Those qualities which the philosophers attained when they
had reached the very heights of their wisdom, those noble human attributes
which characterized them at the peak of their perfection, would be exemplified
by the believers as soon as they accepted the Faith. Observe how those souls
who drank the living waters of redemption at the gracious hands of Jesus, the
Spirit of God, and came into the sheltering shade of the Gospel, attained to
such a high plane of moral conduct that Galen, the celebrated physician,
although not himself a Christian, in his summary of Plato’s Republic extolled
their actions. A literal translation of his words is as follows:
“The generality of mankind are unable to grasp a sequence of
logical arguments. For this reason they stand in need of symbols and parables
telling of rewards and punishments in the next world. A confirmatory evidence
of this is that today we observe a people called Christians, who believe
devoutly in rewards and punishments in a future state. This group show forth
excellent actions, similar to the actions of an individual who is a true
philosopher. For example, we all see with our own eyes that they have no fear
of death, and their passion for justice and fair-dealing is so great that they
should be considered true philosophers.” [1]
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘The Secret of Divine Civilization’)
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘The Secret of Divine Civilization’)
[1] Cf. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, ch. LXXXIV,
and Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 385. See also Galen on Jews and
Christians by Richard Walzer, Oxford University Press, 1949, p. 15. The author
states that Galen’s summary here referred to is lost, being preserved only in
Arabic quotations.
