“Should they say: “These words are indeed from God, and have no interpretation other than their outward meaning”, then what objection can they raise against the unbelievers among the people of the Book? For when the latter saw the aforementioned passages in their Scriptures and heard the literal interpretations of their divines, they refused to recognize God in those who are the Manifestations of His unity, the Exponents of His singleness, and the Embodiments of His sanctity, and failed to believe in them and submit to their authority. The reason was that they did not see the sun darken, or the stars of heaven fall to the ground, or the angels visibly descend upon the earth, and hence they contended with the Prophets and Messengers of God. Nay, inasmuch as they found them at variance with their own faith and creed, they hurled against them such accusations of imposture, folly, waywardness, and misbelief as I am ashamed to recount.”
(Bahá’u'lláh, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 11)

If you are interested in dialoguing more on the topic of “Interpretation of Scripture” we invite you to join the Arlington Bahá’í Community on this Friday January 16, 2009 at 7:30pm. There will be a short introduction of the Bahá’í Faith followed by a lively discussion and some light refreshments. For more information or directions, please contact the Bahá’ís of Arlington.

“Thank God, for He hath uncovered the veil from before thine eye, and that thou hast witnessed the great signs of the greatest glad-tidings which have been revealed in the Gospel, Bible and the Psalms; and wert confirmed that verily those glad-tidings have allusions to the appearance of the Kingdom of God during this time, and that the horizons shall brighten through the light of the effulgence in this age, which is the age of the lights and the century of thy God, the Powerful, the Almighty!” ~ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

To find out more about the Bible and the Bahá’í writings, we invite you to join the Arlington Bahá’í Community on Friday December 19, 2008 at 7:30pm for a lively discussion and light refreshments. For more information or directions, please contact the Bahá’ís of Arlington. Before the discussion there will be a brief overview of the Bahá’í Faith as well as music provided by Hillary Chapman.

Participants are also welcome to bring their own prayer books and offer prayers from other faith traditions. There are no prescribed rituals and each devotional meeting will look a little different. Readings are often selected from the Baha’i writings as well as from other scriptures. Many times the meetings are theme based, offering prayers of healing, prayers of joy and thanksgiving or prayers for peace.

We do not accept monetary contributions from non-members, but rather wish to open our homes and hearts to join with our neighbors in prayer. For more information please contact devotions@arlingtonbahai.org.

“Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all men. Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb.
Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul. Thus have the mysteries of the Revelation of God been decreed by virtue of the Will of Him Who is the Source of power and wisdom.”
~ Baha’u’llah