We are to teach the word of God.

 

226. We are to teach the word of God to those around us and remember to teach the word of God to our children: Teaching the faith of God to others is one of the most fundamental teachings found in the writings of God. If you are part of a religious faith you will find in your writings that teaching of the holy word is incumbent on all.  Judaism: Ezra “All those that know the law of thy God; and those that know it not thou shalt teach.” (Deuterocanonical Apocrypha, Esdras 1) Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;” Deuteronomy 4:10 “Specially the day that thou stoodest before The LORD thy God in Horeb, when The LORD said unto me, Gather Me the people together, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.” Deuteronomy 5:31 “But as for thee, stand thou here by Me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.” Deuteronomy 6:6 “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:” Deuteronomy 6:7 “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Deuteronomy 11:18 “Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.” Deuteronomy 11:19 “And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Psalms 132:12 “If thy children will keep My covenant and My testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.” Proverbs 4:1 “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.” Proverbs 4:2 “For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.” Proverbs 4:3 “For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.” Proverbs 4:4 “He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.” Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of The Lord GOD is upon me; because The LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”  Christianity: Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” Matthew 28:20 “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” 1 Timothy 5:4 “But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.” Hebrews 5:12 “For the time ye ought to be teachers ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.”

BAHA’I FAITH: “If the mother is educated then her children will be well taught. When the mother is wise, then will the children be led into the path of wisdom. If the mother be religious she will show her children how they should love God. If the mother is moral she guides her little ones into the ways of uprightness.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 162)

Baha’i Faith: “O ye believers of God! Endeavor ye; so that ye may take hold of every means in the promulgation of the religion of God and the diffusion of the fragrances of God.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 427)

 BABI RELIGION: “It behooveth you to proclaim the Cause of God unto all created things as a token of grace from His presence; no God is there but Him, the Most Generous, the All-Compelling.”

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 9)

 ISLAM: Letter 31. “Remember, my son, Allah (God) has not ordered you to do anything but that which is good and which propagates goodness and He has not prohibited you from anything but that which is bad and will bring about bad effects.” “Remember, son, that vanity and conceit are forms of folly. These traits will bring to you serious harm and will be a constant source of danger to you. Therefore, lead a well-balanced life (neither be conceited nor suffer from inferiority complex) and exert yourself to earn an honest living.” “Remember my son, that before you is a long and arduous journey (life). The journey is not only very long, exhausting and onerous but the route is mostly through dismal, dreary and deserted regions where you will be sadly in need of refreshing, renovating and enlivening aids and helps and you cannot dispense with such provisions as to keep you going and to maintain you till the end of the journey – the Day of Judgement.”

(Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh)

Islam: 2. “A Book revealed unto thee, so let thy heart be oppressed no more by any difficulty on that account, that with it thou mightest warn (the erring) and teach the believers.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   7)

Islam: 17. “Can they be (like) those who accept a Clear (Sign) from their Lord, and whom a witness from Himself doth teach, as did the Book of Moses before it — a guide and a mercy?”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  11)

Islam: 27. “Recite (and teach) what has been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord: none can change His Words, and none wilt thou find as a refuge other than Him.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 18)

Islam: 55. “Teach (thy Message): for teaching benefits the Believers.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah  51)

  ZOROASTRIANISM: 13. “When I teach thee, that thou mayest do the same to thy son, O Vishtaspa! receive thou well that teaching;”

(The Zend-Avesta, Avesta Fragments)

 Zoroastrianism: Denkard. Zoroaster, “When the invisible power of thinking takes its birth in the child the base Devs give it base advice to become evil. Therefore, to check evil thoughts in the man and to enable him always to do long-lived deeds, and to keep his person holy, adequate knowledge of the Mazdayasnian religion should, as early as possible, be imparted to him in order to drive away the Drujs from within him; and he should be made a religious person.”

 Zoroastrianism: “I do beseech You, Mazda (God), may You please tell me about rectitude, as to which mentality is (suitable) for Thy duty. Let me comprehend correctly, so that I may preach that religion which is Your’s, O Mazda.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 667)

 HINDUISM: “Religious truth is the highest of all gifts that a man can give. It makes the recipient free from all needs.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 669)

“Teach our holy hymns.”

