# Some Aspects of Baha'i Scholarship

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

---

> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Peter J. Khan, Some Aspects of Baha'i Scholarship, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Essay/Essai/Ensayo
> 
> Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship*
> Peter J. Khan
> 
> Abstract
> This essay identifies four core ideas that should characterize Bahá’í
> scholarship: the central position of the Creative Word in the acquisition of
> knowledge; the interconnected Bahá’í model of the world; the progressive
> nature of Bahá’í law; and the organic relationship of scholarship and the
> Covenant. Bahá’í scholarly activity rests on the constructive interaction of faith
> and reason, avoiding the extremes of materialism and superstition. Five
> principal forms of Bahá’í scholarly activity are discussed: study of the Faith’s
> historical origins, textual analysis, investigation of religious concepts,
> application of the teachings to contemporary issues, and study of social and
> historical phenomena in the growth of the Faith. Suggestions for future
> research are outlined; the spiritual attributes that should characterize
> individual scholars are discussed; and the article concludes with prospects for
> the greater unification of knowledge in the future.
> 
> Résumé
> Cet essai énonce quatre idées centrales qui devraient caractériser l’érudition
> bahá’íe: la place centrale de la Parole créatrice dans l’acquisition du savoir, la
> nature interrelative du modèle bahá’í de la vision du monde, la nature
> progressive des lois bahá’íes, et la nature organique du rapport entre
> l’érudition et l’Alliance. L’érudition bahá’íe se fonde sur une interaction
> constructive entre la foi et la raison, une démarche qui évite les extrêmes
> associés au matérialisme et à la superstition. L’article aborde cinq formes
> essentielles d’érudition bahá’íe: l’étude des origines historiques de la Foi,
> l’analyse textuelle; l’exploration de concepts religieux; les enseignements
> bahá’ís et leur application aux problèmes contemporains; et l’étude des
> phénomènes sociaux et historiques en cause dans la croissance de la Foi.
> L’article propose des pistes de recherches futures, traite des qualités
> spirituelles qui devraient caractériser les personnes qui se consacrent à
> l’érudition bahá’íe, et, enfin, aborde les possibilités de parvenir à une plus
> grande unification des connaissances dans l’avenir.
> 
> Resumen
> Este ensayo identifica cuatro ideas esenciales que deben caracterizar la
> 
> *Transcript of a talk presented at the Bahá’í World Centre on 15 October 1999.
> Copyright © 2000 Association for Bahá’í Studies. All rights reserved.
> 44         THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES                            9.4.1999
> 
> erudición bahá’í: la posición central de la Palabra creadora en la adquisición
> de sabiduría; el modelo interconectado bahá’í del mundo; la naturaleza
> progresiva de las leyes bahá’ís; y la relación orgánica entre la erudición y el
> Convenio. La actividad erudita bahá’í descansa sobre la interacción
> constructiva entre la fe y la razón, apartándose así de los extremos tanto del
> materialismo como de la superstición. Se adelantan cinco formas principales de
> actividad erudita bahá’í: el estudio de los orígenes históricos de la Fe, análisis
> de los textos, investigación de conceptos religiosos, aplicación de las
> enseñanzas a temas contemporáneos, y el estudio de los fenómenos históricos y
> sociales asociados con el crecimiento de la Fe. Se hace un bosquejo para
> investigaciones futuras; se refiere a los atributos espirituales que deberán
> caracterizar los eruditos individualmente, y concluye el ensayo con las
> perspectivas para la mayor unificación del conocimiento en el futuro.
> 
> Introduction
> The title “Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship” is not intended to be any kind
> of complete treatment of a subject which has many facets and ramifications. I
> have deliberately chosen to focus on those aspects which I see as distinctive to
> Bahá’í scholarship, as distinct from other forms of scholarship with which we
> are very familiar in the world around us. In other words, I am deliberately
> picking out certain points where I see Bahá’í scholarship to be different. I do
> this for two reasons. First, because I think it is important that we see the
> distinction, and that we appreciate the characteristics, which are unique to the
> Bahá’í community in its approach to scholarly endeavor. The other reason is
> because I think it is useful to us to know what kind of patterns of thought we
> should avoid falling into unconsciously. Because we are in a milieu where there
> are many very good people carrying out scholarly activity from their own
> perspective, which differs from a Bahá’í perspective, we can quite fall into their
> pattern of thinking. But if we can identify and clarify in our minds those things
> which are distinctive, it can put us on our guard against unconsciously falling
> into these other patterns.
> In preparing this presentation, I have relied almost entirely on two booklets
> that have been published recently. One is called Issues Related to the Study of
> the Bahá’í Faith, a collection of excerpts from letters written on behalf of the
> Universal House of Justice. The other is the Scholarship compilation prepared
> by the Research Department at the Bahá’í World Centre and published in 1995.
> 
> Core Ideas
> It occurred to me that there are certain core ideas that are very significant in
> developing the concept of the distinctive nature of Bahá’í scholarship, and I will
> discuss briefly four of them which I see to be especially pertinent. They may to
> some extent be obvious, or even self-evident. However, I think it is important
> Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship                              45
> 
> that we remind ourselves of these core ideas and their significance, as it provides
> a useful background to examining some of the issues we are dealing with in the
> development of Bahá’í scholarship.
> 
> 1. The Creative Word
> The first of these core ideas is the nature of the Creative Word. Any form of
> Bahá’í scholarship must necessarily be founded upon our concept of the
> Creative Word of our Revelation. It is very mysterious. We could spend many
> hours talking about it and we would have hardly introduced the subject. But it is
> sufficient to say that to us, as Bahá’ís carrying out any form of intellectual
> activity including scholarship, the Creative Word occupies a central position in
> the acquisition of knowledge. Others would regard it as one factor, as one
> component in whatever subject they are studying. To us, it is central; it is right
> there in the middle. Bahá’u’lláh in one of His tablets refers to His Revelation,
> saying that He has “proclaimed before the face of all the peoples of the world
> that which will serve as the key for unlocking the doors of sciences, of arts, of
> knowledge, of well-being, of prosperity and wealth” (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh 96).
> And if in fact He has provided the key for unlocking the doors to all these
> things, then naturally we will accord the Creative Word a central position.
> This has a number of implications. Clearly, we regard the Creative Word as
> authoritative, irrespective of whether or not it conforms to prevailing trends of
> thought. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Some Answered Questions (chap. 7) refers to the
> apparent dilemma of the early Muslims who found quite categorically, in the
> statements of the Qur’án, reference to a heliocentric universe with the planets
> revolving around the sun. At that time the prevailing view was of a geocentric
> universe with everything revolving around the earth in incredibly complex
> patterns. He describes that as a very simple example of the centrality of the
> Creative Word in relation to the prevailing thought which is naturally subject to
> change with the passage of time.
