Toward a Framework for Action
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Toward a                                        visant à encourager les jeunes croyants à
s'engager dans l'étude de la Révélation et
Framework for                                   à réaliser des travaux académiques y fais-
ant référence, à stimuler chez les amis leur
Action1                                         capacité de mettre en corrélation les en-
seignements bahá'ís et le discours sur les
enjeux contemporains, ainsi qu'à offrir aux
PAUL LAMPLE                                     universitaires bahá'ís une tribune pour y
présenter leurs travaux et collaborer en-
Abstract                                        tre eux. Une lettre datée du 24 juillet 2013
For nearly four decades, the Association        écrite au nom de la Maison universelle de
for Bahá'í Studies in North America has la-     justice et adressée à l'Assemblée spirituelle
bored to promote Bahá'í scholarly activity      nationale du Canada énonçait des idées
through a range of efforts that include en-     nouvelles visant à aider l'Association à se
couraging young believers in their study of     pencher sur les progrès accomplis et sur
the Revelation and their academic pursuits,     ses perspectives d'avenir et mettait l'accent
fostering approaches to assist the friends in   sur la « notion d'un cadre conceptuel évo-
correlating the teachings with issues aris-     lutif ». L'auteur présente ici ses réflexions
ing in contemporary thought, and provid-        personnelles à ce sujet.
ing a forum for Bahá'í academics to present
their work and collaborate with one anoth-      Resumen
er. A letter dated 24 July 2013, written on     Por casi cuatro décadas, la Asociación de
behalf of the Universal House of Justice        Estudios Bahá'ís en Norte America ha
to the National Spiritual Assembly of Can-      laborado para promover actividad escolar
ada, set forth fresh insights to assist the     Bahá'í a través de un rango de esfuerzos
Association in reflecting on its progress to    que incluyen animar a creyentes jóvenes en
date and its prospects for the future, cen-     su estudio de la Revelación y en sus intere-
tered around developing the "notion of an       ses académicos, fomentando enfoques para
evolving conceptual framework." The fol-        asistir a los amigos en correlacionar las
lowing are some personal thoughts about         enseñanzas con temas que nacen del pens-
the nature of such a framework and what         amiento contemporaneo, y proveyendo un
some of its elements might be.                  foro para los académicos bahá'ís donde
pueden presentar su trabajo y colaborar
Résumé                                          los unos con los otros. Una carta con fecha
Pendant près de quarante ans, l'Associ-         del 24 de julio de 2013, escrita de parte de
ation d'études bahá'íes en Amérique du          la Casa Universal de Justicia para la Asam-
Nord a cherché à promouvoir l'érudition         blea Espiritual Nacional de Canadá, expu-
bahá'íe par la tenue d'activités diverses       so nuevas ideas para ayudar a la Asociación
reflexionar sobre su progreso hasta la fe-
1 This article is based on the plenary       cha y sus prospectos para el futuro, centra-
talk by the same title presented at the 38th    do alrededor del desarrollo de la "noción
Annual Conference of the Association for        de un marco conceptual en evolución". Los
Bahá'í Studies, Toronto, Ontario, August        siguientes puntos son algunos pensamien-
2014.                                           tos personales sobre este tema.
12                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

THE CONCEPT OF A FRAMEWORK            or impose personal perspectives, and
community members sometimes ig-
At the start of his ministry, Shoghi       nored the Assembly's decision when it
Effendi focused the attention of the       did not conform to their preferences.
friends on the importance of building      At other times, in response to particu-
the administrative order. For some,        lar issues that arose, the friends might
at that time, the very notion that the     have set aside the guidance provided
Bahá'í Faith could be organized—in-        in the Writings and simply taken sides
stead of merely being a movement or        and argued. Again and again, when
a reflection of the spirit of the age—     these and similar challenges arose,
was a challenge. A few consciously         Shoghi Effendi reminded the believ-
resisted the administration, eventually    ers of the importance of their unity,
falling away or opposing the Faith.        which was grounded in their common
However, even the generality of the        love for Bahá'u'lláh, and indicated that
faithful believers, who accepted with-     the resolution of their problems rested
out question Shoghi Effendi's guid-        on putting into practice the principles
ance, naturally struggled at this early    of the administration. A letter written
stage to understand and appropriately      on behalf of Shoghi Effendi states:
apply the teachings concerning the
administration. Among the issues                One of the main reasons why
that challenged them were the rela-          the Faith does not advance more
tionships between the Assemblies and         rapidly is because the friends have
individuals, between the National and        not learned to live with, and work
within the framework of the Ad-
Local Assemblies, and between the
ministrative Order. Either they
National Assembly and the National
crystallize it into too set a form,
Convention. The Bahá'í electoral pro-        or they rebel against what they
cess needed to be conceived, grasped,        feel to be a System, and do not
and translated into an effective pattern     give it sufficient support. Both
of action. Understanding the nature          of these extremes impede the
and method of Bahá'í consultation            progress of the Faith, and the ef-
and the importance of upholding the          ficiency of the believers. (qtd. in
decision of the Assembly, even when          Hornby 185)
that decision was wrong, or at least
when perceived by some to be wrong,           In order to overcome the dichoto-
presented additional challenges.           my of reducing the administration to
It can be inferred from guidance        a rigid set of procedures or rejecting
provided by Shoghi Effendi that on         it outright, Shoghi Effendi introduced
occasion, owing to a lack of under-        the concept of a framework.2 This
standing or experience, a member of          2 Shoghi Effendi used the word frame-
an institution might have used his or      work in relation to the administration
her position to achieve personal aims      both in terms of its meaning as the basic
Toward a Framework for Action                            13

concept is useful because the nature of        understood as a particular lens for the
Bahá'í efforts for administration are          study of the Revelation, which is too
too big, too broad, and too organic to         vast to be restricted in this way; rath-
crystallize it into a fixed form, but the      er, it is a construct for being able to
system is essential and cannot be set          focus on learning how to translate the
aside. The concept of a framework al-          Bahá'í teachings into action in a par-
lows for evolution in understanding as         ticular area.
the set of ideas within the framework,            For example, the process of large-
as well as how they are perceived,             scale expansion of the Faith began
change over time based on experience           during the Ten Year Crusade (1953–
and circumstances. Thus, what Shoghi           1963) in the final years of the life of
Effendi originally said about Bahá'í ad-       Shoghi Effendi. However, for some
ministration was elaborated over the           forty years, the ability to sustain and
course of his ministry, and more has           extend the process on a systematic ba-
been added since the establishment of          sis, maintaining the necessary balance
the Universal House of Justice. Some           between expansion and consolidation,
concepts and practices of the adminis-         remained elusive. To resolve this prob-
tration are permanent, some are tem-           lem, the Universal House of Justice set
porary, and some are contextual. Even          forth the provisions of the Four Year
principles—which are unchanging—               Plan (1996–2000).3 As these efforts
may be applied differently in different
circumstances or at different times. In           3 "At Ridván 1996, the Bahá'ís of the
this sense, a framework should not be          world will embark on a global enterprise
aimed at one major accomplishment: a sig-
pattern of the institutions of the admin-      nificant advance in the process of entry
istrative order (for example, "the frame-      by troops. This is to be achieved through
work of His Administrative Order has           marked progress in the activity and devel-
been erected" [World Order 168]) and as        opment of the individual believer, of the
the conceptual structure underlying the        institutions, and of the local community.
administrative system (for example, "One       That an advance in this process depends
of the main reasons why the Faith does         on the progress of all three of these inti-
not advance more rapidly is because the        mately connected participants is abundant-
friends have not learned to live with, and     ly clear. The next four years must witness
work within the framework of the Admin-        a dramatic upsurge in effective teaching
istrative Order," which is "a system both      activities undertaken at the initiative of
living and dynamic" that requires "obedi-      the individual. Thousands upon thousands
ence to its principles and regulations" so     of believers will need to be aided to ex-
as to "be able to direct their energies as a   press the vitality of their faith through
united force into the different channels of    constancy in teaching the Cause and by
service that lie open to them" [Light of       supporting the plans of their institutions
Divine Guidance 1:185–86]).                    and the endeavors of their communities.
14                    The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

continued to evolve within the Five              of entry by troops, it has become
Year Plan (2001–2006), it was helpful            increasingly clear that the close
to begin to conceive of a framework              of the present Five Year Plan
for action pertaining to the work of             will mark a decisive moment in
growth and community-building,                   the unfoldment of the historical
which has gradually evolved in com-              enterprise on which the com-
plexity through experience to guide              munity of the Greatest Name is
the work of the series of Five Year              embarked. The elements required
Plans through the end of the first               for a concerted effort to infuse
century of the Formative Age. As the             the diverse regions of the world
Universal House of Justice explains:             with the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh's
Revelation have crystallized into
Over the past four and a half                a framework for action that now
years, as the believers throughout             needs only to be exploited. (Turn-
the world have striven to pursue               ing Point 35:2)
the aim of advancing the process
There is no need here to provide
They should be helped to realize that their    an overview of the elements of this
efforts will be sustained by the degree to     framework, which have been set out
which their inner life and private character   and elaborated in numerous messages
'mirror forth in their manifold aspects the    of the House of Justice since 1996 and
splendor of those eternal principles pro-      with which the community is general-
claimed by Bahá'u'lláh.' An acceleration       ly familiar. However, another exam-
in the tempo of individual teaching must       ple can be found in the experience of
necessarily be complemented by a multi-        Bahá'ís over some three decades in the
plication in the number of regional and        field of social and economic develop-
local teaching projects. To this end the       ment. In a paper published in 2012, the
institutions should be assisted in increas-    Office of Social and Economic Devel-
ing their ability to consult according to      opment writes:
Bahá'í principles, to unify the friends in a
common vision, and to use their talents in         Achieving progressively higher
service to the Cause. Furthermore, those         degrees of coherence both with-
who enter the Faith must be integrated           in and among the broad inter-
into vibrant local communities, character-       connected fields of endeavour in
ized by tolerance and love and guided by         which the Bahá'í community is en-
a strong sense of purpose and collective         gaged is clearly a vital concern. It
will, environments in which the capacities       suggests that areas of activity are
of all components—men, women, youth              to be complementary, integrated,
and children—are developed and their             and mutually supportive. Fur-
powers multiplied in unified action" (Uni-       ther, it implies the existence of a
versal House of Justice, Messages 213:2).        common, overarching framework
Toward a Framework for Action                       15

