Training Course

The Covenant: Its Meaning and Origin and
Our Attitude Toward It

Return to: Essential Teachings Training Program

Course Description

This course on the Covenant covers such topics as the meaning of the Covenants of God, Baha'u'llah, and Abdu'l-Baha. It addresses the purpose of Baha'u'llah's Covenant and what our attitude should be toward it. Moreover, the course explores the relationship and the infallibility of the Universal House of Justice and the Guardianship.

These materials provide study questions, memorization exercises, and suggested discussion and skills exercises. The manner in which the course is delivered is described in the Teachers' Manual for the Essential Teachings Training Program.

Texts for Course

(1) The booklet: The Covenant: Its Meaning and Origin and Our Attitude Toward It.

(2) The compilation: The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice.

Outline of Text

This course is delivered in seven sessions. The first five sessions cover the materials in The Covenant: Its Meaning and Origin and Our Attitude Toward It. The last two sessions are based on the compilation The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. The materials offer lesson exercises for each of the seven sessions.

Session 1: The Covenant, Chapter 1: The Meaning of the Covenant

The Covenant, Chapter 2: The Covenant of God

Session 2: The Covenant, Chapter 3: The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh

Session 3: The Covenant, Chapter 4: The Covenant of 'Abdu'l-Bahá

Session 4: The Covenant, Chapter 5: The Purpose of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant

The Covenant, Chapter 6: Our Attitude Toward the Covenant

Session 5: The Covenant, Chapter 7: Covenant-breaking

Session 6: The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, pp. 1-23

Session 7: The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, pp. 23-41

Each session includes the following components:

1. Study Exercises (including study questions and memorization exercises),

2. Review of Quotations for Reflection,

3. Skills Exercises.

As explained in the Teachers' Manual for the Essential Teachings Training Program, participants prepare the study exercises outside of class. All or some of these study questions and memorization exercises are then reviewed in class. In addition, participants review in class a select number of quotations from each chapter. Moreover, certain skills exercises are carried out. It should be noted that each chapter of the booklet The Covenant: Its Meaning and Origin and Our Attitude Toward It includes additional exercises. Given time limitations, the teacher will need to decide whether, and in what manner, these additional exercises should be carried out.

Supplementary Training Materials Related to Course

Session 1

Chapter 1: The Meaning of the Covenant

Chapter 2: The Covenant of God

The answers to the following questions are found in chapters one and two of the text.

Study Exercises

A. Questions

1. What is a "Covenant in the religious sense"?

2. God hath made what "a mirror of His own Self"?

3. "Whatever pertaineth to [the Manifestation], all His acts and doings, whatever He ordaineth or forbiddeth, should be considered ... as identical with the Will" of Whom?

4. What was Bahá'u'lláh's "reason for putting on the heavy iron chains"?

5. The "penetrative power in the arteries of the world of humanity" is the power of what?

6. What is the "purpose of God in creating man"?

7. What is God's twofold purpose "in sending His Prophets unto men"?

8. "The Lord of the universe hath never raised up a prophet nor hath He sent down a Book unless He hath established His Covenant with all men, calling for their acceptance of ____________."

9. Has a Lesser Covenant "been the feature of every previous religion"?

10. This Revelation has from "time immemorial" been acclaimed as "the Purpose and Promise" of Whom?

B. Memorization Exercises

"Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self."
(Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 65)

"... in the beginning the believers must make their steps firm in the Covenant so that the confirmations of Bahá'u'lláh may encircle them from all sides, the cohorts of the Supreme Concourse may become their supporters and helpers, and the exhortations and advices of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, like unto the pictures engraved on stone, may remain permanent and ineffaceable in the tablets of all hearts."
('Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan, p. 52)

"God's purpose in sending His Prophets unto men is twofold. The first is to liberate the children of men from the darkness of ignorance, and guide them to the light of true understanding. The second is to ensure the peace and tranquillity of mankind, and provide all the means by which they can be established."
(Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, 79-80)

Quotations for Reflection

Class participants will team up in pairs and review the following quotations, analyzing each quotation at two levels:

(1) What are the major principles the quotation teaches?