> Second, we regard the Creative Word as limitless in its meaning, of a
> character radically different from any other statements, because it is the Holy
> Word. It is the Word of the Manifestation of God, and it can thus convey an
> infinite degree of meaning in various forms. Much more complicated is the fact
> that we are told in our Writings that a true or deep understanding of the
> mysteries of the Creative Word is dependent fundamentally upon our spiritual
> condition. This is not the place to go into the dynamics of this process, but it is
> sufficient to point out that, as Bahá’u’lláh says, “The heart must needs therefore
> be cleansed from the idle sayings of men, and sanctified from every earthly
> affection, so that it may discover the hidden meaning of divine inspiration, and
> become the treasury of the mysteries of divine knowledge” (Kitáb-i-Íqán 70).
> This now leads us into asking ourselves what are the various ways of
> acquiring knowledge, when the Creative Word is accessible to us. This is a very
> 46         THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES                              9.4.1999
> 
> complex subject and the remarks I make about it will be fairly superficial,
> otherwise we will never get through it tonight! ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in S o m e
> Answered Questions (chap. 83), refers to the four methods of acquiring
> knowledge. Very briefly, these are: first, through the senses; second, through
> the power of reason and logical deduction; third, through arguing by analogy
> from generally accepted statements or traditions; and fourth, through the power
> of the Holy Spirit. And if I understand correctly, He says the first three—senses,
> logic, and analogy—are fallible or capable of leading to erroneous conclusions.
> He uses a variety of illustrations to make His point and then He says that the
> acquisition of knowledge through the power of the Holy Spirit is infallible—is
> authoritative, free from error. What I find evident in that talk is that He does not
> discount the value of, or forbid us from using, the first three of the four
> methods. What He simply says is that they are not authoritative. But the
> implication that I get from that talk is that it is perfectly all right to use these
> three, provided we bear in mind His cautions about these approaches not being
> authoritative.
> In fact we do use these three methods productively; for example, consider the
> acquisition of knowledge through the senses. The whole of experimental
> sciences, observations of people and of the dynamics of society, observations of
> astronomy and chemistry and biology, are made through the senses. It produces
> very sound knowledge and most useful results. We use the power of reasoning
> in pure mathematics, various kinds of geometry, and other deductive forms of
> logic in the physical and social sciences. And it proves a very powerful and
> useful tool. We use analogy in the process of scientific inference. Arguing by
> analogy to discover new knowledge is considered to be very acceptable from a
> Bahá’í perspective. However, we should always be clear that, as Bahá’ís, we
> regard the results of all of these forms of acquiring knowledge as being
> ultimately subordinate to the authority of the Creative Word, where it
> illuminates the subject. The Creative Word does not speak explicitly about the
> Pythagorean Theorem, or explicitly about the various theories of atomic
> structure, or the nature of neutrons, protons, or electrons. But where there is any
> apparent explicit conflict of view, the Creative Word must be given priority.
> In applying this principle one learns that nothing is very simple and nothing is
> very obvious. What we find is that in our use of the authority of the Creative
> Word we have to avoid some very intriguing extremes. One extreme is that of
> narrowness, reflected in the erroneous view that we need only the Revelation of
> Bahá’u’lláh and that all secular knowledge is wrong. The physical sciences are
> stigmatized as being incorrect because they take no account of the spiritual
> dimension of creation. Psychology is condemned because most theories appear
> not to take into account the spiritual nature of man. Economics is dismissed as
> Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship                             47
> 
> appearing not to accommodate a spiritual solution to economic problems.
> Evolution and the Darwinian perspective are condemned as being contrary to
> the belief in God. Philosophy is regarded as being a waste of time, criticized as
> being largely unrelated to religion. We Bahá’ís have to be on our guard against
> this kind of thinking creeping into our Bahá’í discourse. It is dangerous, very
> narrow, and quite wrong. When I was a youth, growing up in a Bahá’í
> community, I decided to study at a university. A number of very well-meaning
> and very good people were very troubled that I would do so, and pointed out to
> me the passage in the Kitáb-i-Íqán where it says that “Knowledge is one point,
> which the foolish have multiplied” (Kitáb-i-Íqán 184). The idea of going to
> university for ten years, as I did, to acquire expertise in a fairly narrow area
> seemed to them to be a prime case of somebody multiplying ignorance, whereas
> I had before me the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh which contained all knowledge.
> Fortunately, I managed to avoid this pernicious line of thinking. But I saw
> around me, and I have seen later, in both Australia and the United States, a
> number of very capable and sincere people who severed their connection with
> the Faith because of their exposure to this narrow line of thinking. Even here in
> the Holy Land, one does occasionally see this line of thinking appearing in
> disguise from time to time. Sometimes the disguise is very attractive, using
> pilgrim notes and assertions about calamities to create a mind-set which rejects
> the wider society. We must always be on our guard against this crypto-
> fundamentalist thinking, which can lead us into error through a narrow
> approach to the Writings and to the centrality of the Creative Word.
> Another extreme, which is also to be avoided, is that of unwarranted
> inference based on the Writings. For example, the Writings point out to us that
> the universe is without beginning and without end. One of the very fashionable
> theories of the origins of the universe is the so-called big bang theory, which
> maintains that everything was compressed into a singularity and then it all went
> bang and the universe, with its galaxies and systems of galaxies, was created. I
> think we have to be very careful to avoid categorical statements such as “The
> big bang theory is definitely wrong, because Bahá’u’lláh says the universe is
> without beginning and end!” I regard this as an unwarranted inference. The
> question of the creation of the universe is far more complex because the big
> bang theory raises all kinds of questions about space and time, and about the
> implications of the general theory of relativity.
> Another example arises from the question of the creation of life in the test
> tube. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said, in Some Answered Questions (chap. 47), that
> attempts at the artificial creation of life will be unsuccessful because it is an
> unnatural approach. We have to be careful in making inferences from that
> statement about the ultimate success or failure of attempts to create life in the
> 48          THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES                                9.4.1999
> 
> test tube. I was alerted to that by seeing the response of the House of Justice to a
> question about the possible synthesis of an elementary life form. The House of
> Justice gave a very cautious response, referring to certain key phrases in the
> statement of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and pointing out that their implications will only
> become clear as biological science advances. My impression was that the House
> of Justice was simply indicating the danger of unwarranted inference in
> comparing the authority of the Text with prevailing views. The same caution
> should apply to the question of life on other planets, and to questions of the existence
> of the ether, in relation to nineteenth-century physics, the Michelson-Morley
> experiment, quantum mechanics, and relativity.