that gives shape to activities and        appropriate technology to social
which evolves and becomes more            progress are among the issues
elaborate as experience accumu-           involved. Views related to the
lates. The expression of the div-         generation and application of
ers elements of the framework             knowledge have implications not
will not, of course, be uniform in        only for the nature of develop-
all spheres of action. In relation        ment but also for the question of
to any given area of activity, some       methodology. . . . [Y]et another
elements move to the fore, while          set of elements of the framework
others act only in the background         [are] . . . those statements that
....                                      analyze concepts such as individ-
Among the elements most rel-           ualism, power, authority, personal
evant to social action are state-         comfort, selfless service, work,
ments that define the character           and excellence.
of progress—that civilization has            Finally, at the heart of the con-
both a material and a spiritual di-       ceptual framework for social ac-
mension, that humanity is on the          tion lie elements that describe be-
threshold of its collective maturi-       liefs about fundamental issues of
ty, that there are destructive and        existence, such as the nature of
constructive forces operating in          the human being, the purpose of
the world which serve to propel           life, the oneness of humanity, and
humanity along the path towards           the equality of men and women.
its full maturity, that the relation-     While for Bahá'ís these touch on
ships necessary to sustain society        immutable convictions, they are
must be recast in the light of            not static—the way in which they
Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation, that the        are understood and find expres-
transformation required must oc-          sion in various contexts evolves
cur simultaneously within human           over time. ("Social Action" 3–4)
consciousness and the structure
of social institutions. . . .              It is evident, from these examples,
Other elements that speak to         that the idea of a "framework" has
the nature of social action are         nothing to do with a narrow imposi-
derived from a particular perspec-      tion of methods or formulaic proce-
tive on the role of knowledge in        dures, but is intended to provide an
the development of society. The         evolving, shared understanding of
complementarity of science and          beliefs, concepts, methods, practices,
religion, the imperative of spiri-      vision and approaches relevant to ad-
tual and material education, the        vancing work in the particular arena
influence of values inherent to         of endeavor at hand. The Universal
technology on the organization          House of Justice addresses this con-
of society, and the relevance of        cept of a framework in relation to the
16                   The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

work of the Association for Bahá'í              This is not to say, of course, that it
Studies and calls for a continuing clar-     is necessary to restart such consider-
ification of its elements in its letter of   ations about the work of the Associ-
July 24, 2013, to the National Assem-        ation from the beginning. Just as the
bly of Canada:                               framework pertaining to the work
of expansion and consolidation drew
Every believer has the opportu-            upon insights and experience that pre-
nity to examine the forces op-             dated the Four Year Plan, there is a
erating in society and introduce           significant legacy pertaining to Bahá'í
relevant aspects of the teachings          scholarly activity and the work of the
within the discourses prevalent in         Association from the 1970s until now.
whatever social space he or she is         Many thoughtful books, articles, and
present. It is, perhaps, as a means        presentations have been prepared by
to enhance the abilities of the            believers intensely concerned with the
friends to explore such opportu-           intellectual life of the community over
nities in relation to their scholarly      the course of these decades, and many
of them are immediately relevant to
interests that the endeavours of
such considerations. And it is not the
the Association for Bahá'í Studies
purpose of this discussion to provide
can be conceived. Through the
an extensive exploration of such is-
specialized settings it creates, the
sues but rather simply to touch upon
Association can promote learning
a few concepts specifically mentioned
among a wide range of believers
in the letter from the House of Justice
across a wide range of disci-              that contribute to clarifying relevant
plines. Central to the effort to ad-       aspects of a framework that can help
vance the work of expansion and            shape the efforts of the Association
consolidation, social action, and          in fostering the intellectual life of the
the involvement in the discours-           Bahá'í community. Furthermore, the
es of society is the notion of an          ideas offered here are the personal
evolving conceptual framework,             opinions of one individual.
a matrix that organizes thought
and gives shape to activities and                    LEARNING AND THE
which becomes more elaborate as                     VITAL CONTRIBUTION
experience accumulates. It would                  OF LEARNED INDIVIDUALS
be fruitful if the elements of
this framework most relevant to            Before examining at some length a few
the work of the Associations for           concepts that come to the fore when
Bahá'í Studies can be consciously          considering progress in the intellectu-
and progressively clarified. (let-         al life of the community, two import-
ter dated 24 July 2013)                    ant points must be mentioned first.
Because they are addressed at some
Toward a Framework for Action                            17

length elsewhere, only a brief mention           and the generation of knowledge.
is made here.4                                   Therefore, it is useful to consider the
First, as in the other areas of en-          extent to which this work, involving
deavor in which the Bahá'í communi-              potentially a wide range of methods
ty is engaged, learning—an ongoing               and approaches, can be systematized
process involving study, consultation,           among groups of individuals or with-
action, and reflection—is a critical             in the Association itself. The Univer-
component of a framework for action              sal House of Justice raises a number
pertaining to the work of the Asso-              of possibilities as starting points for
ciation for Bahá'í Studies in order to           inquiry:
gradually but systematically grow in
the ability to cultivate the intellectual             As unity of thought around
life of the community and the capacity             essential concepts emerges, the
of succeeding generations of young                 Association may find it useful to
believers to participate in this process.          explore fresh approaches with
"Perhaps the most important" of the                some simple steps that can grow
elements of a framework most rele-                 in complexity. Gradually, those
vant to the work of the Associations               aspects of the conceptual frame-
for Bahá'í Studies "is learning in ac-             work pertaining to intellectual
tion," the House of Justice explains. In           inquiry in diverse fields will be-
this way, "the friends participate in an           come clearer and grow richer. For
ongoing process of action, reflection,             example, a number of small sem-
study, and consultation in order to                inars could be held to assist indi-
address obstacles and share successes,             viduals from certain professions
re-examine and revise strategies and               or academic disciplines to exam-
methods, and systematize and improve               ine some aspect of the discourse
efforts over time" (letter dated 24 July           of their field. Specific topics could
2013).                                             be selected, and a group of par-
Much scholarly work is, of course,             ticipants with experience could
an individual enterprise. But even                 share articles, prepare papers, and
in such instances, the aim is not the              consult on contemporary perspec-
mere expression of personal opin-                  tives and related Bahá'í concepts.
ions. There is also an explicitly col-             Special interest groups, such as
lective dimension to such endeavor, in             philosophy or religious studies,
which individuals collaborate in the               could have gatherings to intensi-
exchange of views for the investiga-               fy their efforts. Periodic commu-
tion of reality, the search for truth,             nications or follow-up meetings
could be arranged to increase the
4 See Paul Lample, Revelation and So-           effectiveness of the participation
cial Reality: Learning How to Translate What       of these groups of individuals in
Is Written into Reality and Action, chapter 4.     aspects of the discourse in their
18                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

chosen fields. Focus could also          to—and endorse the efforts of—ex-
be directed toward those areas           ponents of the arts and sciences, and
in the academic literature pertain-      to esteem and revere those who are
ing to the Faith that are ignored        possessed of extensive knowledge
or dealt with in a misleading or         and scholarly erudition" (qtd. in Com-
problematic manner. In addition,         pilation 348). He envisioned that the
existing activities, such as the         friends in fields of human inquiry, such
hosting of a large conference,           as economics and education, would
may be reimagined. Of course,            have to learn over time to translate the
continued exertions must be di-          teachings into constructive action for
rected toward preparing and dis-         the betterment of the world.5 Contri-
seminating articles, periodicals,        butions can be made in all disciplines
and books. (letter dated 24 July         of human endeavor, including, but
2013)                                    not limited to, the Faith as an object
of study, whether through rigorous
Second, the Bahá'í Writings are quite   examination of the Texts or through
explicit in describing the importance      closely associated disciplines such as
of the mind, the acquisition of            translation, history, philosophy, theol-
knowledge, and the contribution that       ogy, or Middle Eastern studies. These
learned individuals, with expertise        contributions will include, of course,
in diverse fields of human endeavor,       rigorous and thoughtful scholarship
will need to make toward achieving         of a high standard in an academic
the aims of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation.      sense, although such efforts, owing to
'Abdu'l-Bahá explains:                     a degree of specialization and skill,
will not involve all. In general, how-
There are certain pillars which       ever, Shoghi Effendi sets forth a wide
have been established as the un-         definition for such scholarly endeav-
shakeable supports of the Faith          or, emphasizing the sense in which
of God. The mightiest of these is        Bahá'ís are engaged with the world:
learning and the use of the mind,
the expansion of consciousness,             5 See "Economics" in The Light of
and insight into the realities           Guidance, p. 626 and "Education" in Compi-
of the universe and the hidden           lation of Compilations, vol. 1, p. 35. A letter
mysteries of Almighty God. To            written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi dated
promote knowledge is thus an in-         29 November 1938 states: "as we all know
escapable duty imposed on every          that the powers released by the Manifesta-
one of the friends of God. (Selec-       tion of Bahá'u'lláh in this day are destined
tions 126)                               in the course of time to reveal themselves
through the instrumentality of His follow-
Shoghi Effendi urges the friends "to    ers, and in every conceivable field of hu-
accord honor, veneration and respect       man endeavour."
Toward a Framework for Action                      19

