Fadl

I wonder if he would be talking about wanting a 'New World Order' if he knew who coined the phrase?

What a hoot!

Anyway, I'm sure he's not got the same world order in mind as Baha'u'llah. What a pity.

Read article here

smaneck

Baha'is didn't coin the term "New World Order." It was first used by Woodrow Wilson.

randalljazz

woodrow wilson--fourteen points, 1918

Bahá'u'lláh--Kitáb-i-Aqdas, 1873

Zhang

Wow learn something new every day.

Sen McGlinn

That's correct:

KA181:
The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been
revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System -- the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.
(The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 85)

Beseech ye the one true God to grant that all men may be graciously assisted to fulfil that which is acceptable in Our sight. Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead. Verily, thy Lord speaketh the truth, and is the Knower of things unseen.
(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 6)


The day is approaching when We will have rolled up the world and all that is therein, and spread out a new order in its stead.
(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 313)

The day is fast approaching when He will have rolled up their domain and spread out a new one in its stead.
(Compilations, Fire and Light, p. 13)

Yeshua

The provenance of this phrase in Baha'u'llah is really very fascinating Sen!

I too had assumed that it had come from Woodrow Wilson (all the history books I have read attribute it to his 14 points and speeches calling for the League of Nations) but your above post reminded me of those words from the Kitab-i-Aqdas. Are they literal word-for-word from the Arabic?

So Wilson actually was preceded by Baha'u'llah and yet he got the acclaim?

A similar thing happened with Pope Benedict XV. In many messages, beginning in September of 1914, he addressed the war, calling it a horrendous bloodbath which dishonors Europe, the suicide of civilized Europe, the darkest tragedy of human hatred and human madness, and a useless massacre.

His strict neutrality was based on the belief he was the common Father who loved all his children equally.

He sent a representative to each country to work for peace, and in 1917 delivered the Plea for Peace, which demanded a cessation of hostilities, a reduction of armaments, a guaranteed freedom of the seas, and international arbitration. The American President Woodrow Wilson was the only ruler who answered him, declaring peace impossible, though he afterwards adopted most of Benedict's proposals for establishing peace as part of his 14 point peace plan. After the war he was widely honored for his efforts. He declared the neutrality of the Holy See and attempted from that perspective to mediate peace in 1916 and 1917. Both sides rejected his initiatives. German Protestants rejected any “Papal Peace” as insulting. French politician Georges Clemenceau regarded the Vatican initiative as anti-French and pro-German. The national antagonisms between the warring parties were accentuated by religious differences before the war, with France, Italy and Belgium being largely Catholic. On 1 August 1917, Benedict issued a seven point peace plan stating that: (1) "the moral force of right . . . be substituted for the material force of arms," (2) there must be "simultaneous and reciprocal diminution of armaments," (3) a mechanism for "international arbitration" and a court to hear appeals must be established," (4) "true liberty and common rights over the sea" should exist, (5) there should be a "renunciation of war indemnities," (6) occupied territories should be evacuated, and (7) there should be "an examination . . . of rival claims." Great Britain reacted favourably but President Woodrow Wilson rejected the plan. Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary were favorable but Germany replied ambiguously. Benedict also called for the outlawing of conscription, a call he repeated in 1921. Most of his proposals eventually were included in Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points call for peace in January 1918.

And yet Wilson got the acclaim for it again! I've always thought this to be outragreous. The pope was allowed no part in the peace settlement of 1919 which of course resulted in the disastrous Treaty of Versailles, which as we all know was one of the factor leading to the next even more catastrophic World War.

The Nobel Peace Prize 1919 was awarded to Woodrow Wilson. So where was the peace prize for Baha'u'llah or the Pope?

Sen McGlinn

I agree about the treaty of Versailles.

In the Aqdas verse I quoted, the Arabic has no "world."

It says [Aqdas para 181]

The scope is implicitly the world, and all humanity. "Order" is one of the themes of the Aqdas, and the "world" part of it is explicit in paragraph 2:

Fadl

Dear Senn,

I think you have expanded on your original post, before which, I was going to take you to task. I agree with what you are saying now, but thought I would add my two bits to the discussion.

You are correct to say the word "world" (or equivalent) does not appear in the Arabic. However, it is actually most implicitly there, between the lines, perhaps, in the context. Even if not spelled out, when the verse is read and considered it is clear that "world system" (or order) really is intended and the Guardian's translation which uses 'world order' is both accurate and appropriate.

The verse in Arabic is:




Quite literally the verse talks about "the system" (order) having been "disturbed" by this "most great system". So what is "the system" and what is the "most great system"? To answer that, consider the rest of the verse which says about "the great system" (new one) that the "equal of it" (likeness of it) "was never witnessed by the eye of creation" which places it on the most grand of all possible scales suggesting that it is indeed a universal/world system that is intended and not something more limited, say, for example, Persia, Shia' Islam, or the Babi/Baha'i community. Further, the verses speaks of this "most wonderous" (the most great system) "changing" and "ordering" the "system" (old one) indicating that, according the Aqdas revelation that it is going to change the world system and order with a new 'great' and 'wonderous' one that has never been seen before by all creation (the world/universe).



Cheers