> 
> 2. Interconnectedness
> The second core idea concerns the concept of interconnectedness. My
> understanding is that the Bahá’í model of the world is one of interconnectedness,
> and of mutual and reciprocal actions. This may become a little clearer when I
> give you some examples. What I see as the Bahá’í model, in both the spiritual
> and the material aspects of creation, is entities and processes which interconnect
> with each other—a dynamic model of interrelationships, rather than a static
> model. These relationships may be of a positive feedback form, mutually
> constructive for growth, or of a negative feedback form, operating to preserve
> equilibrium.
> Let me use some examples. My reading of the Writings is that the concept of
> individual spiritual development is intimately related to social development, the
> development of society. This is, I think, the underlying basis for having an
> Administrative Order and provides insight into the spiritual consequences of the
> Administrative Order. We see individual and social development as interacting
> in a mutually supportive and constructive manner. A message of the House of
> Justice on universal participation written in September 1964 (Messages 19)
> develops that concept in a very interesting way from the organic model—the
> model of interconnectedness. This stands in contrast to the prevailing view,
> which embraces what we could describe as a false dichotomy: the view that
> individual spiritual development occurs by going off into a cave, or in the
> desert, or withdrawing to a monastery, and working on yourself in isolation, and
> when you get yourself into a shining, polished condition, then you come out
> into society. The concept of the Bahá’í Faith is not of withdrawal from the
> world in order to perfect one’s spirituality, but rather doing so interactively with
> society. We see this separation of individual from society for spiritual
> development as a false dichotomy.
> A similar invalid separation applies to the concepts of spiritual and material.
> They are, in the society around us, regarded as antithetical. The conventional
> view is that the more spiritual you are, the less materially involved you should
> be. People who are rich are, by definition, considered to be unspiritual, as are
> Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship                              49
> 
> people who are involved in commerce. Conversely, some societies in the world
> are regarded as highly spiritual, as opposed to the Western world which is
> stigmatized as being corrupt and materialistic, despite the fact that these
> societies are filthy dirty, with dispirited and apathetic people living in a
> degraded condition, their womenfolk are suppressed and denied education, and
> there is no aspiration to education or material development. People of such
> societies are considered as spiritual by the conventional standards of the world
> around us. All this, I think, is an example of what I would regard as another
> false dichotomy.
> A comprehensive understanding of the interaction of spiritual and material is
> obviously far beyond our conception. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, for example, in the Tablet
> of Purity (Selections 129), refers to cleanliness as having a spiritual effect.
> There is obviously a mysterious aspect of the interaction between internal and
> external environments. The Guardian, in often-quoted passage, refers to the
> interaction of the internal environment within the individual and the external
> environment in the larger society around us, and describes them as mutually
> supportive and interactive rather than being unrelated or in conflict with each
> other. When the Terraces on Mount Carmel are dedicated and the Arc Project
> buildings are complete, and when the world becomes more clearly aware of
> them, we will be asked why we have spent so much money on beautiful gardens
> and marble-clad buildings at a time when people are starving. A fundamental
> answer to those questions will include our development of the concept of the
> relationship between the internal and the external environments and their
> mutually supportive, reciprocal nature.
> Several implications arise from this sense of interconnectedness. One is that
> we might best look at any spiritual concept with which we are dealing from a
> holistic or systems perspective. Elements interact with each other and processes
> influence each other; therefore, we cannot accurately get a comprehensive view
> of any one entity in the Bahá’í model of the universe by looking at it on its own.
> One also has to look at it in its interaction with other elements of our model of
> the universe in order to appreciate it. This becomes much more challenging
> and much more difficult than in traditional scholarship and it requires a more
> global perspective.
> The second implication is that we can profitably draw on analogies and
> insights from an organic body—from biology, zoology, physiology, and the
> like—in order to illuminate certain aspects of the Bahá’í model because our
> concept of the world, with its spiritual and material components, is basically
> organic. All kinds of interaction, some of a mysterious nature and others more
> obvious in the universe around us, arise from its organic characteristics. For
> example, in biology there is the concept called homeostasis, whereby the body
> has a tendency to use negative feedback to return to equilibrium when subject to
> perturbation. If the temperature of the body rises as a result of an external
> 50         THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES                                9.4.1999
> 
> stimulus, certain mechanisms come into play which are designed to return the
> temperature to the normal 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a very interesting
> biological concept, well known to those who study physiology. It has very
> important implications for the study of Bahá’í law enforcement in the
> functioning of the Administrative Order, because one can show that the Bahá’í
> approach to law enforcement, dealing with people who violate Bahá’í law, is
> intrinsically homeostatic. It is designed to return the body of the community to
> equilibrium, and to a proper healthy condition. One can get greater insight into
> the Bahá’í administrative processes, and make a number of aspects of Bahá’í
> law enforcement palatable to those who may be skeptical about it, by appealing
> to the homeostatic analogy from biology.
> 
> 3. The Nature of Bahá’í Law
> The third of the four core ideas concerns Bahá’í law. As you might expect, a certain
> amount of Bahá’í scholarship is concerned with the analysis of Bahá’í law. This is
> partly because law is a means of defining a community and its functioning, with the
> interrelationship between its members of the community as well as with the larger
> society; and also because people are quite naturally interested in relating the laws
> of the Bahá’í Faith to the precepts of other religions or to the laws of civil society.
> In this discussion of the distinctive nature of Bahá’í scholarship, we should bear in
> mind the fact that Bahá’í law is a very unusual entity, having three characteristics
> that are quite different from the prevailing systems of law in the rest of the world,
> particularly those in other religious communities. This is discussed more fully in
> the book on Advancement of Women, but we can review it briefly here.
> One of these is the concept of progressive clarification. Rather than Bahá’í law
> being given to us in one great big document, all together in one place, and indexed
> and codified, it is progressively clarified. If you look at the structure of the
> teachings, there are statements in an early stage of the Revelation, such as Hidden
> Words, that are ambiguous and susceptible to many meanings if taken in isolation.
> They become clearer when considered in the light of subsequent components of the
> Revelation or its authoritative interpretation. This can lead critics to imagine they
> have found contradictions, or to claim that changes were made for reasons of
> expediency or pressure. The concept of progressive clarification is intrinsic to the
> structure of the Bahá’í law, and also relates to the organic nature of the
> development of the community. It is analogous to embryology, where the
> components of the embryo progressively become more differentiated with the
> progression of its evolution.