The Cause needs more Bahá'í           will be some Bahá'ís who will wish
scholars, people who not only are        to work in isolation, while others
devoted to it and believe in it and      will desire consultation and col-
are anxious to tell others about it,     laboration with those having sim-
but also who have a deep grasp           ilar interests. Your aim should be
of the Teachings and their signif-       to promote an atmosphere of mu-
icance, and who can correlate its        tual respect and tolerance within
beliefs with the current thoughts        which will be included scholars
and problems of the people of the        whose principal interest is in
world.                                   theological issues as well as those
The Cause has the remedy for          scholars whose interests lie in re-
all the world's ills. The reason         lating the insights provided by the
why more people don't accept it is       Bahá'í teachings to contemporary
because the Bahá'ís are not always       thought in the arts and sciences.
capable of presenting it to them            A similar diversity should char-
in a way that meets the immedi-          acterize the endeavors pursued by
ate needs of their minds. (qtd. in       Bahá'í scholars, accommodating
Compilation 431)                         their interests and skills as well
as the needs of the Faith. The
To this conception, a letter written    course of world events, the devel-
on behalf of the Universal House of        opment of new trends of thought
Justice adds:                              and the extension of the teaching
work all tend to highlight attrac-
At this early stage in the devel-        tive and beneficial areas to which
opment of the Faith, it would not        Bahá'í scholars might well direct
be useful to propound a highly           their attention. Likewise, the ex-
restrictive definition of the term       pansion of the activities of the
"Bahá'í scholarship". In a letter        Bahá'í International Community
written on behalf of the House of        in its relationship with United
Justice to one of the Associations       Nations agencies and other inter-
for Bahá'í Studies recently, it is       national bodies creates attractive
stated that:                             opportunities for scholars to make
The House of Justice advises           a direct and highly valued contri-
you not to attempt to define too         bution to the enhancement of the
narrowly the form that Bahá'í            prestige of the Faith and to its
scholarship should take, or the ap-      proclamation within an influential
proach that scholars should adopt.       and receptive stratum of society.
Rather should you strive to devel-       As the Bahá'í community contin-
op within your Association respect       ues to emerge inexorably from
for a wide range of approaches           obscurity, it will be confronted
and endeavors. No doubt there            by enemies, from both within and
20                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

without, whose aim will be to ma-       for investigating reality, are matters
lign and misrepresent its princi-       examined in some detail in the Bahá'í
ples, so that its admirers might be     Writings. If thoughtful Bahá'ís are to
disillusioned and the faith of its      carry out adequately their responsibil-
adherents might be shaken; Bahá'í       ity to translate what has been written
scholars have a vital role to play in   by Bahá'u'lláh into practical and ef-
the defence of the Faith through        fective action to achieve His purpose,
their contribution to anticipatory      there must be a way to achieve unity
measures and their response to          of thought within the community on
defamatory accusations levelled         many issues so that the friends are not
against the Faith.                      pulled in contradictory directions by
Thus, there should be room           claims from the diverse fields of hu-
within the scope of Bahá'í schol-       man endeavor about what is true or
arship to accommodate not only          what must be done.
those who are interested in theo-          The idiosyncracies of human
logical issues and in the histori-      thought and the understanding of re-
cal origins of the Faith, but also      ality are explored by journalist Will
those who are interested in relat-      Storr in his book The Unpersuadables:
ing the Bahá'í teachings to their       Conversations with the Enemies of Sci-
field of academic or professional       ence, which contains interviews with
interest, as well as those believers    individuals who are immersed in worl-
who may lack formal academ-             dviews that appear to stand in sharp
ic qualifications but who have,         contrast to scientific truth. Storr ob-
through their perceptive study of       serves the tendency of human beings
the teachings, acquired insights        to construct a particular view of real-
which are of interest to others.        ity and then cling tenaciously to that
(letter dated 19 October 1993)          view despite evidence to the contrary.

THE NATURE OF THE QUEST                I consider—as everyone surely
FOR KNOWLEDGE                      does—that my opinions are the
correct ones. And yet, I have nev-
"One of the critical aspects of a con-      er met anyone whose every single
ceptual framework that will require         thought I agree with. When you
careful attention in the years ahead,"      take these two positions togeth-
the House of Justice indicated with         er, they become a way of saying,
regard to the work of the Association,      'Nobody is as right about as many
"is the generation and application of       things as me.' And that cannot be
knowledge" (letter dated 24 July 2013).     true. Because to accept that would
The human capacity to know—includ-          be to confer upon myself a God-
ing both powers and limitations—as          like status. It would mean that I
well as the importance and means            possess a superpower: a clarity of
Toward a Framework for Action                            21

thought that is unique among hu-             rationalists: celebrity atheists who
mans. Okay, fine. So I accept that           have written bestselling books
I am wrong about things—I must               and sponsored anti-God advertis-
be wrong about them. A lot of                ing on the sides of London buses;
them. But when I look back over              groups of self-declared 'Skeptics'
my shoulder and I double-check               who toured sold-out concert ven-
what I think about religion and              ues like rock stars, defining them-
politics and science and all the rest        selves in opposition to the kind of
of it . . . well, I know I am right          anti-scientific thinking that they
about that . . . and that . . . and that     declared dangerous. Every one of
and that and—it is usually at this           these people, convinced they are
point that I start to feel strange.          right. None of them convincing
I know that I am not right about             the other. (7–8)6
everything, and yet I am simulta-
neously convinced that I am. . . .            6 The problem and limitations of the
And I think it is true to say that         human capacity to know and describe
it is not just me—that is, we all          reality is, of course, a central concern
secretly believe we are right about        of philosophy, especially contemporary
everything and, by extension, we           discussions on the philosophy of mind.
are all wrong. . . .                       For example, in The View from Nowhere,
I have watched as these per-            the philosopher Thomas Nagel explores
sonal battles have manifested              the question of knowledge and concludes
in the wider world. The decade             that human beings cannot fully resolve the
of terrorism we have just lived            tension between objective and subjective
through had its roots, of course,          understanding. He observes: "First, we
in mismatched beliefs that are             are finite beings, and even if each of us
both political and religious. Those        possesses a large dormant capacity for ob-
same years saw what has the ap-            jective self-transcendence, our knowledge
pearance of an increasing suspi-           of the world will always be fragmentary,
cion of science. The white-coated          however much we extend it. Second, since
priests of the laboratory, to whom         the objective self, though it can escape the
we have granted custody of the             human perspective, is still as short-lived
truth for so long, are seemingly           as we are, we must assume that its best
being treated with growing lev-            efforts will soon be superseded. Third, the
els of doubt. We don't trust the           understanding of the world of which we
MMR jab, we don't trust climate            are intrinsically capable—leaving aside
data, we don't trust genetically           limitations of time and technology—is
modified wheat or 'conventional'           also likely limited. . . . [R]eality probably
medicine or supermarket-bought             extends beyond what we can conceive of.
beef. One response has been the            Finally, the development of richer and
cultural rise of the radicalized           more powerful objective hypotheses does
22                   The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Storr finds            It should come as no surprise to
that the tendency to hold to a fixed          Bahá'ís that the disintegration of the
view—considering oneself to be right          old world order described so vividly
and others wrong—is not only a char-          by Shoghi Effendi consists, to a large
acteristic of those maintaining unsci-        extent, in an inability of humanity to
entific or irrational views, but also of      find agreement about the way things
those who claim to be the champions           are and about what should be done.
of rationality. As he notes, such inflex-     "Though the world is encompassed
ible attitudes are becoming prevalent         with misery and distress, yet no man
in the discourse within contemporary          hath paused to reflect what the cause
society. In the United States, as but one     or source of that may be," Bahá'u'lláh
example, there is a hardening of view-        states. "No two men can be found
points evident in areas such as media         who may be said to be outwardly and
and politics, resulting in polarization       inwardly united. The evidences of
and dismissiveness that make it almost        discord and malice are apparent ev-
impossible to carry out a constructive        erywhere, though all were made for
dialogue on concerns vital to social          harmony and union" (Gleanings 112:1).
order and well-being—that is, the             The question, then, becomes how are
attempt to understand reality in the          we to resist such forces and not fall
face of differing views in order to find      prey to the all too human tendency to
consensus in a search for solutions to        insist that one's personal understand-
humanity's problems. Increasingly in          ing is correct and take sides and fight it
today's world, civility has diminished.       out? And how can we avoid absorbing
Arrogance is mistaken for leadership.         from the wider society tendencies and
Self-righteousness supplants righ-            habits that stand in marked contrast to
teousness. Hypocrisy abounds. And             the principles and methods identified
there is insistence on the correctness        in the Bahá'í teachings for the search
of one's views even when they fly in          for truth, the investigation of reality,
the face of objective evidence. Indeed,       the attainment of unity of thought
in some quarters there is a systematic        and action, and the constructive reso-
effort to undermine science, diminish         lution of the ills of humanity?
education, or exercise power to bend              As Bahá'ís, we study the Writings
the perception of reality to serve a          of Bahá'u'lláh—whether at a basic or
particular agenda. "Every one of these        perhaps at a profound and systematic
people, convinced they are right," as         level—and we strive to understand His
Storr states. "None of them convinc-          teachings and His purpose for humani-
ing the other" (8).                           ty. In coming to grips with the nature
of the limitations of the human mind,
nothing to rule out the known and un-         however, we would have to conclude
known skeptical possibilities which are the   that there must be some difference be-
other aspect of any realist view" (86).       tween what we personally understand
Toward a Framework for Action                        23

