by Verbus M. Counts (quoting 'Abdu'l-Bahá)

On the evening of 24 March 1985, Verbus M. Counts of AT&T Bell Labs in Short Hills, New Jersey posted to net.religion a passage from 'Abdu'l-Bahá's "Some Answered Questions" — the Baha'i master's recorded responses to questions put to him in 'Akká between 1904 and 1906, first published in English in 1908. The question is one of the most contested in Christian theology: what is the meaning of Christ's resurrection after three days? 'Abdu'l-Bahá's answer is characteristically both mystical and rational. The resurrection is not a bodily event but a spiritual one — the revival of the Cause of Christ among his disciples after the shock of the crucifixion, the moment when "the Reality of Christ" became "resplendent and manifest" again.

Counts was one of the first people to bring Baha'i scripture to the early internet. His March 1985 posts — appearing in the same week as his companion post "The Foundations of the Divine Religions Are One" — form a coherent body of Baha'i teaching on net.religion. This post is notable for its treatment of scripture as interpretable, its distinction between spiritual and material resurrection, and its argument that science and religion are not opposed when symbols are read correctly. 'Abdu'l-Bahá died in 1921; "Some Answered Questions" was published in 1908 and is in the public domain.

"Question. — What is the meaning of Christ's resurrection after three days?

Answer. — The resurrection of the Divine Manifestations are not of the body. All Their states, Their conditions, Their acts, the things They have established, Their teachings, Their expressions, Their parables and Their instructions have a spiritual and divine signification, and have no connection with material things. For example, there is the subject of Christ's coming from heaven: it is clearly stated in many places in the Gospel that the Son of man came from heaven, He is in heaven, and He will go to heaven. So in chapter 6, verse 38, of the Gospel of John it is written: "For I came down from heaven"; and also in verse 42 we find: "And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?" Also in John, chapter 3, verse 13: "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."

Observe that it is said, "The Son of man is in heaven," while at that time Christ was on earth. Notice also that it is said that Christ came from heaven, though He came from the womb of Mary, and His body was born of Mary. It is clear, then, that when it is said that the Son of man is come from heaven, this has not an outward but an inward signification; it is a spiritual, not a material, fact. The meaning is that though, apparently, Christ was born from the womb of Mary, in reality He came from heaven, from the center of the Sun of Reality, from the Divine World, and the Spiritual Kingdom. And as it has become evident that Christ came from the spiritual heaven of the Divine Kingdom, therefore, His disappearance under the earth for three days has an inner signification and is not an outward fact. In the same way, His resurrection from the interior of the earth is also symbolical; it is a spiritual and divine fact, and not material; and likewise His ascension to heaven is a spiritual and not material ascension.

Beside these explanations, it has been established and proved by science that the visible heaven is a limitless area, void and empty, where innumerable stars and planets revolve.

Therefore, we say that the meaning of Christ's resurrection is as follows: the disciples were troubled and agitated after the martyrdom of Christ. The Reality of Christ, which signifies His teachings, His bounties, His perfections and His spiritual power, was hidden and concealed for two or three days after His martyrdom, and was not resplendent and manifest. No, rather it was lost, for the believers were few in number and were troubled and agitated. The Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body; and when after three days the disciples became assured and steadfast, and began to serve the Cause of Christ, and resolved to spread the divine teachings, putting His counsels into practice, and arising to serve Him, the Reality of Christ became resplendent and His bounty appeared; His religion found life; His teachings and His admonitions became evident and visible. In other words, the cause of Christ was like a lifeless body until the life and bounty of the Holy Spirit surrounded it.

Such is the meaning of the resurrection of Christ, and this was a true resurrection. But as the clergy have neither understood the meaning of the Gospels nor comprehended the symbols, therefore, it has been said that religion is in contradiction to science, and science in opposition to religion, as, for example, this subject of the ascension of Christ with an elemental body to the visible heaven is contrary to the science of mathematics. But when the truth of this subject becomes clear, and the symbol is explained, science in no way contradicts it; but, on the contrary, science and the intelligence affirm it."

Some Answered Questions, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, pp. 103–105

Colophon

Posted by Verbus M. Counts ([email protected]), AT&T Bell Labs, Short Hills NJ, to net.religion on 24 March 1985. The passage is from Some Answered Questions by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, translated by Laura Clifford Barney and first published in English in 1908 by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., London (public domain). Original Message-ID: [email protected].

Preserved from the UTZOO Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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