> The second distinctive characteristic of Bahá’í law is its progressive application
> in a gradual manner, when the House of Justice so decides. For example, the law of
> Huqúqu’lláh was enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh, but only in recent years has its
> universal application come into being. There are a number of laws of the Aqdas
> which are not applied in all parts of the world at the present time but will be applied
> Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship                                51
> 
> in due course. This, of course, opens the way to those wanting to criticize the Faith
> to misrepresent progressive application as arising from fear, expediency, or
> pressure. It is more properly viewed from an evolutionary perspective as the Bahá’í
> community develops.
> The third feature of Bahá’í law is that there are laws which are not found in the
> explicit Text. These are laws made by the Universal House of Justice, operating
> with its defined sphere of validity, in legislating on matters not covered in the
> Writings. The House of Justice has done this very rarely and very infrequently. As
> the Dispensation continues, presumably it will do more of this. But there are some
> examples where the House of Justice has made pronouncements on matters not
> covered in the Writings, for example, its condemnation of the deplorable practice
> of female genital mutilation.
> 
> 4. Organizational Issues
> I believe that one cannot legitimately separate the Covenant from any form of
> Bahá’í activity including that of Bahá’í scholarship. One cannot say, “Today we
> are going to work on these aspects of the teachings and next week we will
> tackle the Covenant and see how it all fits in.” The Bahá’í teachings are organic,
> forming an integrated whole, and hence one cannot separate the Covenant from
> any other part of the Faith, most especially Bahá’í scholarship. Why do I make
> so sweeping and so categorical a statement? There are several reasons. One is
> the crucial role of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, acting under the
> provisions of the Covenant, in providing authoritative clarification of the
> statements of Bahá’u’lláh. Although their stations are radically different—the
> Guardian from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá from the Manifestation—
> nevertheless, the authority is the same. This is discussed with precision by
> Shoghi Effendi in “The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh” in the book The World
> Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
> An example of this arises with the statements of Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-
> Aqdas about monogamy. The wording in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (par. 63) can be
> regarded as equivocal, if taken in isolation, and could be considered as
> permitting bigamy. It seems deliberately to have been ambiguous, leaving to
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to provide authoritative interpretation which makes it absolutely
> clear that it refers to monogamy, not bigamy. Beyond that, Shoghi Effendi in
> God Passes By states that the Kitáb-i-Aqdas prescribes monogamy. Unless one
> is oriented to the provisions of the Covenant, one could be inclined to question
> this statement, saying, “I read the words of the Aqdas, and I don’t see it
> prescribing monogamy;I see a very ambiguous statement, which could include
> bigamy. And yet Shoghi Effendi says that the Kitáb-i-Aqdas p r e s c r i b e s
> monogamy!” This simple example shows how, unless one includes the
> provisions of the Covenant, one can be led to incorrect conclusions.
> A few years ago a small group of people initiated something called a “back to
> 52         THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES                               9.4.1999
> 
> Bahá’u’lláh” movement. This approach asserted rather self-righteously that it
> would go back to Bahá’u’lláh with no reference to the Covenant and focus only
> on His statements. As one might expect, it led to all kinds of strange
> conclusions, which were grossly erroneous, and even self-contradictory,
> because it was based on a conscious attempt to ignore the authoritative
> clarifications of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Guardian. The same processes apply to
> the Bahá’í teachings forbidding homosexual conduct, with the statements in the
> Aqdas (par. 107) progressively clarified through the authoritative interpretation
> of the Guardian.
> The role of the Universal House of Justice, in elucidating matters that are
> obscure or cause differences, is also an example of the provisions of the
> Covenant impinging on Bahá’í scholarship. We are all free as individuals to
> offer to the world the benefit of our creative thinking, but in the last resort it is
> the Universal House of Justice that has the function, prescribed in the Will and
> Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to provide elucidation.
> There are other ways in which the Covenant affects Bahá’í scholarship. An
> important aspect of the Covenant is that it forbids priesthood. When you look at
> the way priesthood arose in Islam, and to a large extent in Christianity, it came
> about incrementally, almost unobtrusively. In these early years of the
> development of the Bahá’í Faith, we have the danger of attempts to create a
> quasi-priesthood from any group either claiming to have authority or being
> given an unwarranted status as an authority—because they are older or appear
> smarter or perhaps have higher academic qualifications, are from renowned
> families, are male rather than female, or are from a particular country or cultural
> background. So the forbidding of priesthood has implications far beyond the
> literal or the obvious. Another aspect is the tendency of humanity to want to
> give allegiance to a strong leader on a white horse, behind whom you can
> march. And so one finds occasionally an attempt to maneuver Bahá’ís who are
> prominent, or who have eminent positions in the Administrative Order, into
> acting in a quasi-priestly manner and to become gurus. And those who see
> themselves as disciples of that particular person go around quoting what they
> heard him say, with the clear implication that it must be right because he said it.
> So this is also a very important element of Bahá’í scholarship—that we avoid
> ourselves being maneuvered into being cast as gurus or priests, and also that we
> avoid the tendency of anybody or any particular class or group of people to
> claim a quasi-priestly position in relation to knowledge and understanding of
> the teachings.
> Our treatment of this subject would be incomplete if we did not take these
> rulings against priesthood, which are a part of our Writings, in conjunction with
> the fact that we seek creative expression and freedom of thought in the Bahá’í
> community. We also seek respect for accomplishment or achievement. We are
> not seeking to create a hyper-egalitarian community. We recognize that some
> Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship                               53
> 
> people are very good at certain functions; some are outstanding musicians,
> some are distinguished at craftsmanship, some are highly accomplished in other
> activities. We are expected to recognize, and show respect for, highly
> outstanding accomplishments in various areas. So our Bahá’í community does
> not seek to become a uniform gray mass, but it does balk at going beyond
> respect to the point of according authority to individuals beyond the provisions
> of the Covenant.
> 
> Forms of Bahá’í Scholarly Activity
> Bahá’í scholarly activity rests on the foundation of the constructive interplay
> between reason and faith expressed through our concept of the complementarity
> of religion and science. Upon this foundation, we seek mechanisms for the
> advance of truth by drawing upon this interaction of faith and reason, noting
> that faith and reason are elements of both religion and science.
> We have gone beyond the days where matters appeared simple, that religious
> people were those of faith and scientific people were those of reason. Many
> scientists have called attention to the role of faith in scientific endeavor, in the
> regularity of the operation of scientific principles and in the reproducibility of
> experimental results. So we see the interplay of faith and reason as occurring in
> both religion and science. We should value both religion and science. We have
> to avoid the danger I mentioned earlier of saying that because we are religious
> people, religion is all we need and anything else is just superfluous. Religion
> provides a comprehensive nonmaterialistic worldview, which includes the
> operation of spiritual forces and the central role of the Manifestations. This has
> implications for our approach to science. It moderates the tendency of science to
> be materialistic or to rely entirely on the observations of the senses. Conversely,
> science can aid us to avoid the involuntary infusion of superstition and anti-
> intellectualism into religion, while accepting that religion is transrational and
> has a mystic core.
