# Science and Technology

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

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Shoghi Effendi, Science and Technology, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Science and Technology
> 
> Shoghi Effendi
> 
> Universal House of Justice
> 
> Universal House of Justice, Research Department
> 
> , compiler
> 
> 1998
> 
> From Letters Written by or on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi
> 
> Among the sacred obligations devolving upon the Spiritual Assemblies is
> the promotion of learning, the establishing of schools and creation of the
> necessary academic equipment and facilities for every boy and girl.
> 
> Every child, without exception, must from his earliest years make a
> thorough study of the art of reading and writing, and according to his own
> tastes and inclinations and the degree of his capacity and powers, devote
> extreme diligence to the acquisition of learning beneficial arts and skills,
> various languages, speech, and contemporary technology.
> 
> (8 June 1925, from a letter by Shoghi Effendi to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of Persia, translated from Persian) [1]
> 
> We had heard through various channels the wonderful way your children had
> grown to speak about the Cause in public. Shoghi Effendi's hope is that they
> will, the three of them, become able and devoted speakers on the Cause and
> subjects akin to it. To do this properly they will need a firm foundation
> of scientific and literary training which fortunately they are obtaining. It
> is just as important for the Bahá'í young boys and girls to become properly
> educated in colleges of high standing as it is to be spiritually developed.
> The mental as well as the spiritual side of the youth has to be developed
> before he can serve the Cause efficiently.
> 
> (28 November 1926, on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)     [2]
> 
> In philanthropic enterprises and acts of charity, in promotion of the
> general welfare and furtherance of the public good including that of every
> group without any exceptions whatever, let the beloved of God attract the
> favourable attention of all, and lead all the rest.
> 
> Let them, freely and without charge, open the doors of their schools and
> their higher institutions for the study of sciences and the liberal arts, to
> non-Bahá'í children and youth who are poor and in need.
> 
> ...and next is the propagation of learning and the promulgation of Bahá'í
> rules of conduct, practices and laws. At this time, when the nation has
> awakened out of its sleep of negligence, and the Government has begun to
> consider the promotion and expansion of its educational establishment, let
> the Bahá'í representatives in that country arise in such a manner that as
> a result of their high endeavours in every hamlet, village and town, of every
> province and district, preliminary measures will be taken for the setting up
> of institutions for the study of sciences, the liberal arts and religion. Let
> Bahá'í children without any exceptions learn the fundamentals of reading and
> writing and familiarize themselves with the rules of conduct, the customs,
> practices and laws as set forth in the Book of God; and let them, in the new
> branches of knowledge, in the arts and technology of the day, in pure and
> praiseworthy characteristics -- Bahá'í conduct, the Bahá'í way of life --
> become so distinguished above the rest that all other communities, whether
> Islamic, Zoroastrian, Christian, Judaic or materialist, will of their own
> volition and most gladly enter their children in such advanced Bahá'í
> institutions of learning and entrust them to the care of Bahá'í
> instructors.
> 
> (January 1929, written by Shoghi Effendi to the believers in the
> East, translated from Persian)     [3]
> 
> As to your entrance to Reed College as an undergraduate... No one could
> think more than the Master did of the great need for capacity, knowledge and a
> broad scientific outlook in the service of the Cause, but as against the hard
> and dry intellectuals, he wished such knowledge to be coupled with an intense
> love for the welfare of humanity.
> 
> (20 September 1929 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)     [4]
> 
> The Revelation proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh, His followers believe, is
> divine in origin, all-embracing in scope, broad in its outlook, scientific in
> its method, humanitarian in its principles and dynamic in the influence it
> exerts on the hearts and minds of men. The mission of the Founder of their
> Faith, they conceive it to be, to proclaim that religious truth is not absolute
> but relative, that Divine Revelation is continuous and progressive, that the
> Founders of all past religions, though differing in the non-essential aspects
> of their teachings, "abide in the same Tabernacle, soar in the same heaven,
> are seated upon the same throne, utter the same speech and proclaim the same
> Faith". His Cause, they have already demonstrated, stands identified with, and
> revolves round, the principle of the organic unity of mankind as representing
> the consummation of the whole process of human evolution. This final stage in
> this stupendous evolution, they assert, is not only necessary but inevitable,
> that it is gradually approaching, and that nothing short of the celestial
> potency with which a divinely-ordained Message can claim to be endowed can
> succeed in establishing it.
