Hi Kam,
I see that your efforts to unite the many versions of Christianity, Islam and Atheism/Agnosticism with their diverse beliefs and opinions, is working well. The first step being to offer yourself and Bahai as the common enemy which unites them, surpassing even Mr G and his JW stream !!
Regarding "The human soul, which is the source of human consciousness is adorned in this life with perfections which characterise it beyond death.
This is one of the passages revealed by Baha'u'llah on the subject:".
BTW, the extract would benefit from the use of paragraphs !
It seems to refer to two examples of soul. That of ordinary men and that of those "Prophets and Messengers of God (who) have been sent down for the sole purpose of guiding mankind to the straight Path of Truth.
The purpose underlying Their revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High. The light which these souls radiate is responsible for the progress of the world and the advancement of its peoples......"
Here I'm assuming the bolded "they" refers to the Prophets and Messengers rather than "all men".
This suggests that such exalted souls are able to voluntarily re-incarnate as required. It also brings up the interesting question of whether Baha'u'llah extended this possibility to other souls as part of their progression "until it attaineth the presence of God,".
I know a one shot life has been favoured by some Messengers ... perhaps as a means to avoid daydreaming, useless speculation and the disease of "putting off today until tomorrow .." and others have used reincarnation influenced by the current life perhaps as a means to imbue the misery and hopelessness of many unfortunate people with a purpose.
Did Baha'u'llah expand on this or stick with "The nature of the soul after death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal its whole character to the eyes of men." to prevent useless speculation ?
Did he offer any light on where or what the soul is before it's incarnation or why there is and has been a great increase in Human population ... why the need for so many more souls ?
Did he say much in regards to the role of Humanity as part of "Mother Earth" Nature ? Could the huge increase in population be connected to the lessening of some quality or purpose of Mankind where quantity is now required because of lack of quality ? In much the same way that when burned, a great deal of light less dense wood is required to liberate the same amount of energy as a small amount of solid dense wood.
"Even the materialists have testified in their writings to the wisdom of these divinely-appointed Messengers, and have regarded the references made by the Prophets to Paradise, to hell fire, to future reward and punishment, to have been actuated by a desire to educate and uplift the souls of men."
An interesting comment which seems to be connected to my earlier comment about sometimes needing to bring truth disguised in the form of a lie.
