There are certain pillars which have been established as the
unshakeable supports of the Faith of God. The mightiest of these is learning
and the use of the mind, the expansion of consciousness, and insight into the
realities of the universe and the hidden mysteries of Almighty God.
To promote knowledge is thus an inescapable duty imposed on
every one of the friends of God. It is incumbent upon that Spiritual Assembly,
that assemblage of God, to exert every effort to educate the children, so that
from infancy they will be trained in Bahá'í conduct and the ways of God, and
will, even as young plants, thrive and flourish in the soft-flowing waters that
are the counsels and admonitions of the Blessed Beauty. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections
from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. III,
Scholarship)
