The positions presented in this book derive from my reading of scripture. They have evolved through daily prayer and meditation and from facilitating and participating in weekly religious discussion groups over the past twenty-five years with individuals from a variety of faith traditions. I believe that guidance and inspiration are available to all who sincerely seek the will of God. My expectation is that readers will undertake the continued development of their own understandings through reasoned investigation of scripture. The arguments presented here have a bias. They are intended to promote the development of an understanding of the world's religions as guidance from the one God who created and sustains us all. I believe the world's scriptures can assist us in the pursuit of harmonious global community. This discussion will reference the world's scriptures for inspiration, direction, and validation.
The work is organized in two parts. The first part explores passages of the world's scriptures through ten themed chapters. The second part contains ten chapters that present teachings of the Baha'i Faith concerning global community. This is a personal presentation of those teachings, not an authoritative one. I have adopted an informal, sometimes narrative style that occasionally uses the first person. I do not believe that I have anything other than a personal view to offer. Constant references to the fact that this is just my opinion would become tedious in the writing. Where the writing style appears to be stating facts or sounds preachy or authoritative, I apologize in advance.
Acknowledgements
I was raised as a Christian and am most familiar with the Bible, so my references
from the New Testament are dominant throughout the first part of the book. This
is not meant to indicate that they are better than the scriptures of other faith
traditions. I identify myself as a member of the Baha'i Faith. The concepts
presented throughout this work derive particularly from my understanding of
Baha'i scripture.
This work has been built upon the efforts of the editors of and contributors
to World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts. The book
was originally published in 1991 by Paragon House of St. Paul Minnesota as a
Project of the International Religious Foundation. Their work provides invaluable
subject access to a significant offering of the world's scriptures.
I would like to acknowledge the debt owed to the editor, Tamea Rector. She not
only cleaned up my shaky grammar, but helped me to clarify passages, correct
the myriad mistakes, and point out style, meaning, and attitude problems.
To my publisher, Justice St. Rain, I owe thanks for helping me to navigate the
processes of publication. I am also grateful for the depth of conversation and
friendship that has accompanied the process.
Tom McFaul, author of The Future of Peace and Justice in the Global Village:
Role of the World Religions in the 21st Century, and Michel Laurent,
a friend for over twenty-five years who arranged and participated in the meeting,
I would like to thank for a wonderful day of conversation over the two manuscripts.
Roy Duval provided art work for multiple iterations of the cover sustaining
his efforts through the twists, turns, and reversals of the decision-making
process.
Last, but certainly not least, my wife, Carol, is part author of this work through
section by section discussions of the book and as the final editor.