha'u'llah's] Word"

'Abdu'l-Baha
“the unerring Interpreter of His Word” (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 8 February 1934, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh - Selected Letters")