(2) How can each one of us personally apply these principles?

Page 8, quote # 2; Page 9, quote # 6; Page 9, quote # 8; Page 18, quote # 4; Page 19, quote # 9

Skills Exercises

Class participants will team up in pairs and take turns giving answers to the following questions. Once the answer has been given, then the person hearing the response will identify two positive aspects of the presentation and give two suggestions for improving the presentation. Each participant will answer all the questions below:

1. What is the meaning of a "Covenant"?

2. What is humanity's relationship to God?

Session 2

Chapter 3: The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh

The answers to the following questions are found in chapter three of the text.

Study Exercises

A. Questions

1. According of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "Had not the Covenant come to pass," what would have happened to the forces of the Cause of God?

2. From "the beginning of time until the present day," has any religious Dispensation produced a Covenant like that of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant?

3. What is the Lesser Covenant?

4. "To direct and canalize these forces let loose by this Heaven-sent process, and to insure their harmonious and continuous operation after His [Bahá'u'lláh's] ascension," what was necessary?

5. What was the "purpose of the Blessed Beauty in entering into this Covenant"?

6. "Thus ... to accept Bahá'u'lláh is to accept ___________; to reject ___________ is to reject Him."

7. The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh "has been bequeathed to posterity" in what?

8. "When the ocean of my presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root." The "object of this sacred verse is none other except" Whom?

9. 'Abdu'l-Bahá "is, and should for all time be regarded, first and foremost, as __________."

10. In the person of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the incompatible characteristics of what have been "blended and are completely harmonized"?

B. Memorization Exercises

"When the ocean of my presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root."
(Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, parag. 121)

"When the Mystic Dove will have winged its flight from its Sanctuary of Praise and sought its far-off goal, its hidden habitation, refer ye whatsoever ye understand not in the Book to Him Who hath branched from this mighty Stock."
(Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, parag. 174)

Quotations for Reflection

Class participants will team up in pairs and review the following quotations, analyzing each quotation at two levels:

(1) What are the major principles the quotation teaches?

(2) How can each one of us personally apply these principles?

Page 29, quote # 7; Page 30, quote # 11; Page 30, quote # 13; Page 30, quote # 15

Skills Exercises

1. What is the Greater Covenant and the Lesser Covenant?

2. How is the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh unique in religious history?

Session 3

Chapter 4: The Covenant of 'Abdu'l-Bahá

The answers to the following questions are found in chapter four of the text.

Study Exercises

A. Questions

1. What is the "child" of the Covenant?

2. "... the succession, after 'Abdu'l-Bahá, passed, not just to the Guardian, but to ________________, of which the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice are the crowning institutions."

3. What constitutes "the chief depository wherein are enshrined those priceless elements of that Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission of the Bahá'í Faith"?

4. The Most Holy Book itself "anticipates in a number of passages the institutions" ordained in what document?

5. What is the "essence of the Covenant"?

6. What are the particular functions with which the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice have been invested?

7. Can either the Guardian or the Universal House of Justice "infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other"?

8. Is there a difference between the interpretations of the Guardian and the elucidations of the House of Justice?

9. The House of Justice shares with the Guardian what responsibilities?

10. Has Bahá'u'lláh "merely enunciated certain universal principles, or propounded a particular philosophy"?

B. Memorization Exercises

"The sacred and youthful branch, the guardian of the Cause of God as well as the Universal House of Justice, to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One .... Whatsoever they decide is of God."
(Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 11)

"... the Guardian ... has been made the Interpreter of the Word and ... the Universal House of Justice has been invested with the function of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the teachings.... Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other."
(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 150)

Quotations for Reflection

Class participants will team up in pairs and review the following quotations, analyzing each quotation at two levels:

(1) What are the major principles the quotation teaches?

(2) How can each one of us personally apply these principles?

Page 38, quote # 3; Page 39, quote # 5; Page 39, quote # 8; Page 40, quote # 11

Skills Exercises

1. What is the significance of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá? How is that document described in the Writings? What did it establish?

