ge from the matrix of precept, exhortation,
narrative, symbolism and interpretation in which they are set. Of these
foundational truths, by far the most distinctive is the progressive
articulation and emphatic assertion of the oneness of God, Creator of all
existence whether of the phenomenal world or of those realms that
transcend it. "I am the Lord," the Bible declares, "and there is none
else, there is no God beside me",(31) and the same conception underpins
the later teachings of Christ and Muhammad.

Humanity--focal point, inheritor and trustee of the world--exists to know
its Creator and to serve His purpose. In its highest expression, the
innate human impulse to respond takes the form of worship, a condition
entailing wholehearted submission to a power that is recognized as
deserving of such homage. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible,
the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever."(32) Inseparable
from the spirit of reverence itself is its expression in service to the
Divine purpose for humankind. "Say: All bounties are in the hand of God:
He granteth them to whom He pleaseth: and God careth for all, and He
knoweth all things."(33) Illumined by this understanding, the
responsibilities of humanity are clear: "It is not righteousness that ye
turn your faces towards East or West", the Qur'an states, "but it is
righteousness--to believe in God ... to spend of your substance, out of
love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer,
for those who ask...."(34) "Ye are the salt of the earth",(35) Christ
impresses on those who respond to His call. "Ye are the light of the
world."(36) Summarizing a theme that recurs time and again throughout the
Hebrew scriptures and will subsequently reappear in the Gospel and the
Qur'an, the prophet Micah asks, "...what doth the Lord require of thee,
but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"(37)

There is equal agreement in these texts that the soul's ability to attain
to an understanding of its Creator's purpose is the product not merely of
its own effort, but of interventions of the Divine that open the way. The
point was made with memorable clarity by Jesus: "I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."(38) If one is not
to see in this assertion merely a dogmatic challenge to other stages of
the one ongoing process of Divine guidance, it is obviously the expression
of the