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

  16. Intelligible Realities and Their Expression through Sensible Forms
  17. The Birth of Christ
  18. The Greatness of Christ
  19. True Baptism
  20. Baptism and the Changing Law of God
  21. The Bread and the Wine
  22. The Miracles of Christ
  23. The Resurrection of Christ
  24. The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles
  25. The Holy Spirit
  26. The Second Coming of Christ and the Day of Judgement
  27. The Trinity
  28. The Pre-existence of Christ
  29. Sin and Atonement
  30. Adam and Eve
  31. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
  32. “Many Are Called, but Few Are Chosen”
  33. The Return of the Prophets
  34. Peter and the Papacy
  35. Free Will and Predestination

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

  36. The Five Kinds of Spirit
  37. The Connection between God and His Manifestations
  38. The Three Stations of the Divine Manifestations
  39. The Human and the Divine Stations of the Manifestations
  40. The Knowledge of the Divine Manifestations
  41. Universal Cycles
  42. The Power and Perfections of the Divine Manifestations
  43. The Two Kinds of Prophets
  44. The Rebukes Addressed by God to the Prophets
  45. The Most Great Infallibility

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

  46. Evolution and the True Nature of Man
  47. The Origin of the Universe and the Evolution of Man
  48. The Difference between Man and Animal
  49. Evolution and the Existence of Man
  50. Spiritual Proofs of the Originality of Man
  51. The Appearance of the Spirit and the Mind in Man
  52. The Appearance of the Spirit in the Body
  53. The Connection between God and His Creation
  54. The Procession of the Human Spirit from God
  55. Spirit, Soul, and Mind
  56. The Outward and the Inward Powers of Man
  57. The Differences in Human Character
  58. The Extent and Limitation of Human Comprehension
  59. Man’s Comprehension of God
  60. The Immortality of the Spirit (1)
  61. The Immortality of the Spirit (2)
  62. The Infinite Perfections of Existence and the Progress of the Soul in the Next World
  63. The Progress of All Things within Their Own Degree
  64. The Station of Man and His Progress after Death
  65. Faith and Works
  66. The Subsistence of the Rational Soul after the Death of the Body
  67. Eternal Life and Entrance into the Kingdom of God
  68. Two Kinds of Fate
  69. The Influence of the Stars and the Interconnectedness of All Things
  70. Free Will and Its Limits
  71. Spiritual Disclosures
  72. Healing without Medicine
  73. Healing by Material Means

• Part 5: Miscellaneous Subjects

  74. On Good and Evil
  75. Two Kinds of Torment
  76. The Justice and Mercy of God
  77. The Punishment of Criminals
  78. Strikes
  79. The Reality of the World of Being
  80. Pre-existence and Origination
  81. Reincarnation
  82. The Unity of Existence
  83. The Four Criteria of Comprehension
  84. Good Deeds and Their Spiritual Prerequisites

• Notes