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EXTRACTS PROM SHOGHI EFFENDI'S LETTERS
circulated by RUTH J. MOFFETT
-Extracts from a letter from Shoghi Effendi to Kaukab H. A. MacCutcheon, dated January 26, 1939.
"In regard to the list of questions you had enclosed, the Guardian has directed me to answer them in the order in which they have been put:
1. The Teachings do not contain any explanation of what is meant by Guardian Angel.
2. The holding of a memorial forty days after the passing of a person is a purely Islamic practice, and consequently should be discarded by the believers.
3. There is no prophecy in the writings of Baha'u'llah regarding the Pyramids.
4. On page 231 of the 'Gleanings' the passage beginning with the words, 'Out of earth have We created you' - - in this passage Baha’u’llah is refuting the argument of the Muslims who believe in bodily resurrection.
5. There is no connection between the birth of Christ and His having practiced celibacy to permit one to infer that since He was born of the Holy Spirit He therefore refused to marry. Even if Christ had been, married, this would in no way have affected the manner of the appearance of Muhammad or the Bab.
6. Approximately six thousand years elapsed since the appearance of Adam. The ages of the Prophets as spécified in the Bible were based on a different calculation than the one used at present. The years mentioned in the Bible were different from ours.
7. As to your question as to whether another letter will be added to our alphabet in order to have 27 letters; this tradition in which reference to 27 letters is made, has no relation to the Western alphabet.
8. The fulfilment of the prophecy regarding the appearance of the Sun in the West refers to the Baha'i Civilization and World Order, and has no relation to Abdu'l Baha's visit to the West;
9. The provision in the 'Aqdas' regarding the use of glass coffins will be explained when that Most Holy Book is published. This has no connection with the purification of the earth in the Day of Baha'u'llah.
10. The words Spirit and Soul are interchangeable. You should refer to 'Answered Questions' for further clarification.
11. The subconscious mind is one of the manifestations of the human soul.
12. The Bab is the return of the 12th Immam only in a spiritual sense, just as Baha'u'llah is the return of the Spirit, the Christ.
13. In the 'Gleanings', p. 154, the sentence beginning with 'a sick person showeth Baha'u'llah means by this that the soul itself, in its reality, is not affected by any physical forces.
14. There is no reference in the teachings of the real birthday of Jesus Christ.
15. Also, the Teachings hear no reference to the names of the stars which are supposed to have preceded Moses, Christ and other Divine Prophets.
16. The Jews are the descendants of Jacob. Both they and the Arabs are branches of the Semitic race."
Your true and grateful brother,
SHOGHI.
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