Some Extracts from the Baha’i Writings on the nature of God

Prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1992

From the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh

...God, the unknowable Essence, the divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute, such as corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress and regress. Far be it from His glory that human tongue should adequately recount His praise, or that human heart comprehend His fathomless mystery. He is and hath ever been veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of men. "No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision; He is the Subtile, the All-Perceiving."[Cf. Qur’án 6:104] No tie of direct intercourse can possibly bind Him to His creatures. He standeth exalted beyond and above all separation and union, all proximity and remoteness. No sign can indicate His presence or His absence; inasmuch as by a word of His command all that are in heaven and on earth have come to exist, and by His wish, which is the Primal Will itself, all have stepped out of utter nothingness into the realm of being, the world of the visible. (The Kitáb-i-qán (Wilmette: Bahá’i Publishing Trust, 1985), p. 98)

And since there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the one true God with His creation, and no resemblance whatever can exist between the transient and the Eternal, the contingent and the Absolute, He hath ordained that in every age and dispensation a pure and stainless Soul be made manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. Unto this subtle, this mysterious and ethereal Being He hath assigned a twofold nature; the physical, pertaining to the world of matter, and the spiritual, which is born of the substance of God Himself. He hath, moreover, conferred upon Him a double station. The first station, which is related to His innermost reality, representeth Him as One Whose voice is the voice of God Himself.... The second station is the human station, exemplified by the following verses: "I am but a man like you." "Say, praise be to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?" (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u'lláh (Wilmette: Bahá’i Publishing Trust, 1983). pp. 66-67)

Know assuredly that God’s creation hath existed from eternity, and will continue to exist forever. Its beginning hath had no beginning, and its end knoweth no end. His name, the Creator, presupposeth a creation, even as His title, the Lord of Men, must involve the existence of a servant.

New Site: The Advent of Divine Justice

Passages in sequential order from a letter by Shoghi Effendi known as ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’, 25 December 1938

How to view junior youth and the program for their spiritual empowerment

The rapid spread of the programme for the spiritual empowerment of junior youth is yet another expression of cultural advance in the Bahá’í community. While global trends project an image of this age group as problematic, lost in the throes of tumultuous physical and emotional change, unresponsive and self-consumed, the Bahá’í community—in the language it employs and the approaches it adopts—is moving decidedly in the opposite direction, seeing in junior youth instead altruism, an acute sense of justice, eagerness to learn about the universe and a desire to contribute to the construction of a better world. Account after account, in which junior youth in countries all over the planet give voice to their thoughts as participants in the programme, testifies to the validity of this vision. There is every indication that the programme engages their expanding consciousness in an exploration of reality that helps them to analyse the constructive and destructive forces operating in society and to recognize the influence these forces exert on their thoughts and actions, sharpening their spiritual perception, enhancing their powers of expression and reinforcing moral structures that will serve them throughout their lives. At an age when burgeoning intellectual, spiritual and physical powers become accessible to them, they are being given the tools needed to combat the forces that would rob them of their true identity as noble beings and to work for the common good.

That the major component of the programme explores themes from a Bahá’í perspective, but not in the mode of religious instruction, has opened the way for its extension to junior youth in a variety of settings and circumstances. In many such instances, then, those who implement the programme enter confidently into the area of social action, encountering a range of questions and possibilities, which are being followed and organized in a global process of learning by the Office of Social and Economic Development in the Holy Land. Already the accumulating body of knowledge and experience has given rise to the capacity in several clusters scattered across the globe to each sustain over one thousand junior youth in the programme. To help others advance swiftly in this direction, the Office is establishing a network of sites in all continents, with the assistance of a corps of believers, that can be used to provide training to coordinators from scores upon scores of clusters. These resource persons continue to support coordinators upon their return to their respective clusters, enabling them to create a spiritually charged environment in which the junior youth programme can take root. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (Ridan 2010 message; (Online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

1984: Questions from the Universal House of Justice for each NSA before formulating a new Plan

The House of Justice therefore invites your participation in the process of formulating a new Plan, and we are asked to request each of your Assemblies to send it your comments on the following points in view of the prevailing situation in the area under your jurisdiction.

• Current status and specific needs of the Baha'i community. What distinctive strengths and weaknesses do you see in your community? Are there any unusual features of the condition of the Faith in your community which must be taken into account in the formulation of the next Plan?

• Condition of the nation. Do the social, political and economic trends indicate any unusual opportunities or difficulties for the development of the Baha'i community in the immediate years ahead?

The House of Justice would appreciate concise but adequate comments, which it would like to receive at your earliest convenience, but no later than 31 March 1985.  Kindly send a copy of your comments to the Continental Board of Counsellors.

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 25 November 1984 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’)

1934: The growth of the “mighty administrative structure” of the Faith and “evidences of a power which a disillusioned and sadly shaken society can ill afford to ignore”

• The vitality which the organic institutions of this great, this ever-expanding Order so strongly exhibit; 
• the obstacles which the high courage, the undaunted resolution of its administrators have already surmounted; 
• the fire of an unquenchable enthusiasm that glows with undiminished fervor in the hearts of its itinerant teachers; 
• the heights of self-sacrifice which its champion-builders are now attaining; 
• the breadth of vision, the confident hope, the creative joy, the inward peace, the uncompromising integrity, the exemplary discipline, the unyielding unity and solidarity which its stalwart defenders manifest; 
• the degree to which its moving Spirit has shown itself capable of assimilating the diversified elements within its pale, of cleansing them of all forms of prejudice and of fusing them with its own structure—

these are evidences of a power which a disillusioned and sadly shaken society can ill afford to ignore. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah; included in ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’)

References to Bahá’u’lláh from Isaiah, “the greatest of Jewish prophets”

To Him [ Bahá’u’lláh] Isaiah, the greatest of the Jewish prophets, had alluded as 

• the “Glory of the Lord,” 
• the “Everlasting Father,” 
• the “Prince of Peace,” 
• the “Wonderful,” 
• the “Counsellor,” 
• the “Rod come forth out of the stem of Jesse” and 
• the “Branch grown out of His roots,” 
• Who “shall be established upon the throne of David,” 
• Who “will come with strong hand,” 
• Who “shall judge among the nations,” 
• Who “shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips slay the wicked,” and 
• Who “shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')