and what Bahá'u'lláh intends—even if       own understanding of the teachings
at the moment we do not see what that      are correct and thus, those of others
difference might be. And although we       are wrong. Yet the Writings are filled
strive to understand more, some gap        with advice and admonitions that re-
will always remain; the entire dispen-     mind us of the limitations of the mind
sation will be the collective effort of    and the attitudes that must prevail in
the believers and humanity in gener-       the search for truth.
al to understand more accurately and
more deeply what Bahá'u'lláh said and           The Great Being saith: Human
to translate it ever more effectively        utterance is an essence which
into action. Humility is necessary,          aspireth to exert its influence
then, to acknowledge this fundamen-          and needeth moderation. As to
tal gap when sharing personal under-         its influence, this is conditional
standing about the meaning of the            upon refinement which in turn is
teachings and the admonishments and          dependent upon hearts which are
safeguards set forth by Bahá'u'lláh,         detached and pure. As to its mod-
'Abdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi that        eration, this hath to be combined
preserve their integrity and prevent         with tact and wisdom as pre-
any individual from imposing personal        scribed in the Holy Scriptures and
interpretations upon the community.          Tablets. (Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets 198)
For example, as a result of what
individual believers personally under-          Every word is endowed with
stand Bahá'u'lláh's teachings to mean,       a spirit, therefore the speaker or
a community may may move beyond              expounder should carefully de-
disagreement and diversity of views          liver his words at the appropriate
to fall into disunity and contention. As     time and place, for the impression
noted above, Shoghi Effendi observed         which each word maketh is clear-
the tendency of the friends either to        ly evident and perceptible. The
crystallize the administration into a        Great Being saith: One word may
set form or else to rebel against it and     be likened unto fire, another unto
fail to give it sufficient support. Some     light, and the influence which both
years ago, tensions arose among some         exert is manifest in the world.
concerning the categorization of be-         Therefore an enlightened man of
lievers as liberals or fundamentalists,      wisdom should primarily speak
despite the Guardian's explicit prohi-       with words as mild as milk, that
bition about the use of such destruc-        the children of men may be nur-
tive terms. More recently, difficulties      tured and edified thereby and may
arose in some localities about aspects       attain the ultimate goal of human
of the prosecution of the Divine Plan.       existence which is the station of
These, and other such examples, com-         true understanding and nobility.
monly emerge from a sense that our           (Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets 172–73)
24                   The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

And as a fundamental aspect of the          in various fields of inquiry do not
process of consultation 'Abdu'l-Bahá          readily lead to conclusions, but it must
explains:                                     be remembered that consultation, as
described by Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-
They must then proceed with               Bahá, does not pertain merely to the
the utmost devotion, courtesy,              decision-making processes of a Local
dignity, care and moderation to             Assembly. "Take ye counsel together
express their views. They must              in all matters," Bahá'u'lláh states,
in every matter search out the              "inasmuch as consultation is the lamp
truth and not insist upon their             of guidance which leadeth the way,
own opinion, for stubbornness               and is the bestower of understanding"
and persistence in one's views              (Tablets 168). He adds, "Consultation
will lead ultimately to discord and         bestoweth greater awareness and
wrangling and the truth will re-            transmuteth conjecture into certitude.
main hidden. (Selections 88)7               It is a shining light which, in a dark
world, leadeth the way and guideth.
To assist mature human beings in           For everything there is and will
their collective investigation of reality     continue to be a station of perfection
and search for truth, Bahá'u'lláh not         and maturity. The maturity of
only extolled the methods of scientific       the gift of understanding is made
inquiry, but emphasized the method            manifest through consultation" (qtd.
of consultation. Of course, many              in Compilation 1:93). Consultation
problems or interesting questions             establishes a free exchange of
differing views in a common search
7 'Abdu'l-Bahá similarly comments:         for truth, setting aside destructive,
"Consequently, it has become evident that     but regrettably all too common,
the four criteria or standards of judgment    worldly practices such as distorting
by which the human mind reaches its con-      or belittling the opinion of others,
clusions are faulty and inaccurate" (Prom-    stubbornly insisting upon personal
ulgation 255). Furthermore, He writes:        views and ad hominem attacks—all of
"In accordance with the divine teachings      which lead to discord and wrangling
in this glorious dispensation we should       and cause the truth to remain hidden.
not belittle anyone and call him igno-           For Bahá'ís, the quest for knowledge
rant, saying: 'You know not, but I know'.     is not something that begins and ends
Rather, we should look upon others with       in words. Knowledge and action are in-
respect, and when attempting to explain       timately entwined. There is no knowl-
and demonstrate, we should speak as if we     edge of God without deeds faithful to
are investigating the truth, saying: 'Here    the prescriptions of His Revelation.
these things are before us. Let us investi-   Ideas, even those that touch upon the
gate to determine where and in what form      abstract or the metaphysical, have im-
the truth can be found'" (Selections 30).     plications for human behavior. "One
Toward a Framework for Action                          25

word is like unto springtime causing          All these points, of course, do not
the tender saplings of the rose-garden     mean that in the search for truth, there
of knowledge to become verdant and         is no place for critical thought, power-
flourishing, while another word is         ful arguments, or the initial clash of
even as a deadly poison," Bahá'u'lláh      differing opinions, which is an inher-
states. "It behoveth a prudent man of      ent part of the consultative process.
wisdom to speak with utmost leniency       Indeed, on many issues, whether con-
and forbearance so that the sweetness      ceptual or practical, there is room for
of his words may induce everyone to        a range of personal views that never
attain that which befitteth man's sta-     have to be reconciled with those of
tion" (Tablets 175). "Knowledge is not     others. Individuals do not have to
enough," 'Abdu'l-Bahá explains in one      agree about everything. On those sub-
of His talks, "we must also work and       jects where truth or collective action
study to bring to maturity the fruit of    is the aim, however, contention, in-
knowledge" ('Abdu'l-Bahá in London         terminable wrangling, or immovable
39). Thus, thought must be tested in       insistence on one's personal views are
action and both revised in light of        formidable and debilitating obstacles.
outcomes until an efficacious result is
achieved.                                      SHARING PERSONAL OPINIONS
The quest for knowledge, and the
assessment of its implications for         Another point that is fundamental to
action, may in some cases involve in-      a conceptual framework and that in-
vestigation into a particular question     forms the intellectual life of the Bahá'í
over many years or even generations;       community is that there is a wide scope
yet systematic progress can be made        for individuals to hold and express
through a process of learning cen-         personal views. 'Abdu'l-Bahá states:
tered on consultation, including re-       "When freedom of conscience, liberty
flection on action. Such consultation is   of thought and right of speech pre-
an instrument with broad implications      vail—that is to say, when every man
whose value for the collective search      according to his own idealization may
for understanding is as yet largely        give expression to his beliefs—devel-
unexplored. The problem of human           opment and growth are inevitable"
understanding and the importance of        (Promulgation 197). "He does not ask
discursive methods has not escaped         us to follow Him blindly," a letter writ-
the notice of contemporary philoso-        ten on behalf of the Guardian states;
phers; the conversive mode of inves-       "as He says in one of His Tablets, God
tigation for the Bahá'í community has      has endowed man with a mind to op-
been touched upon by a number of           erate as a torchlight and guide him to
Bahá'í writers and is at the heart of      the truth" (qtd. in Hornby 552). And
the process that drives the progress of    as a letter written on behalf of the
stages of the Divine Plan.                 Universal House of Justice explains:
26                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

The interpretations of 'Abdu'l-     of the remarks—that such views are
Bahá and the Guardian are              not authoritative and may be wrong.
divinely-guided statements of          Among the concepts set forth in the
what the Word of God means and         Bahá'í teachings are that individual
as such these interpretations are      opinions should not be supressed, that
binding on the friends. However,       such personal views should not be im-
the existence of authoritative         posed on the community or presented
interpretations in no way precludes    as if they are authoritative, and that
the individual from engaging in        individuals should not fight with each
his own study of the teachings         other over questions pertaining to the
and thereby arriving at his own        meaning or application of the Text.
interpretation or understanding.       These concepts are not contradicto-
Indeed, Bahá'u'lláh invites the        ry but are part of a single integrated
believers to "immerse" themselves      process.
in the "ocean" of His "words", that       For example, during the ministry of
they "may unravel its secrets, and     Bahá'u'lláh, two perspectives emerged
discover all the pearls of wisdom      about His station. Some saw Him to be
that lie hid in its depths." (letter   the Supreme Manifestation of God,
dated 9 March 1987)                    while others went further as a result
of their understanding of certain
Given the limitations of the human    passages from the Writings. When
mind, it is obvious that such expres-    pressed on the matter, Bahá'u'lláh—
sions of personal views invariably       no doubt in appreciation of the limita-
include ideas that are partially, and    tions of human capacity to understand
sometimes perhaps even largely, incor-   completely such profound metaphysi-
cal truths—explained that so long as
rect. This awareness is fundamental to
individuals were sincere, both views
the relationships of individuals, the
were right, but if they argued, both
community, and the institutions as we
were wrong (Taherzadeh 303).8 As
engage in the investigation of reality
'Abdu'l-Bahá explains:
and the generation and application of
knowledge as guided by the Revela-         In brief, O ye believers of God!
tion and with the aim of the transfor-     The text of the Divine Book is
mation of society. As discussed above,
every individual will naturally feel       8    Over time, of course, the station
that his or her ideas about the Faith    of Bahá'u'lláh became further clarified
are correct—and he or she may share      through His own Writings and the author-
them with personal conviction and        itative interpretations of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and
with the strongest possible supporting   Shoghi Effendi. Yet even with such addi-
arguments. Yet this conviction should    tional perspective, the limitations of the
be accompanied by an appreciation—       human mind and the space for personal
by the presenter and by the recipients   understanding remain.
Toward a Framework for Action                            27