2. The Guardian and the Universal House of Justice have been invested with what functions? What functions do they share? What functions belong exclusively to each institution?

Session 4

Chapter 5: The Purpose of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant

Chapter 6: Our Attitude Toward the Covenant

The answers to the following questions are found in chapters five and six of the text.

Study Exercises

A. Questions

1. According to Shoghi Effendi, what are four purposes of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant?

2. "Were it not for the protecting power of the Covenant, there would arise among the Bahá'ís in one day, _________________."

3. In the Bahá'í Faith, what are the "two authoritative centers appointed to which the believers must turn"?

4. What are the "two unique features which distinguish" the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh from "all religious covenants of the past"?

5. Why is the Covenant the "axis of the oneness of the world of humanity"?

6. The Covenant is "an institution which protects the Cause from individuals who, through the assertion of their own wills," would try to do what?

7. Once a person recognizes "the Source of divine commandments and the Dayspring of His Revelation," what is his "twofold obligation"?

8. "For man's knowledge of God cannot develop fully and adequately save by ______________________."

9. Full recognition of the Manifestation "cannot be obtained save by faith" in what blessed words?

10. Once "a Bahá'í has this, nothing can shake him." What is "this"?

B. Memorization Exercises

"The power of the Covenant is as the heat of the sun which quickeneth and promoteth the development of all created things on earth. The light of the Covenant, in like manner, is the educator of the minds, the spirits, the hearts and souls of men."
('Abdu'l-Bahá, quoted in God Passes By, p. 239)

"The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation. Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good; and whoso is deprived thereof hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed. It behoveth every one who reacheth this most sublime station, this summit of transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without the other."
(Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, parag. 1)

Quotations for Reflection

Class participants will team up in pairs and review the following quotations, analyzing each quotation at two levels:

(1) What are the major principles the quotation teaches?

(2) How can each one of us personally apply these principles?

Page 51, quote # 5; Page 52, quote # 10; Page 63, quote # 6; Page 65, quote # 16; Page 65, quote # 17

Skills Exercises

1. Explain four purposes of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant.

2. What is the significance of obedience as part of the duties of man?

Session 5

Chapter 7: Covenant-breaking

The answers to the following questions are found in chapter seven of the text.

Study Exercises

A. Questions

1. "One of the greatest principles of the Cause of God" is to "shun and avoid entirely" whom?

2. A believer who has failed in his duties in living the Bahá'í life would be a breaker of which Covenant? Is this different than breaking Bahá'u'lláh's Lesser Covenant?

3. A person "violates the Covenant" if he has accepted Bahá'u'lláh as a Manifestation of God and "he then turns around and attacks __________________."

4. "One of the enemies of the Cause is he who endeavors to _________________."

5. Do the Covenant-breakers doubt the validity of the Covenant? Are they aware of what they are doing?

6. Referring to Covenant-breakers, 'Abdu'l-Bahá has written, "Should they be suffered to continue they would, in but a few days' time," do what to the Cause of God, His word and themselves?

7. What is the reason the believers are commanded to shun Covenant-breakers?

8. Are the souls of Covenant-breakers lost forever?

9. "With every fresh outbreak of hostility to the Faith, whether from within or from without," what is released?

10. All "the forces of the universe, in the last analysis serve" what?

B. Memorization Exercises

"And now, one of the greatest and most fundamental principles of the Cause of God is to shun and avoid entirely the Covenant-breakers, for they will utterly destroy the Cause of God, exterminate His Law and render of no account all efforts exerted in the past."
(Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 20)

"When a person declares his acceptance of Bahá'u'lláh as a Manifestation of God he becomes a party to the Covenant and accepts the totality of His Revelation. If he then turns round and attacks Bahá'u'lláh or the Central Institution of the Faith he violates the Covenant. If this happens every effort is made to help that person to see the illogicality and error of his actions, but if he persists he must, in accordance with the instructions of Bahá'u'lláh Himself, be shunned as a Covenant-breaker."
(Universal House of Justice, quoted in The Power of the Covenant, vol. 2, pp. 7-8)

Quotations for Reflection

Class participants will team up in pairs and review the following quotations, analyzing each quotation at two levels:

(1) What are the major principles the quotation teaches?

