You ask for elucidation of the statement made on behalf of
the Guardian in this letter of 11 February 1944, "When 'Abdu'l-Bahá states
we believe what is in the Bible, He means in substance. Not that we believe
every word of it to be taken literally or that every word is the authentic
saying of the Prophet." Is it not clear that what Shoghi Effendi means
here is that we cannot categorically state, as we do in the case of the
Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, that the words and phrases attributed to Moses and
Christ in the Old and New Testaments are Their exact words, but that, in view
of the general principle enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh in the
"Kitab-i-Iqan" that God's Revelation is under His care and
protection, we can be confident that the essence, or essential elements, of
what these two Manifestations of God intended to convey has been recorded and
preserved in these two Books? (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal
House of Justice dated 19 July 1981 to an individual believer; Compilation “The Bible: Extracts on the Old and New
Testaments”, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House
of Justice)