> My reading of history is that once a religion feels that it is not in danger of
> being obliterated, and feels confident, that is the time that it is susceptible to
> anti-intellectualism. Historically, the religion sees itself surrounded by a hostile
> world, people seem to be getting by very well without adhering to it, even to be
> thriving and flourishing—and so the followers decide to put the wagons in a
> circle and keep those unbelieving people out, and it becomes anti-intellectual. In
> the Bahá’í Faith, the provisions of the Covenant protect us from following the
> historical precedent, but one does find occasional tendencies to anti-
> intellectualism even within the Bahá’í community. By reliance upon the
> constructive interaction of faith and reason, we can augment our religious
> understanding as well as contribute to science.
> I have come to the personal conclusion that there are five principal forms of
> Bahá’í scholarly activity. Let me go through them one by one.
> 54         THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES                            9.4.1999
> 
> 1. Historical Origins
> The first is scholarly investigation of the historical origins of the Faith; for
> example, its relationship to Islam and the influence of the Islamic matrix from
> which the Faith grew. It could well include historical issues related to the early
> days of the Faith and the progressive disclosure to which I have referred earlier;
> the relationship between the Bábí and Bahá’í Dispensations, which of course
> would include study of the laws of the Bábí Faith, the reason for their apparent
> severity and their harshness or even impracticality, and the legitimacy of such
> laws in a Dispensation ordained by God; the study of some of the
> misrepresentations about the early days of the Faith and of the accusations of
> dissimulation, expediency, inconsistency, and political involvement leveled
> against it.
> Particularly interesting is the study of accusations of delusion or
> megalomania. If you look at the statements of Bahá’u’lláh about the
> preeminence of His knowledge, His station, and His position, we quite properly
> accept these statements as deriving from the exalted position of Bahá’u’lláh as
> the Promised One of all ages. But skeptics could also inquire whether such
> remarks arise from delusion or insanity. Rather than taking exception to anyone
> daring to make such an offensive statement, we can react calmly and show on
> rational grounds that such assertions are invalid. I have seen very good papers
> written by Bahá’ís, which address this theme in terms of the self-consistency,
> the impeccable logic, the insight into human nature, and the wisdom shown in
> the statements of the Revelation. Much more remains to be done in sound
> scholarly study of historical origins.
> 
> 2. Textual Analysis
> This refers to the study of the original documents of the Faith. The clarification
> of authenticity is a very complex realm in which the Bahá’í scholars will find a
> lot to occupy them probably for centuries. The clarification of what is authentic,
> what is of dubious nature, and what is spurious may well be a very challenging
> task and there may be gradations between the indubitably authentic and the
> clearly spurious.
> The context in which statements were made, or passages revealed by the
> Manifestation or ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, is certainly an important subject for Bahá’í
> scholarship. The historical and intellectual climate in which the Revelation
> appeared is of great interest to us. The answers given to certain questions are
> best appreciated in the context of the original question and the milieu in which
> that question arose. This is an important area but some caution is needed.
> Fundamentally we look upon the Kitáb-i-Íqán in the way the Guardian
> describes, as the preeminent doctrinal work of Bahá’u’lláh. As we know from
> the history of the Faith, the revelation of the Kitáb-i-Íqán was triggered by
> questions addressed to Him by a maternal uncle of the Báb. That is interesting
> Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship                               55
> 
> to note historically, but it is not intrinsically necessary for understanding the
> wisdom of the Kitáb-i-Íqán. The same applies, perhaps to an even greater
> extent, to the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. Essentially, we do not really care
> who was the individual stigmatized as the Son of the Wolf. What we care about
> most of all are the things Bahá’u’lláh says in that book. Certain passages are
> clarified by knowing who that person was and what were his misdeeds, but
> fundamentally Bahá’u’lláh seemed to be addressing the community of Bahá’ís
> of this generation, and untold future generations in the distant future, rather
> than devoting Himself to the revelation of so weighty a document to a non-
> entity who vanished from the scene within a few years. So contextualization is
> useful but also has its limitations; carried to excess it can narrow our focus to an
> unwarranted extent.
> In this realm of contextual analysis, one could profitably study the allusions
> to literary and religious works and concepts, for example, in the passages where
> Bahá’u’lláh quotes from Jalálu’d-Dín Rúmí and from H. áfiz. and from other
> great poets. The relationship of the Seven Valleys to seven stages or stations
> described in Muslim mystic literature several centuries ago is a very interesting
> and very significant area to be explored.
> The time sequence of the revelation of various passages of our Sacred Text is
> a significant aspect of contextual analysis. The accuracy of translation and the
> relationship between translation and interpretation, in terms of clarification of
> meaning, is an extremely complicated area, which merits exploration. Since any
> form of translation involves a degree of interpretation, the interpretations of the
> Guardian play a crucial role, and much can be learned from a careful study of
> his approach to translation. This is also an area for scholarly endeavor in the
> future.
> 
> 3. Investigation of Religious Concepts
> The third area of the five is the study of religious concepts. We can obtain
> greater insight through the power of intellectual inquiry, carried out in the
> proper way with respect for the authority of the Manifestation and the centrality
> of the Text, in studying certain religious concepts. The concept of a
> Manifestation of God is one that we Bahá’ís take for granted. We are very
> comfortable with it, but the world around us regards it as very strange that we
> regard this Person, who came from Iran in the nineteenth century, with such
> authority that every statement He makes is taken to be infallible truth. The
> phenomenon of the Manifestation of God can well be examined, in a very
> useful way, and with a proper degree of respect and authority, from the
> perspective of history, and in relation to human experience.
> The process of revelation is a truly fascinating phenomenon. There are
> passages in the Bahá’í literature about people being present when Bahá’u’lláh
> revealed a tablet and they experienced a tremendous sense of power and light.