> 
> The Bahá'í Faith recognizes the unity of God and of His Prophets,
> upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth, condemns all forms
> of superstition and prejudice, teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion
> is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand-in-hand with science,
> and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered
> and progressive society. It inculcates the principle of equal opportunity,
> rights and privileges for both sexes, advocates compulsory education, abolishes
> extremes of poverty and wealth, exalts work performed in the spirit of service
> to the rank of worship, recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international
> language, and provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and
> safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.
> 
> (June 1933, from a letter written by Shoghi Effendi to the High
> Commissioner for Palestine)     [5]
> 
> It is hoped that all the Bahá'í students will ... be led to investigate
> and analyse the principles of the Faith and to correlate them with the modern
> aspects of philosophy and science. Every intelligent and thoughtful young
> Bahá'í should always approach the Cause in this way, for therein lies the
> very essence of the principle of independent investigation of truth.
> 
> (6 August 1933, on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)     [6]
> 
> Shoghi Effendi has for years urged the Bahá'ís (who asked his advice,
> and in general also) to study history, economics, sociology, etc., in order to
> be au courant with all the progressive movements and thoughts being put forth
> today, and so that they could correlate these to the Bahá'í teachings. What
> he wants the Bahá'ís to do is to study more, not to study less. The more
> general knowledge, scientific and otherwise, they possess, the better.
> Likewise he is constantly urging them to really study the Bahá'í teachings
> more deeply. One might liken Bahá'u'lláh's teachings to a sphere; there are
> points poles apart, and in between the thoughts and doctrines that unite them.
> We believe in balance in all things; we believe in moderation in all things --
> we must not be too emotional, nor cut and dried and lacking in feeling, we must
> not be so liberal as to cease to preserve the character and unity of our
> Bahá'í system, nor fanatical and dogmatic.
> 
> (5 July 1947, on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)     [7]
> 
> The Bahá'í Faith upholds the unity of God, recognizes the unity of His
> Prophets, and inculcates the principle of the oneness and wholeness of the
> entire human race. It proclaims the necessity and the inevitability of the
> unification of mankind, asserts that it is gradually approaching, and claims
> that nothing short of the transmuting spirit of God, working through His chosen
> Mouthpiece in this day, can ultimately succeed in bringing it about. It,
> moreover, enjoins upon its followers the primary duty of an unfettered search
> after truth, condemns all manner of prejudice and superstition, declares the
> purpose of religion to be the promotion of amity and concord, proclaims its
> essential harmony with science, and recognizes it as the foremost agency for
> the pacification and the orderly progress of human society. It unequivocally
> maintains the principle of equal rights, opportunities and privileges for men
> and women, insists on compulsory education, eliminates extremes of poverty and
> wealth, abolishes the institution of priesthood, prohibits slavery, asceticism,
> mendicancy and monasticism, prescribes monogamy, discourages divorce,
> emphasizes the necessity of strict obedience to one's government, exalts any
> work performed in the spirit of service to the level of worship, urges either
> the creation or the selection of an auxiliary international language, and
> delineates the outlines of those institutions that must establish and
> perpetuate the general peace of mankind.
> 
> (
> 14 July 1947
> [Ed. - p. 3], by Shoghi Effendi to the United Nations Special
> Commission on Palestine)     [8]
> 
> He thanks you for the book you are sending him. He sees no reason why you
> should not tell the Bahá'ís that cancer seems to be successfully treated by
> this method sometimes. But as we are a religion and not qualified to pass on
> scientific matters we cannot sponsor different treatments. We are certainly
> free to pass on what we have found beneficial to others.
> 
> (30 September 1950, on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual
> believer)     [9]
> 
> From Letters Written by and on Behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> 
> We have no doubt that the Bahá'í world community will accomplish all
> these tasks and go forward to new achievements. The powers released by
> Bahá'u'lláh match the needs of the times. We may therefore be utterly
> confident that the new throb of energy now vibrating throughout the Cause
> will empower it to meet the oncoming challenges of assisting, as maturity and
> resources allow, the development of the social and economic life of peoples,
> of collaborating with the forces leading towards the establishment of order
> in the world, of influencing the exploitation and constructive uses of modern
> technology, and in all these ways enhancing the prestige and progress of the
> Faith and uplifting the conditions of the generality of mankind.
