• Editor’s note: “Spiritual leaders answer” is a weekly column inviting Kaua‘i religious and spiritual leaders to share their doctrines’ perspective on a suggested subject. Every Friday a topic is printed inviting a response. Submissions are edited for content and
• Editor’s note: “Spiritual leaders answer” is a weekly column inviting Kaua‘i religious and spiritual leaders to share their doctrines’ perspective on a suggested subject. Every Friday a topic is printed inviting a response. Submissions are edited for content and length. Due to space limitations, submitting a piece does not guarantee publication. The topic of creation is running for a second week due to the large number of submissions received. Thoughts or suggestions for future topics are always welcome. Next week the suggested topic is confidence. The topic at the end of the column is for the following week.
The Baha’is of Kaua‘i
Baha’is believe that all things were created by God and everything reflects His power. Because man in particular reflects God’s attributes and qualities it is said that we are created in God’s image and, because all things are of God, all creation is regarded as essentially and fundamentally good. The Baha’i Faith does not, therefore, accept the concept of “original sin” or any related doctrine which considers that people are basically evil or have intrinsically evil elements in their nature. All the forces and faculties within us are God-given and thus potentially beneficial to our spiritual development. In the same way, the Baha’i teachings deny the existence of Satan, a devil, or an evil force. Evil, it is explained, is the absence of good; darkness is the absence of light; cold is the absence of heat. However, if a person, through his own God-given free will, turns away from this force or fails to make the necessary effort to develop his spiritual capacities, the result is imperfection. Both within the individual and in society, there will be what one might term “dark spots.” These dark spots are imperfections. Just as the sun is the unique source of all life in a solar system, so ultimately there is only one force or power in the universe, the force we call God.
The following quote from the Baha’i Writings succinctly explains the inherent goodness of man: “O Son of Being! With the hands of power I made thee and with the fingers of strength I created thee; and within thee have I placed the essence of My light. Be thou content with it and seek naught else, for My work is perfect and My command is binding. Question it not, nor have a doubt thereof.”
Rev. Dr. James Fung
Lihu‘e Christian Church
On Easter morning, I stood with others on Lydgate Beach as we watched the sunrise and sang a song of God’s creation and re-creation of life. The song, written by Eleanor Fargeon, called “Morning Has Broken,” became especially popular after it was sung by Cat Stevens. The lyrics speak of the coming of the morning as if it were the dawning of creation itself.
The Christian faith affirms the truth that God did not merely create the world once and for all. We believe that God is actively involved in re-creating life and our lives day by day. The Bible says that as we die to our old self, as we leave behind our lesser self, we can be created anew. We can become the persons that God really wants us to be.
God created the universe and everything in it from nothing. Someone once said that it’s God’s specialty is creating out of nothing. And God can do wonders with us, too. But first we have to become nothing. We have to empty ourselves. We have to rid ourselves of our pretensions, our pride, our craving for recognition.
Pastor Wayne Patton
Anahola Baptist Church
What a world and what a God.
Genesis 1 depicts God as creating this world. The creation story in Genesis refutes atheism because it declares the existence of God.
Romans 1:20 explains that “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his external power and divine matters — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse.”
Creation gives evidence in its order, design and harmony that there is some cause for all this. Mankind must recognize that all creation points to the Creator.
As Rabbi Akiba Ben Joseph observed, “A house testifies that there was a builder, a dress that there was a weaver, a door that there was a carpenter; so our world by its existence proclaims its Creator, God.”
Topic for two
weeks from today
• Will you speak to us on fatigue?
• Spiritual leaders are invited to e-mail responses of three to five paragraphs to pwoolway@kauaipubco.com.
• Deadline each week is 5 p.m. Tuesday.