(2) How can each one of us personally apply these principles?

Page 74, quote # 2; Page 75, quote # 7; Page 75, quote # 9 ;Page 76, quote # 13

Skills Exercises

1. What is a Covenant-breaker? Why should we not associate with Covenant-breakers?

2. You are "surfing" the internet and come upon an electronic site of Covenant-breakers. What would be an appropriate response?

3. You have received a letter or an email that you suspect may be from a Covenant-breaker. What would be an appropriate response? What if the Covenant-breaker says that he just has a few questions about the Faith that he needs answered?

For questions 2 and 3, please consider the following quotation about materials written by Covenant-breakers:

"... certain believers have the unpleasant duty of having to read such works in the course of their duty to protect the Faith -- but the friends are warned, in the strongest terms, of the danger of reading such literature. Unless one is very well informed of the history of the Faith and is deeply confirmed in one's belief, the calumnies and distortions of truth contained in such literature can undermine one's faith."
(Universal House of Justice, quoted in The Power of the Covenant, vol. 2, p. 39)

4. What is the difference between having one's administrative rights suspended and being declared a Covenant-breaker?

"The suspension of voting and other administrative rights of an individual believer, always conditional and therefore temporary, can never have such far-reaching implications, since it constitutes merely an administrative sanction; whereas his expulsion or ex-communication from the Faith ... has far-reaching spiritual implications affecting the very soul of that believer.

"The former as already stated, is an administrative sanction, whereas the latter is essentially spiritual, involving not only the particular administrative relationship of a believer to his Local or National Assembly, but his very spiritual existence in the Cause. It follows, therefore, that a believer can continue calling himself a Bahá'í even though he may cease to be a voting member of the community. But in case he is excluded from the body of the Cause ... he ceases to become a believer and cannot possibly identify himself even nominally with the Faith."
(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Lights of Guidance, p. 56 (2nd ed. 1988)

Session 6

The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, part 1

The answers to the following questions are found on pages 1-23 of the compilation "The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice."

Study Exercises

A. Questions

1. Could the Universal House of Justice appoint or legislate to make it possible to appoint a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi Effendi?

2. Does the Cause of God contain mysteries?

3. Why did Shoghi Effendi not appoint a successor?

4. What authority did the Hands of the Cause have to administer the affairs of the Faith after Shoghi Effendi's passing?

5. "At whatever time all the beloved of God in each country appoint their delegates, and these in turn elect their representatives, and these representatives elect a body," what is that body?

6. Was it not just the Guardian who could call for the election of the Universal House of Justice?

7. Did the Guardian's appointment of his successor have to be confirmed?

8. Did the fact that Shoghi Effendi not leave a will imply that he failed to obey Bahá'u'lláh?

9. Is the infallibility of the Universal House of Justice dependent upon the presence in its membership of the Guardian of the Cause?

10. In the absence of the Guardian, is the Universal House of Justice in danger of straying outside its proper sphere of jurisdiction?

B. Memorization Exercises

"The Báb, the Exalted One, is the Morn of Truth, the splendour of Whose light shineth through all regions. He is also the Harbinger of the Most Great Light, the Abhá Luminary. The Blessed Beauty is the One promised by the sacred books of the past, the revelation of the Source of light that shone upon Mount Sinai, Whose fire glowed in the midst of the Burning Bush. We are, one and all, servants of Their threshold, and stand each as a lowly keeper at Their door."
('Abdu'l-Bahá, quoted in The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, p. 6)

"The Supreme House of Justice will take decisions and establish laws through the inspiration and confirmation of the Holy Spirit, because it is in the safekeeping and under the shelter and protection of the Ancient Beauty, and obedience to its decisions is a bounden and essential duty and an absolute obligation, and there is no escape for anyone."
('Abdu'l-Bahá, quoted in The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, p. 22)

Quotations for Reflection

Class participants will team up in pairs and review the following quotations, analyzing each quotation at two levels:

(1) What are the major principles the quotation teaches?