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 1)

 Hinduism: “Hide, the holy Krishna saith, This from him that hath no faith, Him that worships not, nor seeks Wisdom’s teaching when she speaks: Hide it from all men who mock; But, wherever, mid the flock Of My lovers, one shall teach This divinest, wisest, speech- Teaching in the faith to bring Truth to them, and offering Of all honour unto Me- Unto Brahma (God) cometh he! Nay, and nowhere shall ye find Any man of all mankind Doing dearer deed for Me; Nor shall any dearer be In My earth.”

(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 18)

 Hinduism: 1. “After having taught the Veda, the teacher instructs the pupil: ‘Say what is true! Do thy duty! Do not neglect the study of the Veda! After having brought to thy teacher his proper reward, do not cut off the line of children! Do not swerve from the truth! Do not swerve from duty! Do not neglect what is useful! Do not neglect greatness! Do not neglect the learning and teaching of the Veda!”

(Hindu, Upanishads vol. 2, Taittiriyaka-Upanishad)

 BUDDHISM: “To honor and serve all Buddhas; to spread the knowledge and practice of the Dharma; to welcome all coming Buddhas; to practice the six Paramitas; to persuade all beings to embrace the Dharma;” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

 Buddhism: “You must never abandon working hard for the emancipation of all beings and your self-yielding love will never be in vain.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)

 Buddhism: “If people come to them desiring instruction in the Dharma, they should, as far as they are acquainted with it and according to their discretion, deliver discourses upon religious themes.” (Buddha, Diamond Sutra)

 Buddhism: “Subhuti, the minds of all disciples ought thus to be taught.” “This Scripture is intended for those who are entering upon the path, as well as for those who are attaining the highest planes of spiritual wisdom. If a disciple zealously observes, studies and widely disseminates the knowledge of this Scripture, for such an one there will be cumulative merit, immeasurable, incomparable, illimitable, inconceivable. All such disciples will be endowed with transcendent spiritual wisdom and enlightenment.” (Buddha, Diamond Sutra)

 Buddhism: “If a good and pious disciple, man or woman, for the sake of charity has been sacrificing his or her life for generation after generation as many as the grains of sand in the three thousand great universes and another disciple has been simply studying and observing even one stanza of this scripture and explaining it to others, his blessing and merit will be far greater then the unending charity of the other ones. And why is this? Because this scripture has been invested with a virtue and power that is inestimable, illimitable and ineffable for God’s chosen ones.”

   “In fact, wherever this scripture shall be observed, studied and explained countless Devas and angels will bring offerings to the sacred grounds and hover over them like a cloud sprinkling celestial flowers down on them.” (Buddha, Diamond Sutra)

 SABEANISM: “He taught, and lovely was his voice! And he lifted it up, in his mouth there was eloquence, Eloquence he put into his mouth. He revolutionized and forsook the world: The world he revolutionized and forsook.” “(But) one Voice cometh and teacheth all sayings, One Being cometh and teacheth about this and that. ((Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 119 and 121”

 BABI RELIGION: “Such must be the degree of your detachment, that into whatever city you enter to proclaim and teach the Cause of God, you should in no wise expect either meat or reward from its people. Nay, when you depart out of that city, you should shake the dust from off your feet. As you have entered it pure and undefiled, so must you depart from that city.”

The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 92)

BAHA’I FAITH: “Whoso ariseth among you to teach the Cause of his Lord, let him, before all else, teach his own self, that his speech may attract the hearts of them that hear him.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 276)

 BABI RELIGION: “When we educate one we give him a copy of the Scriptures to read for himself.”

(Moojan Momen, The Babi  and Baha’i Religions 1844-1944, p. 195)

BAHA’I FAITH: “Teach ye the Cause of God, O people of Baha, for God hath prescribed unto every one the duty of proclaiming His Message, and regardeth it as the most meritorious of all deeds.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah)

Baha’i Faith: “Teach your children the verses revealed from the heaven of majesty and power, so that, in most melodious tones, they may recite the Tablets of the All-Merciful in the alcoves within the Mashriqu’l-Adhkars.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 74)