the text of the Holy Books are like the thing which
is weighed. If the balance is untrue, how can the weight be ascertained?

Know then: that which is in the hands of people, that which they believe,
is liable to error. For, in proving or disproving a thing, if a proof is
brought forward which is taken from the evidence of our senses, this
method, as has become evident, is not perfect; if the proofs are
intellectual, the same is true; or if they are traditional, such proofs
also are not perfect. Therefore, there is no standard in the hands of
people upon which we can rely.

But the bounty of the Holy Spirit gives the true method of comprehension
which is infallible and indubitable. This is through the help of the Holy
Spirit which comes to man, and this is the condition in which certainty
can alone be attained.

84: THE NECESSITY OF FOLLOWING THE TEACHINGS OF THE DIVINE MANIFESTATIONS

Question.--Those who are blessed with good actions and universal
benevolence, who have praiseworthy characteristics, who act with love and
kindness toward all creatures, who care for the poor, and who strive to
establish universal peace--what need have they of the divine teachings, of
which they think indeed that they are independent? What is the condition
of these people?

Answer.--Know that such actions, such efforts and such words are
praiseworthy and approved, and are the glory of humanity. But these
actions alone are not sufficient; they are a body of the greatest
loveliness, but without spirit. No, that which is the cause of everlasting
life, eternal honor, universal enlightenment, real salvation and
prosperity is, first of all, the knowledge of God. It is known that the
knowledge of God is beyond all knowledge, and it is the greatest glory of
the human world. For in the existing knowledge of the reality of things
there is material advantage, and through it outward civilization
progresses; but the knowledge of God is the cause of spiritual progress
and attraction, and through it the perception of truth, the exaltation of
humanity, divine civilization, rightness of morals and illumination are
obtained.

Second, comes the love of God, the light of which shines in the lamp of
the hearts of those who know God; its brilliant rays illuminate the
horizon and give to man the life of the Kingdom. In truth, the fruit of
human existence is the love of God, for this love is the spirit of life,
and the eternal bounty. If the love