> 56         THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES                            9.4.1999
> 
> There is a story in the Star of the West (23:73–74) about a young man named
> Azízu’lláh Varqá, who was present when Bahá’u’lláh appeared to be chanting
> passages from previously revealed Writings. After a few minutes, he had a
> sense of power and light filling the room and he fainted. When he woke up,
> people were putting cold water and rose water on his forehead. He asked, “What
> happened to me?” and was told, “You were present when Bahá’u’lláh was
> revealing a tablet!” This is part of the mystery of revelation. I remember in my
> pre-Bahá’í days, I was very intrigued to read eyewitness accounts of the effect
> upon Muh. ammad when revelation came to Him; there was intense physical
> stress and a sense of power. On one occasion, eyewitnesses reported that He
> was on a camel and the power of the revelation was so great that the camel was
> forced to its knees. Those of you here tonight who have had anything to do with
> the camels in the Negev desert know how difficult it is to get them to do
> anything! So this is a very mysterious process.
> The concept of human nature, with its spiritual and material components, is
> an important subject in the study of the phenomenon of religion. Our view of
> creation and evolution, the concept of spirit in its various forms, and insights
> into other religions are all interesting areas for scholarly inquiry. Of great
> interest are the psychological and sociological implications of the Covenant; we
> bind ourselves voluntarily to the concept of the Covenant and its apparent
> restrictions on thought because we see it as a channel for the liberation of the
> human individual’s creative thought processes and for human happiness. But
> one needs to show this, not only from the Text, but with support also from a
> highly insightful study into human nature.
> 
> 4. Application to Contemporary Issues
> The application of the Bahá’í teachings to contemporary issues is very much
> pertinent to the present day, when so much of our energy is occupied with
> teaching the Faith. The Guardian says, in a letter written on his behalf, that “If
> the Bahá’ís want to be really effective in teaching the Cause they need to be much
> better informed and able to discuss intelligently, intellectually, the present
> condition of the world and its problems. We need Bahá’í scholars, not only
> people far, far more deeply aware of what our teachings really are, but also well
> read and well educated people, capable of correlating our teachings to the current
> thoughts of the leaders of society.” (Shoghi Effendi, in Importance of Deepening,
> no. 153). So the fourth of the five areas is the correlation between the Bahá’í
> teachings and contemporary thought. It is very important, but this does not
> mean one should necessarily concentrate only on this aspect of Bahá’í scholarly
> activity and neglect the other four. There is no limit to the kinds of things one
> can do in this area.
> Shoghi Effendi has pointed out, and it has been reiterated by the Universal
> House of Justice, that the true relationship between the study of the Bahá’í texts
> Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship                              57
> 
> and academic study is mutually constructive and mutually supportive, rather
> than being antagonistic. One can get insights into academic studies through the
> Bahá’í Writings, as we all realize. However, the Guardian and also the
> Universal House of Justice point out the converse applies as well, that academic
> studies can give new insights into the Bahá’í teachings if approached with the
> correct attitude.
> I recall some time ago visiting the University of Western Australia campus
> where the Bahá’í students had been very active and had proclaimed the Faith to
> a senior university administrator, who was a professor of political science, and
> had persuaded him to read something about the Bahá’í Administrative Order.
> After I was introduced to him as a Bahá’í who was a professor from the
> University of Queensland, he invited me to lunch. We had a very fascinating
> discussion of the Bahá’í Administrative Order from a political science
> perspective. I found to my amazement that this person, who was not a Bahá’í,
> had a degree of insight into it beyond my own, to the extent I found myself
> learning from him. From his political science perspective, he could clearly see
> the necessity for the interlocking nature of the various provisions of the
> Administrative Order and their contribution to the strength and the integrity of
> the whole system. To my knowledge, he never became a Bahá’í, but certainly
> his professional expertise gave him a fresh insight into, and admiration for, the
> Bahá’í Administrative Order.
> Let me present a highly incomplete list of possible areas for scholarly study in
> this aspect of Bahá’í scholarship, for the purpose of stimulating your own
> thinking about other possibilities.
> 
> • Theories of personality, motivation, and creativity; the nature of
> creativity—a very mysterious subject in relation to what our teachings say
> about the creative power of the spirit and about meditation.
> 
> • The dynamics of group decision making, which we call consultation and
> which has a great many profound implications for the way people make
> decisions in marriage, family relationships, and also in the business setting
> and in management science.
> 
> • Social organization and governance from a Bahá’í perspective, particularly
> useful at this time when the prevailing approaches in the wider society are
> being seen to be defective.
> 
> • The role of values and motives in economic functioning.
> 
> • Theories of history and the role of religion in the events of history.
> 58           THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES                            9.4.1999
> 
> • A theory of environmental development. This would be very interesting
> because on the one hand we have a great respect for the environment and
> we regard ourselves as its custodians for the future generations, yet on the
> other hand we are also committed to the creation of an ever-advancing
> civilization. How do we reconcile these two apparent opposites? How do
> we avoid turning the earth into a giant parking lot, paved in concrete, and
> how do we advance a civilization while maintaining respect for nature and
> for environmental balance? Our commitment to beauty and the preservation
> of nature is apparent in Bahá’í monumental edifices and gardens. This is a
> very complex subject and we will ultimately have Bahá’ís developing a
> coherent and comprehensive theory which does not have contradictions
> within it.
> 
> • Criminology and the rehabilitation of criminals. I know of a few Bahá’í
> criminologists working in this area but much more work is needed. The
> whole theory of the rehabilitation of criminals is susceptible to a vast
> amount of illumination from Bahá’ís, who can examine the laws of the
> Aqdas relating to the spectrum of penalties for various crimes, in context
> with the other Bahá’í teachings including our concepts of mercy,
> forgiveness, and spiritual development as explained by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in
> Some Answered Questions (chap. 77). Through this approach, Bahá’í
> criminologists can make an original contribution to their professional field
> and also provide new insight into this aspect of the Bahá’í teachings.
> 
> • Conflict resolution, which is of course central to our religion. The various
> theories of conflict resolution which are prevalent in our society can be
> usefully related to Bahá’í concepts and insights.
> 
> • Marriage and family development, in which we have a unique contribution
> to make from our principle of the equality of the sexes.
> 
> • Concepts in physics and astrophysics. The Bahá’í teachings can illuminate a
> number of concepts about the nature of matter and of creation, the evolution
> of the universe, and can stimulate creative thought about the influence of
> other galactic entities, such as comets, on life here. Nonlinear phenomena,
> such as chaotic behavior, fractals, and nonequilibrium thermodynamics
> provide useful models for systems falling within Bahá’í purview.
> 
> • Peace studies, and the means by which peace can be established and
> maintained in the face of aggressive conduct by nations, terrorist groups, or
> alienated segments of the society.
> Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship                              59
> 
> 5. Social and Historical Phenomena
> The final of the five areas is the study of social and historical phenomena in the
> growth of the Bahá’í Faith. Among the subjects in which Bahá’í scholarly
> activity could usefully be carried out are:
> 
> • Examination of the way in which the Bahá’í Faith has addressed racial
> problems, and the degree of success it has thus far attained in dealing with
> racial issues in the United States between African Americans and the
> majority of the population, in breaking down tribal prejudices in various
> places in Africa, and in achieving the integration and flourishing within the
> European Bahá’í community of gypsy or Romani people. There is room for
> quite a lot of useful study here. We will have to be careful that we retain
> intellectual honesty in such studies, and that we adopt a systems
> perspective in assessing the ultimate effect of processes we are initiating
> now. Our work is incomplete in the eradication of prejudices, and we have
> not always had shining successes. But I believe we can show to the world
> that we have done some very interesting, and very important, things in this
> area.
> 
> • A similar approach applies to examination of the effect of the Bahá’í
> community in breaking down class prejudices in societies which have
> traditionally been ridden with it, including England, Iran, India, and
> Polynesia.
> 
> • The results we have thus far achieved in the implementation of the
> principle of the equality of men and women. What have we actually
> accomplished beyond the simple enunciation of this principle? What
> barriers have we broken down? What successes can we point to? What are
> the challenges we have faced and still do face, psychological and
> sociological? These, I think, are very interesting and important areas for
> scholarly investigation.
> 
> • There is also the question of modeling of the factors involved in growth
> and in forecasting. This is an area I find particularly fascinating because
> there is a lot of good work going on in the wider society in modeling and in
> study of the dynamics of growth. I remember talking about this subject to a
> Bahá’í scientist who was visiting the World Centre. He pointed out to me
> that he felt there was an existing body of mathematics which could be
> applied in its entirety to a Bahá’í theory of modeling of community growth,
> if we could identify the variables. This was the mathematics of
> epidemiology, since the process of the spread of the Faith is similar to that
> 60         THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES                            9.4.1999
> 
> of an epidemic. I was left with the thought that I would have to choose my
> words very carefully in discussing this matter with others, since people
> would feel that we are comparing the spread of the Faith to that of an
> epidemic, which in some ways it is!
> 
> Prescribed Attributes
> One of the interesting features of Bahá’í scholarship is the emphasis placed on
> the spiritual attributes of the individual carrying it out. This is quite unusual
> when, for example, compared with scholarship in the wider society. If we are
> looking at the work of Einstein, it would be of minor interest whether he was
> modest or arrogant, whether he rode a bicycle, or whether he remembered to get
> a haircut. The emphasis is very different in Bahá’í scholarship, for reasons which
> derive from the nature of the Creative Word, to which I referred early in my talk.
> The practice of Bahá’í scholarship calls upon the individual practitioner to
> have due regard for personal humility and modesty about his own
> achievements. Let me call your attention to some fascinating passages in the
> Kitáb-i-Aqdas where Bahá’u’lláh warns us very strongly against the absence of
> modesty and humility in such areas of scholarship and the acquisition of
> knowledge. It states in the Aqdas, “Amongst the people is he whose learning
> hath made him proud, and who hath been debarred thereby from recognizing
> My Name, the Self-Subsisting; who, when he heareth the tread of sandals
> following behind him, waxeth greater in his own esteem than Nimrod” (par.
> 41). You can see what He is talking about—the person who becomes puffed up
> because he hears followers behind him, the tread of their sandals making him
> feel that he is a guru with this whole motley crowd worshiping him and
> following him wherever he leads them. He is waxing greater in his esteem than
> Nimrod. And then Bahá’u’lláh goes on: “Say: O rejected one! Where now is his
> abode? By God, it is the nethermost fire.” As you can see, Bahá’u’lláh does not
> mince His words here.
> Of a different degree of subtlety is Bahá’u’lláh’s statement that “Amongst the
> people is he who seateth himself amid the sandals by the door whilst coveting in
> his heart the seat of honour” (Kitáb-i-Aqdas par. 36). This is a person who
> presents himself as self-effacing, so very humble, almost apologizing for even
> breathing in your presence and using up some of the oxygen; deep down this
> individual thinks: I am actually quite an important person; you know, I present
> myself as a nonentity, but I am really very knowledgeable and eventually these
> ignorant people around me will recognize my worth! And to him Bahá’u’lláh
> says, “What manner of man art thou, O vain and heedless one, who wouldst
> appear as other than thou art? And among the people is he who layeth claim to
> inner knowledge, and still deeper knowledge concealed within this knowl-
> edge.” And then Bahá’u’lláh condemns him also and says, “Say: Thou speakest
> false! . . . What thou dost possess is naught but husks which We have left to
> Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship                               61
> 
> thee as bones are left to dogs.” (Kitáb-i-Aqdas par. 36). So again, He is not
> mincing his words. These are very strong statements. We ourselves would not
> make them, as individuals, but Bahá’u’lláh, as the Manifestation of God, makes
> these statements in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas to warn us against pride, arrogance, and
> hypocrisy in the pursuit of knowledge.
> Our personal attributes should also include a nonexclusive and nonadversarial
> attitude to others. For example, we are encouraged not to get preoccupied with
> defining who is a scholar and who is not, or whether that Bahá’í scholar is of a
> higher level than you are, and whether this is scholarship and that is not. This is
> a very important matter because some scholarly areas in the wider society are
> riven by this sense of definition and competition. I have endured many battles
> between pure and applied mathematicians: the pure mathematicians feel that
> applied mathematicians get their hands dirty, have to make approximations and
> assumptions, and can never be sure of their conclusions; the applied math-
> ematicians respond by pointing out that the entire pure mathematical structure is
> built upon a set of axioms, some of which defy common sense in fields such
> as projective geometry. So there can be antagonism and jockeying for power
> and status in university departments where these attitudes exist. A similar
> situation can apply in such fields as psychology, economics, physics, and even
> biology. This does not occur everywhere, and there are many wonderful
> people working in these areas. We must take care that scholarly activity in the
> Bahá’í community is not afflicted with sterile controversies over what is, or is
> not, Bahá’í scholarship, or what activities are of higher intellectual content
> than others.
> The Bahá’í attitude towards those who have trouble grasping something
> should always be uppermost in the minds of scholars. There are beautiful
> passages in the Writings where Bahá’u’lláh calls for kindness, gentleness, and
> consideration towards anybody who has trouble understanding something,
> rather than expressions of superiority or condemnation.
> Respect for the accomplishment of others and an orientation to service to
> the Faith are also enjoined upon all Bahá’ís, especially those engaged in
> scholarly work.
