Consider, for example: Could the Law of the Torah be
enforced in this day and age? No, by God! This would be entirely impossible,
and it is for this reason that at the time of Christ the Law of the Torah was
perforce abrogated by God. Consider, likewise, that in the days of John the
Baptist the purification of baptism served to awaken and admonish the people
and to cause them to repent of all sin and to await the advent of the Kingdom
of Christ. But today in Asia, the Catholics and the Orthodox plunge infants
into a mixture of water and olive oil, in such wise that some fall ill from
this ordeal and tremble and struggle at the time of baptism. Elsewhere the priest
sprinkles the baptismal water onto the forehead. But in neither case do these
children experience any spiritual feelings. What good then can this do? Other
peoples wonder and question why this infant is being plunged into the water,
since it confers neither spiritual awareness nor faith nor awakening but is
merely a custom that is being followed. In the time of John the Baptist,
however, it was not so: John would first admonish the people, lead them to
repent of sin, and exhort them to anticipate the advent of Christ. Then,
whoever received the purification of baptism would repent of his sins with
utmost meekness and humility, cleanse and purify his body likewise from outward
defilements, and with perfect yearning await, night and day and from moment to moment,
the advent of Christ and admittance into His Kingdom.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Table
talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some Answered Questions’ – 2014
revised translation by the Baha’i World Centre)