this: If two souls quarrel and               diversity of views on a wide vari-
contend about a question of the              ety of subjects, and this is excel-
Divine questions, differing and              lent. What it cannot and must not
disputing, both are wrong. The               do is to produce "sects" in relation
wisdom of this incontrovertible              to the Teachings of the Faith; the
law of God is this: That between             Covenant provides the centre of
two souls from amongst the be-               guidance which is to prevent such
lievers of God, no contention and            a degeneration. (letter dated 20
dispute might arise; that they may           October 1977)
speak with each other with in-
finite amity and love. (Tablets 52)           In order to allow for a rich, frank,
and possibly quite diverse exchange
The Guardian states that "regarding          of personal views, certain terms
such interpretations (of verses from         should be understood and carefully
the Scriptures) no one has the right to      used, avoiding dichotomies that are
impose his view or opinion and require       often misleading and unproductive.
his listeners to believe in his particular   Consider, for example, the question of
interpretation of the sacred and pro-        criticism. As Bahá'ís, we are discour-
phetic writings. I have no objection to      aged from criticizing one another, and
your interpretations and inferences so       in this regard Shoghi Effendi mentions
long as they are represented as your         'Abdu'l-Bahá's "contempt for and im-
own personal observations and reflec-        patience of criticism" (Advent 4). "Vi-
tions" (Unfolding 423). And the Uni-         cious criticism is indeed a calamity,"
versal House of Justice writes:              a letter written on his behalf states.
"But its root is lack of faith in the sys-
Independent investigation of               tem of Bahá'u'lláh, i.e., the Adminis-
truth recognizes that no human             trative Order—and lack of obedience
being can have a full and correct          to Him—for He has forbidden it!" (qtd.
understanding of the revelation            in Hornby 104). 'Abdu'l-Bahá also ex-
of God; it places upon each in-            plains: "It is again not permitted that
dividual the duty to strive for an         any one of the honored members ob-
ever greater understanding of              ject to or censure, whether in or out
the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, to           of the meeting, any decision arrived at
apply them to the whole of his             previously, though that decision be not
life; it is the mainspring of ma-          right, for such criticism would prevent
ture consultation, by which all            any decision from being enforced" (qtd.
the affairs of the community are           in Compilation 1:95). Such a use of the
conducted; it leads men to dis-            term is different, of course, from the
cover the secrets of the universe          legitimate criticisms that every believ-
and promote the sciences. As you           er is entitled to convey directly to the
point out, this will produce great         Local or National Assembly about the
28                    The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

affairs of the Cause, or even about the        is, a view that differs from the majority
actions of one of its members9; there          view or from the way an idea is tra-
are well-defined channels for such             ditionally understood. Such ideas are
criticism so that it may result in con-        welcome and indeed essential in the
structive change rather than disrup-           search for truth; a different perspec-
tion of the community or even schism           tive on an issue, even if it ultimately
of the type that affected previous dis-        proves to be in error, may well con-
pensations. "If we disapprove of their         tribute to obtaining a more profound
decisions," a letter written on behalf         grasp of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings. Yet
of the Guardian states, "we must be            expressing a new idea is quite different
careful to avoid discussing such mat-          than fomenting discord or dissension
ters with other believers who have no          by contending with the authoritative
authority to put them right" (qtd. in          Texts, attempting to impose one's
Compilation 2:112). It is vital, however,      personal views on the thought and
that all such concerns pertaining to           action of the community, or insisting
the issue of criticism should be dis-          on the correctness of one's personal
tinguished from the critical thought           interpretations even when contradict-
that is necessary in the search for            ed by a passage in the Writings or by
understanding, lest such important             a decision of the Universal House of
and essential inquiry be inadvertantly         Justice. For it is the House of Justice
suppressed. Indeed, the House of Jus-          that is "to safeguard the unity of its
tice explains that destructive personal        followers and to maintain the integ-
criticism and critical thought are not         rity and flexibility of its teachings"
the same thing (Messages 60:31).               (Shoghi Effendi, World Order 148) and
A similar example concerns the use          to "deliberate upon all problems which
of the term "dissent," especially in a         have caused difference, questions that
culture infused with the conceptions of        are obscure and matters that are not
Western political thought. On a partic-        expressly recorded in the Book" ('Ab-
ular topic, a believer may at times ex-        du'l-Bahá, Will and Testament 19).10 At
press a "dissenting" perspective—that          the same time, dissidence directed to-
ward the authority of the Text itself
9 "The Bahá'ís are fully entitled to ad-    or the provisions of the Covenant is a
dress criticisms to their assemblies; they     fundamental contradiction for anyone
can freely air their views about policies or   who professes to be a Bahá'í.11
individual members of elected bodies to
the assembly, local or national, but then         10 And He concludes: "Whatsoever
they must whole-heartedly accept the ad-       they decide has the same effect as the Text
vice or decision of the assembly, according    itself " ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Will and Testament 19).
to the principles already laid down for such      11 "Such assertions emphasize a cru-
matters in Bahá'í administration" (Shoghi      cial point; it is this: in terms of the cove-
Effendi qtd. in Compilation 2:112–13).         nant, dissidence is a moral and intellectual
Toward a Framework for Action                          29

As learned believers explore the            spring and causeth hearts to be-
meaning of the Revelation, correlate           come fresh and verdant, while
its concepts and principles with con-          another is like unto blight which
temporary thought, and consider its            causeth the blossoms and flowers
implications for action in various fields      to wither. God grant that authors
in light of scientific understanding,          among the friends will write in
their exchange of views and presen-            such a way as would be acceptable
tation of perspectives are guided by           to fair-minded souls, and not lead
a host of statements in the Writings.          to cavilling by the people. (qtd. in
For example, Bahá'u'lláh explains:             Universal House of Justice, letter
dated 20 June 1997)
Whatever is written should not
transgress the bounds of tact and             Further, 'Abdu'l-Bahá observes that
wisdom, and in the words used              unity is essential in the the search for
there should lie hid the proper-           truth. He states: "The fact that we
ty of milk, so that the children           imagine ourselves to be right and ev-
of the world may be nurtured               erybody else wrong is the greatest of
therewith, and attain maturi-              all obstacles in the path towards unity,
ty. We have said in the past that          and unity is necessary if we would
one word hath the influence of             reach truth, for truth is one" (Paris
Talks 136). In a talk He explains:
contradiction of the main objective ani-
mating the Bahá'í community, namely, the          The purpose is to emphasize the
establishment of the unity of mankind"         statement that consultation must
(Universal House of Justice, Messages          have for its object the investiga-
60:36). And Bahá'u'lláh states: "O ye that     tion of truth. He who expresses
dwell on earth! The religion of God is for     an opinion should not voice it as
love and unity; make it not the cause of       correct and right but set it forth
enmity or dissension. In the eyes of men       as a contribution to the consen-
of insight and the beholders of the Most       sus of opinion, for the light of
Sublime Vision, whatsoever are the effec-      reality becomes apparent when
tive means for safeguarding and promot-        two opinions coincide. A spark
ing the happiness and welfare of the chil-     is produced when flint and steel
dren of men have already been revealed by      come together. Man should weigh
the Pen of Glory. But the foolish ones of      his opinions with the utmost se-
the earth, being nurtured in evil passions     renity, calmness and composure.
and desires, have remained heedless of the     Before expressing his own views
consummate wisdom of Him Who is, in            he should carefully consider the
truth, the All-Wise, while their words and     views already advanced by others.
deeds are prompted by idle fancies and         If he finds that a previously ex-
vain imaginings" (Tablets 222).                pressed opinion is more true and
30                   The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

worthy, he should accept it im-            Assembly, even though it might be
mediately and not willfully hold           wrong, because this will be the most
to an opinion of his own. By this          efficient means to reveal the error and
excellent method he endeavors to           allow it to be corrected. "Though one
arrive at unity and truth. Opposi-         of the parties may be in the right and
tion and division are deplorable.          they disagree, that will be the cause
(Promulgation 72–73)                       of a thousand wrongs," 'Abdu'l-Bahá
states, "but if they agree and both par-
The sensitivity and wisdom re-           ties are in the wrong, as it is in uni-
quired when presenting new and               ty the truth will be revealed and the
challenging ideas are particularly           wrong made right" (qtd. in Compila-
important when the topic concerns            tion 1:96).
the meaning of the Revelation or                As Bahá'ís, we are trying to learn
the action of the community. For the         how, in the age of maturity of the
community is not an inert object unaf-       human race, the relationships among
fected by study conducted by detached        individuals, communities, and institu-
and objective observers. Rather, the         tions should be manifested in order to
errors, misperceptions, and biases of        support the search for truth and right
a commentator are introduced into            action. These protagionists are all part
the discourse of the community. The          of one organic whole—not discordant
contentious insistence on a particular       and competing elements more reflec-
personal viewpoint, rather than a wise       tive of the adolesecent stage of social
presentation offered as a contribution       development. Individuals study the
to the search for truth, can lead to         Revelation, as well as diverse fields of
disunity and confusion as the friends        human knowledge, and, guarded by a
respond in various ways to new ideas.12      humility born of a recognition of the
Ultimately, in the Bahá'í communi-       limitations of human understanding
ty, unity is the highest value, since uni-   and a firm grounding in the Covenant,
ty is essential for seeking and finding      share their perspectives and contrib-
truth. Without unity, truth remains          ute to the progress of the Faith and
hidden, for truth is either obscured by      the advancement of society. The com-
continual argumentation or, even if a        munity as a whole should welcome
truth is discovered, lack of unity pre-      and appreciate the contributions of
vents translating new understandings         learned individuals and provide an en-
into practical and effective action. It      vironment that supports their efforts.
is for such a reason, where collective       While, on occasion, the unwisdom
action is necessary, that Bahá'ís are        of the friends13 may become manifest
advised to support the decision of an
13 See the Universal House of Justice,
12 See Lample, Revelation and Social       Messages of the Universal House of Justice:
Reality, pp. 152–54.                         1986–2001, 60:46.
Toward a Framework for Action                          31

