Selections From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
the realm of possibility for him to grasp that unseeable Reality, holy and sanctified above all the sceptics’ doubts. For this, other faculties are required, other senses; should such powers become available to him, then could a human being receive some knowledge of that world; otherwise, never.
25. 25.1O thou handmaid of God! It is recorded in eastern histories that Socrates journeyed to Palestine and Syria and there, from men learned in the things of God, acquired certain spiritual truths; that when he returned to Greece, he promulgated two beliefs: one, the unity of God, and the other, the immortality of the soul after its separation from the body; that these concepts, so foreign to their thought, raised a great commotion among the Greeks, until in the end they gave him poison and killed him.
25.2And this is authentic; for the Greeks believed in many gods, and Socrates established the fact that God is one, which obviously was in conflict with Greek beliefs.
25.3The Founder of monotheism was
Abraham; it is to Him that this concept can be traced, and the belief was current among the Children of Israel, even in the days of Socrates.
25.4The above, however, cannot be found in the Jewish histories; there are many facts which are not included in Jewish history. Not all the events of the life of Christ are set forth in the history of Josephus, a Jew, although it was he who wrote the history of the times of Christ. One may not, therefore, refuse to believe in events of Christ’s day on the grounds that they are not to be found in the history of Josephus.
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