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This work answers many interfaith questions, particularly validating and supporting the differences between the older faiths, and providing a framework for understanding why those differences exist.
The review of progressive spiritual / cultural change, set into context, provide a strong foundation for understanding other religions.
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This will be at least the fifth time I have read this book and there are always new insights on the mystical workings of the Universal Mind.
GOD IS TO BE REALIZED AS THAT FORCE WHICH ANIMATES AND DOMINATES ALL THINGS WHICH ARE BUT MANIFESTATIONS OF ITS ENERGY !!!!!
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The Kitab-I-Iqan (The Book Of Certitude) in which Baha'u'llah sets forth His theology of progressive revelation and its consequences for today is one of the main sccriptural texts of the Baha'i Faith. This work seeks to explain the tenet of the Unity of ALL religions as well as the nature of progressive revelation especially as how it relates to The Bab and by inference to Baha'u'llah. A carefull read of it will explain why so many of the Christian attacks on Baha'i beliefs are fairly well unfounded. For example Christ as a divine Messenger is clearly supported in this text although Christ's mission as ONE of MANY divine messengers is explicitly laid out. Ditto for Muhammed. This has infuriated the "Our Prophet Only" crowd in other major monotheistic religions but, feel, mainly because they have not completely studied the book or understood it fully. Any BAha'i who wants to understand the actual basis for Baha'u'llah's claims as the promised one for our era needs to read through this very carefully. Indeed after reaing it with a fair and open mind, one does reach a plane of Certitude with regards to spiritual understanding.
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I read 20 years ago and again now. Its wisdom is timeless. Note: The review dated November 22, 1999 said Muhammad was God's last "Messenger." But the Qur'an never reads "last Messenger (Rassul)" ... it only reads "last prophet (nabi)." The distinction is significant, and had it been otherwise it would contradict the entire Qur'an.
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We live in an age of philosophical "deconstruction" and "postmodernism", where beliefs are seen as hopelessly isolated fragments and deliberate attempts to unify and integrate these is looked on with deep suspicion. In such an age, the thesis of such a book may seem anachronistic at first glance- but read it, and you will catch a glimpse of a very novel, panoramic, and breathtaking vision of man's religions and his views toward God. Rather than an outdated perspective, you will find an integrated worldview that not only seems not outdated, but one that appears to be the only clear solution for the bewildering cacophony of man's religions and ideas, leading to the current ideological crisis that has completely paralyzed him. It is like the missing piece of a large puzzle that suddently begins to make sense of many of the unrelated pieces.
To the Muslim reviewer who interprets Mohammad's words as claiming to mean that He was the absolute final prophet of God, I would like to point out that when Christ came, the Jews similarly interpreted their scripture to refute Christ. They could not believe that this poor, young carpenter claiming to be the Messiah was the King David spoken of in the Torah. Similarly, when Mohammad came, the Christians also refuted him based on their scripture. Be extremely careful how you interpret scripture, and keep an open mind!
I would invoke the words of a divine manifestation of a different tradition, Krishna, who spoke these words many thousands of years ago: "whenever the standard of sacred duty decays" he says, then will he return "to set the standard of sacred duty... in age after age".
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