in insistence on the correctness of        into action. At the same time, it must
personal interpretations, in fruitless     be recognized that the human mind is
argumentation, or even in the con-         limited and prone to error, and thus
scious fomenting of discord, the mem-      the ultimate safeguard of the indi-
bers of the community should strive        vidual and the community is firmness
to become sensitive to identifying such    in the Covenant and adherence to the
errors and immune to its harmful in-       principles of the administration. In
fluence. Institutions should be tolerant   this way, the integrity of the teach-
of new ideas, but ultimately they must     ings and the unity in action of the
protect the space for learning from the    community are preserved. What may
machinations of insincere individuals,     seem to be the necessity of upholding
as well as ensure the unity of the com-    ostensibly contradictory values—the
munity. Over the years, the Universal      freedom to seek truth and obedience
House of Justice has described various     to authority—is in fact just another
features of the relationship among         example of the spirit of a true Bahá'í
individuals, communities, and insti-       "to reconcile," in the words of Shoghi
tutions that safeguard the search for      Effendi, "the principles of mercy and
knowledge.                                 justice, of freedom and submission, of
the sanctity of the right of the indi-
INDIVIDUAL INTERPRETATION             vidual and of self-surrender, of vigi-
AND THE MEANING OF THE TEXT              lance, discretion, and prudence on the
one hand, and fellowship, candor, and
The doctrines of the Faith and truths      courage on the other" (Bahá'í Adminis-
pertaining to spiritual reality are set    tration 64). The individual believer, the
forth in the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh     Bahá'í community, and its institutions
and the writings of the authorita-         are thus bound in a common effort to
tive interpreters of the teachings,        strive to understand and act on the
'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi.           teachings while knowing with certain-
Access to such knowledge, however,         ty that there must be, to some extent,
must come through the imperfect yet        a gap between personal understanding
wondrous instrument of the human           and Bahá'u'lláh's intent. As the Uni-
intellect, the "supreme emblem of          versal House Justice explains:
God" that "stands first in the order
of creation and first in rank, taking           A clear distinction is made in
precedence over all created things"          our Faith between authorita-
('Abdu'l-Bahá, Secret 1). For Bahá'ís,       tive interpretation and the in-
it is a cardinal principle that individ-     terpretation or understanding
ual conscience must not be coerced;          that each individual arrives at
each person is enjoined to study the         for himself from his study of
Revelation, understand its meaning,          its teachings. While the former
obey its ordinances, and translate it        is confined to the Guardian, the
32                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

latter, according to the guidance        to be shaken, and to express their
given to us by the Guardian him-         own views without pressing them
self, should by no means be sup-         on their fellow Bahá'ís. (Messages
pressed. In fact such individual         35:13)
interpretation is considered the
fruit of man's rational power and      A question previously arose as to
conducive to a better understand-      whether, as with the clergy in past
ing of the teachings, provided         dispensations, the authoritative inter-
that no disputes or arguments          pretations of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi
arise among the friends and the        Effendi, as well as the guidance of the
individual himself understands         Universal House of Justice, would
and makes it clear that his views      unduly narrow the scope for personal
are merely his own. Individual in-     investigation and understanding. The
terpretations continually change       Universal House of Justice responds:
as one grows in comprehension
of the teachings. As Shoghi Ef-          You express the fear that the
fendi wrote: "To deepen in the           authority       conferred      upon
Cause means to read the writings         'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Guardian and
of Bahá'u'lláh and the Master so         the Universal House of Justice
thoroughly as to be able to give it      could lead to a progressive
to others in its pure form. There        reduction in the "available scope
are many who have some superfi-          for personal interpretation," and
cial idea of what the Cause stands       that "the actual writings of the
for. They, therefore, present it to-     Manifestation will have less and
gether with all sorts of ideas that      less import," and you instance
are their own. As the Cause is still     what has happened in previous
in its early days we must be most        Dispensations. The House of
careful lest we fall into this error     Justice suggests that, in thinking
and injure the Movement we so            about this, you contemplate the
much adore. There is no limit to         way the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh
the study of the Cause. The more         has actually worked and you will
we read the Writings, the more           be able to see how very different
truths we can find in Them, the          its processes are from those of,
more we will see that our previous       say, the development of the law
notions were erroneous." So, al-         in Rabbinical Judaism or the
though individual insights can be        functioning of the Papacy in
enlightening and helpful, they can       Christianity. The practice in the
also be misleading. The friends          past in these two religions, and
must therefore learn to listen to        also to a great extent in Islam, has
the views of others without being        been to assume that the Revelation
over-awed or allowing their faith        given by the Founder was the final,
Toward a Framework for Action                      33

perfect revelation of God's Will         have been considered obscure,
to mankind, and all subsequent           they point up the intimate in-
elucidation and legislation has          terrelationship between various
been interpretative in the sense         teachings, they expound the im-
that it aimed at applying this basic     plications of scriptural allusions,
Revelation to the new problems           and they educate the Bahá'ís in
and situations that have arisen.         the tremendous significances of
The Bahá'í premises are quite            the Words of Bahá'u'lláh. Rather
different. Although the Revelation       than in any way supplanting the
of Bahá'u'lláh is accepted as the        Words of the Manifestation, they
Word of God and His Law as               lead us back to them time and
the Law of God, it is understood         again.
from the outset that Revelation             There is also an important dis-
is progressive, and that the Law,        tinction made in the Faith between
although the Will of God for this        authoritative interpretation, as
Age, will undoubtedly be changed         described above, and the inter-
by the next Manifestation of             pretation which every believer is
God. Secondly, only the written          fully entitled to voice. Believers
text of the Revelation is regarded       are free, indeed are encouraged, to
as authoritative. There is no Oral       study the Writings for themselves
Law as in Judaism, no Tradition          and to express their understand-
of the Church as in Christianity,        ing of them. Such personal inter-
no Hadith as in Islám. Thirdly, a        pretations can be most illuminat-
clear distinction is drawn between       ing, but all Bahá'ís, including the
Interpretation and Legislation.          one expressing the view, however
Authoritative interpretation is          learned he may be, should realize
the exclusive prerogative of             that it is only a personal view and
'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Guardian,           can never be upheld as a standard
while infallible legislation is the      for others to accept, nor should
function of the Universal House          disputes ever be permitted to arise
of Justice.                              over differences in such opinions.
If you study the Writings of             The legislation enacted by
'Abdu'l-Bahá and of the Guardian,        the Universal House of Justice
you will see how tremendously            is different from interpretation.
they differ from the interpre-           Authoritative interpretation, as
tations of the Rabbis and the            uttered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the
Church. They are not a progres-          Guardian, is a divinely guided
sive fossilization of the Revela-        statement of what the Word
tion, they are for the most part         of God means. The divinely in-
expositions which throw a clear          spired legislation of the Uni-
light upon passages which may            versal House of Justice does not
34                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

attempt to say what the revealed        Without such a framework, there is no
Word means—it states what               fruitful result, only chaos. The Revela-
must be done in cases where the         tion of Bahá'u'lláh and its body of au-
revealed Text or its authoritative      thoritative interpretation, along with
interpretation is not explicit. It      the guidance of the House of Jus-
is, therefore, on quite a different     tice that will direct the community's
level from the Sacred Text, and         course over centuries, are not intend-
the Universal House of Justice is       ed to shackle, but to liberate the hu-
empowered to abrogate or amend          man mind, and prepare and focus the
its own legislation whenever it         community so that it may explore the
judges the conditions make this         oceans of spiritual and material real-
desirable. Moreover, the attitude       ity and make progress along a course
to legislation is different in the      leading to the shaping of a new world
Bahá'í Faith. The human tenden-         order and a new civilization.
cy in past Dispensations has been          Thus, at any given time, there may
to want every question answered         be a range of ideas about a given as-
and to arrive at a binding decision     pect of reality in light of the Bahá'í
affecting every small detail of         teachings. Some of these perspec-
belief or practice. The tendency        tives, after further investigation, may
in the Bahá'í Dispensation, from        not hold up and can be discarded, re-
the time of Bahá'u'lláh Himself,        sulting in a clear consensus about the
has been to clarify the governing       truth of a matter. In other instances,
principles, to make binding pro-        there may still remain a range of dif-
nouncements on details which are        ferent perspectives that have some
considered essential, but to leave      degree of justification and further
a wide area to the conscience of        understanding that requires addition-
the individual. The same tenden-        al experience and the elaboration of
cy appears also in administrative       thought. Comfort with ambiguity is
matters. (letter dated 3 January        required in such instances, with space
1982)                                   for different individuals to think dif-
ferently, rather than contention or in-
In a sport, such as soccer, there is a    sistence upon the truth of a particular
framework of defined parameters that      perspective on matters that cannot, or
establish its nature and set its rules.   need not, be resolved at a given mo-
The elements of the framework are         ment in time. Such an approach safe-
not intended to restrict the partici-     guards freedom of thought, as well
pants arbitrarily; rather, they create    as the unity of action on which the
the arena for productive action—          progress of the community depends.
the skill and artistry of the game.
Toward a Framework for Action                        35