> 
> (
> Ridvan 1983
> , message from the Universal House of Justice to
> the Bahá'ís of the World)     [10]
> 
> Among the favourable signs are the steadily growing strength of the
> steps towards world order taken initially near the beginning of this century
> in the creation of the League of Nations, succeeded by the more broadly based
> United Nations Organization; the achievement since the Second World War of
> independence by the majority of all the nations on earth, indicating the
> completion of the process of nation building, and the involvement of these
> fledgling nations with older ones in matters of mutual concern; the consequent
> vast increase in co-operation among hitherto isolated and antagonistic peoples
> and groups in international undertakings in the scientific, educational, legal,
> economic and cultural fields; the rise in recent decades of an unprecedented
> number of international humanitarian organizations; the spread of women's and
> youth movements calling for an end to war; and the spontaneous spawning of
> widening networks of ordinary people seeking understanding through personal
> communication.
> 
> The scientific and technological advances occurring in this unusually
> blessed century portend a great surge forward in the social evolution of the
> planet, and indicate the means by which the practical problems of humanity may
> be solved. They provide, indeed, the very means for the administration of the
> complex life of a united world. Yet barriers persist. Doubts, misconceptions,
> prejudices, suspicions and narrow self-interest beset nations and peoples in
> their relations one to another....
> 
> If, therefore, humanity has come to a point of paralyzing conflict it must
> look to itself, to its own negligence, to the siren voices to which it has
> listened, for the source of the misunderstandings and confusion perpetrated in
> the name of religion. Those who have held blindly and selfishly to their
> particular orthodoxies, who have imposed on their votaries erroneous and
> conflicting interpretations of the pronouncements of the Prophets of God,
> bear heavy responsibility for this confusion -- a confusion compounded by the
> artificial barriers erected between faith and reason, science and religion.
> For from a fair-minded examination of the actual utterances of the Founders of
> the great religions, and of the social milieus in which they were obliged to
> carry out their missions, there is nothing to support the contentions and
> prejudices deranging the religious communities of mankind and therefore all
> human affairs....
> 
> The increasing attention being focused on some of the most deep-rooted
> problems of the planet is yet another hopeful sign. Despite the obvious
> shortcomings of the United Nations, the more than two score declarations and
> conventions adopted by that organization, even where governments have not been
> enthusiastic in their commitment, have given ordinary people a sense of a new
> lease on life. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention
> on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the similar
> measures concerned with eliminating all forms of discrimination based on
> race, sex or religious belief; upholding the rights of the child; protecting
> all persons against being subjected to torture; eradicating hunger and
> malnutrition; using scientific and technological progress in the interest of
> peace and the benefit of mankind -- all such measures, if courageously enforced
> and expanded, will advance the day when the spectre of war will have lost its
> power to dominate international relations. There is no need to stress the
> significance of the issues addressed by these declarations and conventions.
> However, a few such issues, because of their immediate relevance to
> establishing world peace, deserve additional comment....
> 
> Unbridled nationalism, as distinguished from a sane and legitimate
> patriotism, must give way to a wider loyalty, to the love of humanity as a
> whole. Bahá'u'lláh's statement is: "The earth is but one country, and
> mankind its citizens". The concept of world citizenship is a direct result of
> the contraction of the world into a single neighbourhood through scientific
> advances and of the indisputable interdependence of nations. Love of all the
> world's peoples does not exclude love of one's country. The advantage of the
> part in a world society is best served by promoting the advantage of the whole.
> Current international activities in various fields which nurture mutual
> affection and a sense of solidarity among peoples need greatly to be increased.
> 
> (October 1985, message from the Universal House of Justice to the
> Peoples of the World, entitled
> "The Promise of World Peace"
> )     [11]
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh found the world in a "strange sleep". But what a disturbance
> His coming has unloosed! The peoples of the earth had been separated, many
> parts of the human race socially and spiritually isolated. But the world of
> humanity today bears little resemblance to that which Bahá'u'lláh left a
> century ago. Unbeknownst to the great majority, His influence permeates all
> living beings. Indeed, no domain of life remains unaffected. In the
> burgeoning energy, the magnified perspectives, the heightened global
> consciousness; in the social and political turbulence, the fall of kingdoms,
> the emancipation of nations, the intermixture of cultures, the clamour for
> development; in the agitation over the extremes of wealth and poverty, the
> acute concern over the abuse of the environment, the leap of consciousness
> regarding the rights of women; in the growing tendency towards ecumenism, the
> increasing call for a new world order; in the astounding advances in the realms
> of science, technology, literature and the arts -- in all this tumult, with its
> paradoxical manifestations of chaos and order, integration and disintegration,
> are the signs of His power as World Reformer, the proof of His claim as Divine
> Physician, the truth of His Word as the All-Knowing Counsellor.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh wrote voluminously about the purpose of this mysterious force
> and its transformative effects, but the essence can be drawn from these few
> perspicuous words: "Through the movement of Our Pen of Glory We have, at the
> bidding of the Omnipotent Ordainer, breathed a new life into every human frame,
> and instilled into every word a fresh potency. All created things proclaim the
> evidences of this worldwide regeneration." And again: "A new life is, in this
> age, stirring within all the peoples of the earth; and yet none hath discovered
> its cause or perceived its motive." And yet again: "He Who is the Unconditioned is come, in the clouds of light, that He may quicken all created things
> with the breezes of His Name, the Most Merciful, and unify the world, and
> gather all men around this Table which hath been sent down from
> heaven."
