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Bahá'í World Faith (`Abdu'l-Bahá's Section Only)
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Page 364
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OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE FAITH
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1 |
Thou hast written of a verse in the Gospels, asking if at the
time of Christ all souls did hear His call. Know that faith is of
two kinds. The first is objective faith that is expressed by the
outer man, obedience of the limbs and senses. The other faith is
subjective, and unconscious obedience to the will of God. There
is no doubt that, in the day of a Manifestation such as Christ,
all contingent beings possessed subjective faith and had unconscious
obedience to His Holiness Christ.
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2 |
For all parts of the creational world are of one whole. Christ
the Manifestor reflecting the divine Sun represented the whole.
All the parts are subordinate and obedient to the whole. The
contingent beings are the branches of the tree of life while the
Messenger of God is the root of that tree. The branches, leaves
and fruit are dependent for their existence upon the root of the
tree of life. This condition of unconscious obedience constitutes
subjective faith. But the discerning faith that consists of true
knowledge of God and the comprehension of divine words, of
such faith there is very little in any age. That is why His Holiness
Christ said to His followers, "Many are called but few are chosen."
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