> 
> The Future
> A passage written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice in August 1977,
> published in the Bahá’í Scholarship compilation, discloses to us a vision of the
> future, particularly useful to us now as we struggle to build the World Order of
> Bahá’u’lláh. It states:
> 
> As the Bahá’í community grows it will acquire experts in numerous fields—both by
> Bahá’ís becoming experts and by experts becoming Bahá’ís. As these experts bring
> their knowledge and skill to the service of the community and, even more, as they
> transform their various disciplines by bringing to bear upon them the light of the
> 62          THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES                                    9.4.1999
> 
> Divine Teachings, problem after problem now disrupting society will be answered. . . .
> Paralleling this process, Bahá’í institutional life will also be developing, and as it
> does so the Assemblies will draw increasingly upon scientific and expert knowledge—
> whether of Bahá’ís or of non-Bahá’ís—to assist in solving the problems of their
> communities.
> In time great Bahá’í institutions of learning, great international and national projects
> for the betterment of human life will be inaugurated and flourish. (no. 39)
> 
> This indicates where we are going with our first halting, and indeed
> rudimentary, steps in Bahá’í scholarship. We are heading towards a Bahá’í
> community which will be composed of individuals who are active rather than
> passive; a community of people oriented towards the development of the
> powers of the mind, reveling in the statements made by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Secret
> of Divine Civilization, where He praises the powers of the mind and celebrates
> its capability for contributing to human progress. It will be a community in
> which the members are mutually encouraging, free from jockeying for
> position and from an obsessive desire for status and position. It will be
> disciplined but open-minded. It will be at the forefront of progressive ideas
> and it will be the leaven for the creation of a new civilization. The process of
> civilizing humanity, and of sustaining an advancing civilization, will be
> fueled by those future Bahá’ís who have drawn on insights from the Bahá’í
> Writings.
> 
> Conclusion
> My concluding remarks are of a highly speculative nature concerning the more
> distant future. It seems to me that we can envisage ultimately a greater
> unification of knowledge. The first rudimentary steps taken into
> interdisciplinary studies are no more than a beginning towards a unification of
> knowledge, perhaps in a distant part of the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh.
> In the message titled “The Unfoldment of World Civilization,” in the book
> The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, the Guardian refers to the great advances in
> knowledge which will occur in that period. The notes to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas also
> mention a statement of Bahá’u’lláh about the emergence of a science which He
> calls “divine philosophy” at the time of “the coming of age of the human race”
> (Kitáb-i-Aqdas 250). My speculation is that the fusion of various forms of
> knowledge will occur in this more distant time. We will at that time have a far
> deeper insight into the nature of matter and its relationship to spirit.
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá identifies spirit with the power of attraction at the mineral level
> (Bahá’í World Faith 338) and relates it to one aspect of a generalized
> characteristic of the world of creation, which He describes by the term “love”
> (Promulgation of Universal Peace 255). When, at a distant time, we obtain a
> deeper understanding into the nature of matter and its relationship with spirit,
> we can expect that it will yield greater insight into such things as:
> Some Aspects of Bahá’í Scholarship                             63
> 
> • The interaction between physical medicine and attitudes of mind in
> promoting the healing process, which is intrinsically a question of matter
> and spirit, with the human spirit interacting with matter
> 
> • Questions of psychology, creativity, motivation, and the nature of human
> beings
> 
> • Particle physics, now confronted with a bewildering array of subatomic
> particles, and the various endeavors to develop a unified field theory
> 
> • Issues in astrophysics, such as the interconnectedness of the elements of the
> universe
> 
> • The nature of life
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá speaks of the influence of the remote elements of the universe
> on life on earth, and of the influence of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh being
> unconstrained, as far as its effect in the universe. At some future time our
> concept of matter and spirit will include a comprehensive understanding of the
> interaction of the very distant parts of the physical universe with life on this
> earth, perhaps through fields and particles, and it will prove to be far more
> mysterious and subtle than we can imagine today, and far beyond the pseudo-
> scientific assertions of astrology.
> We have intriguing statements of Bahá’u’lláh that “every fixed star hath its
> own planets, and every planet its own creatures, whose number no man can
> compute” (Gleanings 163). Now, we can take this narrowly and anticipate that
> the Mars Lander will meet little green men on that planet. Or we can take it at a
> more fundamental level and ask ourselves, what does this say about life? What
> does Bahá’u’lláh mean by this term? What is the nature of the evolution of life
> in the universe? I think this subject will be illuminated in the more distant
> future, as our knowledge of matter and spirit grows.
> Finally, we can well envisage what Bahá’u’lláh foreshadows as a sign of the
> coming of age of mankind—a new approach to the transmutation of elements.
> This must await that time of maturity when we have a deeper understanding of
> interaction of matter and energy and have developed that “divine philosophy,”
> the nature of which is beyond our comprehension—just as scientists in 1900
> could not comprehend, to even the slightest extent, the progress which has been
> made in this century in semiconductors, optical communication, computers,
> electron microscopy, surgical techniques, genetic engineering, molecular
> biology, and medical diagnosis. How much greater will be the progress in the
> future, and how great will be the wonders of the ever-advancing civilization
> which is the destiny of humanity.
> 64        THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES                          9.4.1999
> 
> Works Cited
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The Secret of Divine Civilization . Trans. Marzieh Gail.
> Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1957.
> ———. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Comp.
> Howard MacNutt. 2d ed. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982.
> ———. Some Answered Questions. Comp. and trans. Laura Clifford Barney.
> 4th ed. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1981.
> Bahá’u’lláh. Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Haifa:
> Bahá’í World Centre, 1978.
> ———. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. Trans. Shoghi Effendi. 2d
> ed. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976.
> ———. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book. Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre,
> 1992.
> — — — . The Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude. Trans. Shoghi Effendi.
> Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1950.
> Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Bahá’í World Faith: Selected Writings of
> Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Rev. ed. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing
> Trust, 1976.
> The Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith:
> Extracts from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi.
> Comp. Universal House of Justice. Thornhill, Ont.: Bahá’í Community of
> Canada, 1983.
> Khan, Janet A., and Peter J. Khan. Advancement of Women: A Bahá’í
> Perspective. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1998.
> Scholarship: Extracts from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and
> the Universal House of Justice.Comp. Research Department of the Universal
> House of Justice. Mona Vale: Bahá’í Publications Australia, 1995.
> Shoghi Effendi. God Passes By. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1957.
> ———. The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing
> Trust, 1955.
> Universal House of Justice. Messages from the Universal House of Justice:
> 1963–1986 The Third Epoch of the Formative Age. Comp. Geoffry W.
> Marks. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1996.
> ———. Issues Related to the Study of the Bahá’í Faith. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, 1999.
>
> — *Some Aspects of Baha'i Scholarship (Used by permission of the curator)*