IMPLICATIONS OF THE PRINCIPLE          religious doctrines and practices; in
OF THE HARMONY OF SCIENCE             the postmodern devaluation of sci-
AND RELIGION                   entific method and knowledge; in the
commercial subjugation of science; in
The final concept to be mentioned         the lens of materialistic philosophy
here, as another element of the frame-    that systematically distorts scientific
work governing engagement in Bahá'í       assumptions and findings; in the con-
scholarly activity, is the principle of   test for power—political and other-
the harmony of science and religion,      wise—that exploits both science and
of reason and faith. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as     religion; in the false dichotomy at the
heart of debates between superstition
noted above, describes religion and
and materialism posing as religion and
science as "two wings upon which
science; and in other such permuta-
man's intelligence can soar into the
tions can be found the many strategies
heights, with which the human soul
and distortions that prevent humani-
can progress" (Paris Talks 143). He
ty at this time from appreciating the
adds, "Should a man try to fly with
harmony of science and religion upon
the wing of religion alone he would       which depends the quest for truth,
quickly fall into the quagmire of su-     morality, justice, and the advancement
perstition, whilst on the other hand,     of civilization.
with the wing of science alone he            At this stage in the development
would also make no progress, but fall     of the Bahá'í community, we can ex-
into the despairing slough of mate-       pect to see a range of diverse personal
rialism" (Paris Talks 143). Thus, in      views about the principle of the har-
some manner, true religion acts to        mony of science and religion, and
ensure true science; true science acts    the conception of some believers will
to ensure true religion; and these two,   reflect widely held social conventions
in harmony, are the means for human       or the perspectives derived from the
progress. But what is this appropriate    various disciplines of human thought.
interaction? How is it to be defined?        Of course, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's state-
How is it realized?                       ments about these principles would
Even a cursory survey of the forces    be accepted by all. Yet knowledgeable
at work in the world brings to light      Bahá'ís with scientific training, for
the many challenges arising from a        example, acutely aware of and sensi-
failure to find harmony between the       tive to the excesses of religious fun-
two. In the prejudice, fanaticism, and    damentalism in attempting to impose
violence sweeping the globe in the        itself upon the minds of individuals,
guise of religion; in the assaying of     may lean toward the concept that sci-
the truth of scientific findings in the   ence and religion are largely separate
balance of religious beliefs; in the      spheres—"non-overlapping magiste-
stubborn perpetuation of irrational       ria" (Gould).
36                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

At the same time, other devoted be-     methods employed in their fields," the
lievers immersed in a profound study       Universal House of Justice explains,
of the Writings may be convinced, by       "[i]t is they who have the responsibil-
an understanding of certain passages,      ity to earnestly strive to reflect on the
that ultimately it is science that will    implications that the truths found in
evolve in the future to conform to,        the Revelation may hold for their
or be subsumed under, the truths of        work" (letter dated 24 July 2013). In
Revelation. A range of views by oth-       such a process, a tendency toward false
ers may fall within these extremes.        dichotomies and extreme perspectives
Rather than creating contentious de-       that stand in contradiction to the prin-
bates by insisting on the correctness      ciple of the harmony of science and
of one's personal interpretation about     religion may be avoided because the
the meaning of the principle or its ap-    desired methods are not a reduction to
plication in a particular instance, how-   creationism or scholasticism or to con-
ever, what is necessary—as in so many      tending theological schools; neither
other areas of inquiry—is for the          is it scientism, nor secular religious
friends to consult, act together, and      studies, nor philosophical materialism.
thereby advance within an evolving             Science, in its method, restricts the
framework that will allow for unity        scope of its investigations to increase
of thought to emerge through experi-       the reliability of its findings; howev-
ence over time.                            er, contrary to the understanding of
Those engaged in Bahá'í scholarly       many, religion is not faith in the un-
activity, then, may well conduct their     believable or irrational. Philosophy
inquiries from any point along a spec-     may well serve to interpret scientific
trum of approaches representing very       findings, but philosophical conclu-
different views about the relationship     sions cannot be conflated with scien-
of science and religion—for example,       tific truth. Careful attention should be
from the natural sciences, from the        given by Bahá'ís engaged in various
social sciences, from history, from phi-   fields to the assumptions pertaining to
losophy, from secular religious studies,   the relationship between science and
from theology, or from the study of the    religion that govern them, and while
Sacred Texts within the community.         these assumptions cannot be summar-
It thus falls to these friends to       ily dismissed by the friends who par-
weigh the value of the methods with-       ticipate in these spheres, neither can
in these various approaches, assessing     Bahá'ís ignore the truths articulated in
their strengths and limitations. As        the authoritiatve Bahá'í Texts. In brief,
"Bahá'ís who are involved in various       an effort must be made to deal with or
disciplines—economics,        education,   reconcile all points of contradiction.
history, social science, philosophy,           Thus, we need to recognize our
and many others—are obviously con-         condition at this stage in the devel-
versant and fully engaged with the         opment of the Faith. Human minds
Toward a Framework for Action                        37

are limited. In science, advancement          disagree and dismiss them out of
is made because there is a truth ref-         hand. But a view can be wrong,
erent greater than the conclusions of         even mostly wrong, without be-
the human mind alone—the testing of           ing altogether wrong. When you
ideas against the brute facts of nature       consider the historical develop-
through the scientific method. The            ment of theories in the philoso-
reliability of science is based on the        phy of mind, you can see that the
extent to which it can be grounded on         same difficulties cycle into focus
these brute facts, rather than on per-        again and again. One generation
sonal impression. So too, for Bahá'ís,        addresses the qualitiative aspects
the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh provides        of mentality, the next focuses on
a truth referent against which human          its scientific understanding, its
conceptions must be weighed. In prin-         successor takes up the problem
ciple, the individual Bahá'í bends to         of mental content. The cycle
the truth of this Revelation—the Rev-         then starts over, each generation
elation is not interpreted according to       recovering what had been largely
the wishes of the individual. So the          invisible to its immediate prede-
teachings, and their authoritative in-        cessor. (199–200)
terpretations, are statements of truth
that cannot be altered. Of course, in          Another example of a potential
the pursuit of truth there is latitude in   challenge in the encounter between
personal understanding, but this free-      reason and religion may be found
dom is intended to serve the purpose        within the discipline of theology
of finding the truth—and truth is one.      when emphasis shifts from the impli-
Reason alone is subject to certain       cations of the meaning of the teach-
limitations. In this respect, a differ-     ings for the unity of the community
ence can be observed between consul-        and the betterment of society to con-
tation and learning within an evolving      cern with the Faith primarily as the
framework and the circularity that          object of study. While there are nat-
can overtake continuous debate and          urally many aspects of the Revelation
argumentation about personal views.         that address theological concepts that
In his book The Philosophy of Mind,         must be constructively examined, the
John Heil describes a tension within        discipline of theology and the practice
the discipline of philosophy that tends     of theologians or 'ulamá is grounded
toward cycles of thought rather than        in assumptions and approaches of pre-
toward a systematic progress in cap-        vious dispensations that have no part
turing insights and refining under-         in the Bahá'í dispensation and that,
standing over time:                         indeed, have even been proscibed by
Bahá'u'lláh.
In philosophy there is a tendency            In the book Doctrine and Power,
to take doctrines with which we           theologian Carlos Galvao-Sobrinho
38                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

examines how in the fourth century of     against its limitations and the distinc-
Christianity, doctrinal disagreements     tive characteristics and injunctions
on theological issues, which previous-    of the Revelation. Ultimately, it is
ly were resolved through a search for     learned Bahá'ís in any field who, hav-
consensus, evolved to become a means      ing studied in a profound manner both
by which bishops exerted power:           the Writings and their disciplines, are
responsible for carefully considering
Persistent confrontation, com-          such issues, shedding light on the val-
bined with a determination to un-       ue of methods, and serving as the first
dermine fellow prelates, replaced       line of defense against extremes that
the former striving for consensus.      lead either to imposing naïve personal
. . . Challenged by their rivals and    religious beliefs on science or to plac-
driven by a new certainty that          ing an exaggerated value on certain
they possessed the truth, church        interpretations of scientific method
leaders embarked on a disruptive        while imposing the materialistic inter-
quest to prove their orthodoxy          pretations of such findings in an un-
and to discredit their opponents.       scientific manner on the evolution of
. . . with unprecedented zeal and       the Bahá'í community.
passion, they set out to convince          Attaining this capacity requires a
other Christians that their views       true understanding of a discipline, its
represented the truth about God         strengths and limitations, and not sim-
and the orthodox teachings of the       ply insisting to the Bahá'í community
church. (6)                             that a particular point is true based on
an appeal to authority from a particu-
As a result of this change, the es-    lar field of inquiry. It is the responsi-
sense of theological effort shifted       bility of "Bahá'í scholars, people who
from a search for truth to the imposi-    not only are devoted to [the Faith]
tion of power. Theologians and eccle-     and believe in it and are anxious to
siastics insisted upon the correctness    tell others about it," those "who have a
of their own views, and by this means     deep grasp of the Teachings and their
they accrued power and influence. At      significance, and who can correlate its
the same time, they used what power       beliefs with the current thoughts and
and influence they had to ensure the      problems of the people of the world"
acceptance of their views. The history    (Shoghi Effendi qtd. in Compilation
of Christianity was thereby stained by    2:226) to acknowledge the range of
these struggles, which resulted in end-   legitimate debate within a discipline,
less bloodshed and countless divisions.   help the community understand the
Consequently, we can appreciate        range of its assets and liablities as
why any inquiry into the value of the     an instrument in the investigation of
discipline of theology or its methods     truth, and correlate and resolve the
for Bahá'í thought must be weighed        apparent points of conflict between
Toward a Framework for Action                         39

