Some Answered Questions

‘Abdu’l‑Bahá

Collected and translated from the Persian by Laura Clifford Barney

Newly Revised by a Committee at the Bahá’í World Centre

• Foreword

• Author’s Preface to the First Edition

• Part 1: On the Influence of the Prophets in the Evolution of Humanity

  1. Nature Is Governed by a Universal Law
  2. Proofs and Arguments for the Existence of God
  3. The Need for an Educator
  4. Abraham
  5. Moses
  6. Christ
  7. Muḥammad
  8. The Báb
  9. Bahá’u’lláh
  10. Rational Proofs and Traditional Arguments from the Sacred Scriptures
  11. Commentary on the Eleventh Chapter of the Revelation of John
  12. Commentary on the Eleventh Chapter of Isaiah
  13. Commentary on the Twelfth Chapter of the Revelation of John
  14. Material and Spiritual Cycles
  15. True Felicity

• Part 2: Some Christian Subjects

  1. Intelligible Realities and Their Expression through Sensible Forms
  2. The Birth of Christ
  3. The Greatness of Christ
  4. True Baptism
  5. Baptism and the Changing Law of God
  6. The Bread and the Wine
  7. The Miracles of Christ
  8. The Resurrection of Christ
  9. The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles
  10. The Holy Spirit
  11. The Second Coming of Christ and the Day of Judgement
  12. The Trinity
  13. The Pre-existence of Christ
  14. Sin and Atonement
  15. Adam and Eve
  16. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
  17. “Many Are Called, but Few Are Chosen”
  18. The Return of the Prophets
  19. Peter and the Papacy
  20. Free Will and Predestination

• Part 3: On the Powers and Conditions of the Manifestations of God

  1. The Five Kinds of Spirit
  2. The Connection between God and His Manifestations
  3. The Three Stations of the Divine Manifestations
  4. The Human and the Divine Stations of the Manifestations
  5. The Knowledge of the Divine Manifestations
  6. Universal Cycles
  7. The Power and Perfections of the Divine Manifestations
  8. The Two Kinds of Prophets
  9. The Rebukes Addressed by God to the Prophets
  10. The Most Great Infallibility

• Part 4: On the Origin, Powers, and Conditions of Man

  1. Evolution and the True Nature of Man
  2. The Origin of the Universe and the Evolution of Man
  3. The Difference between Man and Animal
  4. Evolution and the Existence of Man
  5. Spiritual Proofs of the Originality of Man
  6. The Appearance of the Spirit and the Mind in Man
  7. The Appearance of the Spirit in the Body
  8. The Connection between God and His Creation
  9. The Procession of the Human Spirit from God
  10. Spirit, Soul, and Mind
  11. The Outward and the Inward Powers of Man
  12. The Differences in Human Character
  13. The Extent and Limitation of Human Comprehension
  14. Man’s Comprehension of God
  15. The Immortality of the Spirit (1)
  16. The Immortality of the Spirit (2)
  17. The Infinite Perfections of Existence and the Progress of the Soul in the Next World
  18. The Progress of All Things within Their Own Degree
  19. The Station of Man and His Progress after Death
  20. Faith and Works
  21. The Subsistence of the Rational Soul after the Death of the Body
  22. Eternal Life and Entrance into the Kingdom of God
  23. Two Kinds of Fate
  24. The Influence of the Stars and the Interconnectedness of All Things
  25. Free Will and Its Limits
  26. Spiritual Disclosures
  27. Healing without Medicine
  28. Healing by Material Means

• Part 5: Miscellaneous Subjects

  1. On Good and Evil
  2. Two Kinds of Torment
  3. The Justice and Mercy of God
  4. The Punishment of Criminals
  5. Strikes
  6. The Reality of the World of Being
  7. Pre-existence and Origination
  8. Reincarnation
  9. The Unity of Existence
  10. The Four Criteria of Comprehension
  11. Good Deeds and Their Spiritual Prerequisites

• Notes