> 
> (May 1992, tribute to Bahá'u'lláh from the Universal House of
> Justice, on the occasion of the Centenary Commemoration at Bahji
> of the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh)     [12]
> 
> We have toiled to build a community at a period when the world has
> witnessed startling changes which have profoundly altered the character of
> society and plunged it into an unprecedented state of worry and confusion.
> Indeed, the world in its current condition has lost its bearings through the
> operation of forces it neither understands nor can control. It is a period in
> which great dynasties and empires have collapsed in rapid succession, in which
> powerful ideologies have captured the hearts of millions only to expire in
> infamy, in which two world wars wreaked havoc on civilized life as it was
> known at the beginning of the twentieth century.
> 
> In the wake of such horrendous disruptions, there have been unexampled
> advances in the realms of science, technology and social organization; a
> veritable explosion of knowledge; and an even more remarkable burgeoning in the
> awakening and rise of masses of humanity which were previously presumed to be
> dormant. These masses are claiming their rightful places within the community
> of nations which has greatly expanded. With the simultaneous development of
> communications at the speed of light and transportation at the speed of sound,
> the world has contracted into a mere neighbourhood in which people are
> instantly aware of each other's affairs and have immediate access to each
> other. And yet, even with such miraculous advances, with the emergence of
> international organizations, and with valiant attempts and brilliant successes
> at international cooperation, nations are at woeful odds with one another,
> people are convulsed by economic upheavals, races feel more alienated than
> before and are filled with mistrust, humiliation and fear.
> 
> (26 November 1992, message from the Universal House of Justice
> to the Bahá'ís of the World, Second Bahá'í World Congress,
> New York)     [13]
> 
> The opportunity which electronic communication technology provides for
> more speedy and thorough consultation among the friends is highly significant.
> Without doubt, it represents another manifestation of a development eagerly
> anticipated by the Guardian when he foresaw the creation of "a mechanism of
> world intercommunication ... embracing the whole planet, freed from national
> hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvellous swiftness and
> perfect regularity".
> 
> As you well appreciate, the extent to which such technology advances
> the work of the Faith depends, of course, on the manner in which it is used.
> As a medium for Bahá'ís to exchange views, it imposes on participants the
> same requirements of moderation, candour, and courtesy as would be the case
> in any other discussion. Likewise, those involved should avoid belittling
> the views of one another....
> 
> Most important of all, as with any exploration by Bahá'ís of the beliefs
> and practices of their Faith, electronic discussion will serve the interests of
> the Cause and its members only as it is conducted within the framework of the
> Bahá'í Teachings and the truths they enshrine....
> 
> With regard to the harmony of science and religion, the Writings of
> the Central Figures and the commentaries of the Guardian make abundantly
> clear that the task of humanity, including the Bahá'í community that serves
> as the "leaven" within it, is to create a global civilization which embodies
> both the spiritual and material dimensions of existence. The nature and scope
> of such a civilization are still beyond anything the present generation can
> conceive. The prosecution of this vast enterprise will depend on a progressive
> interaction between the truths and principles of religion and the discoveries
> and insights of scientific inquiry. This entails living with ambiguities as
> a natural and inescapable feature of the process of exploring reality. It
> also requires us not to limit science to any particular school of thought
> or methodological approach postulated in the course of its development.
> The challenge facing Bahá'í thinkers is to provide responsible leadership
> in this endeavour, since it is they who have both the priceless insights of
> the Revelation and the advantages conferred by scientific
> investigation.
> 
> (19 May 1995, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> to an individual believer)     [14]
> 
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> — *Science and Technology (Used by permission of the curator)*