Friday, July 13, 2007

What is The Word of God, Really?

Today's quote from Reality is as challenging as yesterday's.

There have been a number of posts here relating to what's called the "Word of God".

Does that phrase mean only the physical Bible or the book of the Quran or the written Bhagavad gita?

According to today's quote, it means Something Much More Awesome:

"Such as communicate the generating influence and such as receive its impact are indeed created through the irresistible Word of God which is the Cause of the entire creation, while all else besides His Word are but the creatures and the effects thereof. Verily thy Lord is the Expounder, the All-Wise. Know thou, moreover, that the Word of God—exalted be His glory—is higher and far superior to that which the senses can perceive, for it is sanctified from any property or substance. It transcendeth the limitations of known elements and is exalted above all the essential and recognized substances. It became manifest without any syllable or sound and is none but the Command of God which pervadeth all created things. It hath never been withheld from the world of being. It is God’s all-pervasive grace, from which all grace doth emanate. It is an entity far removed above all that hath been and shall be.
....
Every thing must needs have an origin and every building a builder. Verily, the Word of God is the Cause which hath preceded the contingent world—a world which is adorned with the splendours of the Ancient of Days, yet is being renewed and regenerated at all times. Immeasurably exalted is the God of Wisdom Who hath raised this sublime structure."

Bahá’u’lláh: Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, "Lawh-i-Hikmat" or "Tablet of
Wisdom", pp. 140-141