(2) How can each one of us personally apply these principles?

Pages 7-8 "'The Supreme House of Justice ... studied by the friends."

Pages 19-21 "The infallibility ... domain of the other.'"

Skills Exercises

1. Could Shoghi Effendi have appointed a successor?

Please consider the following passages from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá:

"It is incumbent upon the guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that shall become his successor, that differences may not arise after his passing. He that is appointed must manifest in himself detachment from all worldly things, must be the essence of purity, must show in himself the fear of God, knowledge, wisdom and learning. Thus, should the first-born of the guardian of the Cause of God not manifest in himself the truth of the words: -- 'The child is the secret essence of its sire,' that is, should he not inherit of the spiritual within him (the guardian of the Cause of God) and his glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character, then must he, (the guardian of the Cause of God) choose another branch to succeed him.

"The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of the guardian of the Cause of God. The election of these nine must be carried either unanimously or by majority from the company of the Hands of the Cause of God and these, whether unanimously or by a majority vote, must give their assent to the choice of the one whom the guardian of the Cause of God hath chosen as his successor. This assent must be given in such wise as the assenting and dissenting voices may not be distinguished (i.e., secret ballot).
(Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 12)

2. Is the infallibility of the Universal House of Justice dependent upon the presence in its membership of the Guardian of the Cause?

3. In the absence of the Guardian, is the Universal House of Justice in danger of straying outside its proper sphere of jurisdiction?

Session 7

The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, part 2

The answers to the following questions are found on pages 23-41 of the compilation "The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice."

Study Exercises

A. Questions

1. What is the common, the fundamental object of the institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice?

2. Can the Universal House of Justice undertake those functions which exclusively appertain to the Guardian?

3. How can the Universal House of Justice function in the absence of a Guardian if Shoghi Effendi repeatedly stressed the inseparability of these two institutions?

4. In relation to the existence of the institution of the Guardianship, what are two extremes we must avoid?

5. The Guardian in his writings specified for the House of Justice what fundamental functions?

6. In the absence of the Guardian, the Universal House of Justice can receive and disburse the Huqúqu'lláh in accordance with what statement?

7. Beyond its function as the enactor of legislation, the Universal House of Justice has been invested with what more general functions?

8. Is the infallibility of the Universal House of Justice by virtue of the Guardian's membership or presence on that body?

9. Are future Guardians envisaged and referred to in the Writings? Is there any promise or guarantee that the line of the Guardians would endure forever?

10. The Guardian has the authority to define the sphere of the legislative action of the Universal House of Justice. Does this fact carry with the corollary that without such guidance the Universal House of Justice might stray beyond the limits of its proper authority?

B. Memorization Exercises

"Unto the Most Holy Book every one must turn and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, that is verily the Truth and the Purpose of God Himself."

('Abdu'l-Bahá, quoted in The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, p. 28)

"The tests of every dispensation are in direct proportion to the greatness of the Cause, and as heretofore such a manifest Covenant, written by the Supreme Pen, hath not been entered upon, the tests are proportionately severe...."
('Abdu'l-Bahá, quoted in The Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, p. 37)

Quotations for Reflection

Class participants will team up in pairs and review the following quotations, analyzing each quotation at two levels:

(1) What are the major principles the quotation teaches?

(2) How can each one of us personally apply these principles?

Pages 23-25 "In the Order of Bahá'u'lláh ... in some, a 'Guardian'."

Pages 32-35 "The Guardian and the Universal ... Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh."

Skills Exercises

1. How can the Universal House of Justice function in the absence of a Guardian if Shoghi Effendi repeatedly stressed the inseparability of these two institutions?

2. Beyond its function as the enactor of legislation, the Universal House of Justice has been invested with what more general functions?

3. Are future Guardians envisaged and referred to in the Writings? Is there any promise or guarantee that the line of the Guardians would endure forever?

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