the perspectives of that field and the      opinion may continue to prevail, ow-
current understanding of the Bahá'í         ing to the limitations of the human
teachings.                                  mind to grasp such truths, even when
The scope of the challenge may vary      they are discussed at some length by
across different disciplines. In the nat-   Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Again,
ural sciences, there may be little over-    such diversity is to be expected, and
lap between the knowledge systems of        although Bahá'ís may hold different
science and religion, while across the      opinions on such issues, there is no
social sciences and humanities the area     reason that this diversity itself should
of overlap grows more extensive. Ed-        lead to discord, so long as individuals
ucation as a field, for example, can only   do not insist upon the correctness of
advance so far without an appreciation      their own views or try to impose their
of the spiritual reality of a human         opinions on others.
being. The study of religion, and par-          For many other questions, however,
ticularly the study of the Bahá'í Faith     just as in science, truth—or at least
in the context of the discipline of re-     ever more robust insights into the
ligious studies, whether from a secular     nature of reality—will emerge over
or theological perspective, is subject to   time. At first, many different views on
significant distortion by assumptions       a given topic may be held simultane-
and methods that stand in sharp con-        ously by different Bahá'ís. Then, over
trast to the Bahá'í teachings. Indeed,      time, as sound arguments are set forth
this sharp distinction begins at the        that draw upon science and an analysis
outset with Bahá'u'lláh's definition of     of the teachings and as knowledge-
religion itself. Every learned believer     able believers consult on the evidence,
has the opportunity to experience the       some perspectives will eventually be
joy and challenge of tackling such          demonstrated to be weaker or some-
difficult problems that can contribute      how defective, while others will prove
to the progress of the Faith and ad-        to be stronger and more robust, until
vancement of human knowledge.               issues are clarified and the truth—the
strength of a particular perspective—
AN EXAMPLE OF HOW DIFFERING               is revealed. On some subjects, this pro-
OPINIONS MAY GIVE WAY IN THE              cess may happen fairly quickly, while
SEARCH FOR TRUTH                    other questions may require genera-
tions to resolve.
As individuals, communities, and in-            The subject of evolution may
stitutions gradually learn how to har-      provide a useful illustration of this
monize their efforts in the investiga-      process. In His talks and writings,
tion of reality, truth will emerge over     'Abdu'l-Bahá touches upon the theo-
time in greater depth and abundance.        ry of evolution, a subject in the field
In some instances associated with           of biology that, beyond science, has
metaphysical questions, a diversity of      had profound social and philosophical
40                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

implications for humanity since Dar-     shares the biological history of
win presented his findings in the mid    animals and is most closely related to
1800s. A range of personal interpre-     apes, this view concludes that 'Abdu'l-
tations about the meaning of what        Bahá is in error about the scientific
'Abdu'l-Bahá said have been set forth    basis of evolution and His statements
by Bahá'ís over the years. And while     in this context should be set aside. Still
it is not our purpose here to examine    another distinct perspective proposes
the Bahá'í perspective on evolution in   that 'Abdu'l-Bahá's statements are
depth, a general overview of these       essentially in harmony with the
personal interpretations sheds light     contemporary findings of science. A
on the process of understanding the      fourth suggests that 'Abdu'l-Bahá's
Bahá'í teachings by illustrating how     argument is not so much about the
diverse and sometimes conflicting        scientific basis of evolution, but
opinions may be resolved over time in    rather, using the language common to
the search for truth.                    the debates on evolution at that time
At least four general perspectives   in the Middle East, it is intended to
have been set forth by individuals on    make certain points about the social
'Abdu'l-Bahá's statements about evo-     and philosophical principles of the
lution. A traditional and somewhat       new theory.
widely held perspective, dating, per-       In the case of these four perspec-
haps, from Dr. John Esselmont's de-      tives on evolution, the first, a kind
scription of the topic in Bahá'u'lláh    of "parallel" evolution of animal and
and the New Era, suggests that, from     human, is incompatible with science.
the beginning of the appearance of       Advances in DNA analysis make it
life on earth, there has been a sepa-    possible to determine the genetic sim-
ration between the line of organisms     ilarities between humans and other
that led to animals and the line that    species and impossible to imagine how
led to human beings. Drawing upon        such similarities could come about by
quotations from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, such       any means other than biological kin-
as "from the beginning of his exis-      ship. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's strong admoni-
tence man has been a distinct species"   tion to weigh religious beliefs in the
(Some Answered Questions 47:10), it is   light of science would seem to require
concluded that there has never been a    that any concept of parallel evolution
common biological ancestor between       should be set aside by Bahá'ís as an
animals and humans.                      error in the individual interpretation
A second perspective is similar      of the meaning of His statements
to the first, but in emphasizing         and thereby avoid the appearance of
that this conclusion about human         clinging to a theory of some kind
biological distinctiveness stands in     of "creationism"—the antiscientific
sharp contrast to the findings of        opinion articulated by adherents of
evolutionary science that humanity       some religious demoninations.
Toward a Framework for Action                        41

Of course, it is possible to make       generally, any personal interpretation
the argument that what 'Abdu'l-Bahá        of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's statements that con-
says is true in a given case and that a    tradicts scientific understanding could
contemporary scientific understand-        be set aside as erroneous—or at least
ing is wrong and will be revised in the    called into question—and an alterna-
future. For example, in Some Answered      tive interpretation sought.
Questions, He explains that the Sacred        Given the limitations of human
Texts may indeed state truths not un-      understanding, one obviously cannot
derstood by science (7:14).                insist one's personal interpretation of
Yet despite this, 'Abdu'l-Bahá does     'Abdu'l-Bahá's statements is exactly
not state that the truth of scientific     what He actually intended. Personal
views should be weighed in the light       interpretation can be wrong. Further,
of religious Texts. If Bahá'ís were to     this second perspective is illogical in
take this position continually when        presuming that 'Abdu'l-Bahá would
science and the interpretation of          insist on an incorrect understand-
scripture conflict, they would be right-   ing of scientific aspects of evolution,
ly regarded as unscientific, and they      while at the same time urging—based
would undermine the principle of the       on the principle of the harmony of
harmony of science and religion as         science and religion—that believers
set forth by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. As scientif-    not accept religious views that contra-
ic understanding advances, however,        dict science and reason. Stated another
certain wisdom hidden in the Text          way, why would 'Abdu'l-Bahá contra-
may come to light. If one imagines         dict the very principles He expounds?
that science changes in the future as a    In seeking to understand the state-
result of shedding certain of its ma-      ments about evolution in the Bahá'í
terialistic philosophical assumptions,     Writings, therefore, Bahá'ís should
this change will be the result of ad-      expect the principle of the harmony
vancement within science rather than       of science and religion to be upheld
scientists being compelled to accept       and not succumb to either superstition
the dictates of religious beliefs.         or materialism.
The second perspective on state-           It would not be unreasonable to
ments in the Writings about evolution,     conclude, then, that the first two per-
although upholding scienific findings,     spectives are questionable and should
also appears to have some problems         be set aside, while the truth may be
in that it insists there is only one way   sought in a more rigorous examina-
to interpret what 'Abdu'l-Bahá said        tion of the arguments pertaining to
and that this interpretation stands        the latter two. This is not, of course,
in contradiction to science. Yet it is     an exhaustive analysis of Bahá'í views
'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself Who said that         on evolution, but hopefully it serves
science and religion agree. It therefore   as a useful illustration of how various
seems reasonable to conclude that,         conflicting opinions may be resolved
42                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

over time in the search for truth.          Rather, on matters pertaining to the
Sound conclusions should correlate si-      Faith and its teachings, all are bound
multaneously with the findings of sci-      by the provisions of the Covenant. It
ence, reason, and the meaning of the        is by this means that Bahá'u'lláh has
Sacred Text. By proceeding in such a        resolved the question of religious
manner, individuals freely set out di-      truth and practice, quenching the fire
verse personal opinions, but over time,     of contention and sectarianism that
on most questions, clarity, insight, and    dimmed the light of religion in previ-
unity of thought emerge.                    ous dispensations.
Human beings differ. Their views
A POTENTIAL PITFALL                 differ. Their interests differ. History
demonstrates the wide range of strat-
The points provided above are a few         egies employed to resolve or live with
initial concepts associated with the        such differences, from blind obedience
collective search for truth drawn from      to unrestricted freedom, from brutal
the teachings that are an essential part    manifestations of power to tolerance
of a conceptual framework that guides       and reasoned discourse. Bahá'u'lláh,
action to advance the intellectual life     responding to human reality and his-
of the Bahá'í community. Many more          torical circumstances, sets forth the
could be added. But it is necessary, at     basis for the protection of the prerog-
this time, to include one additional        atives and the harmony of relations
consideration pertaining to a poten-        among Bahá'í individuals, institutions,
tial pitfall that can obstruct the search   and the community within the frame-
for truth and, in its most extreme and      work of His administrative order. As a
virulent form, is a threat to the very      letter written on behalf of the House
existence of the Faith, whose central       of Justice states:
principle is unity.
As previously mentioned, in the              Upon becoming a Bahá'í, one ac-
Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, while the free-         cepts certain fundamental beliefs;
dom of conscience of the individual           but invariably one's knowledge of
is upheld, as is the freedom to express       the Teachings is limited and often
personal understanding, the views of          mixed with personal ideas. Shoghi
an individual have no authority. Indi-        Effendi explains that "an exact
viduals or groups of individuals, no          and thorough comprehension of
matter how learned, no matter the             so vast a system, so sublime a
field of expertise, cannot insist upon        revelation, so sacred a trust, is for
the correctness of a personal inter-          obvious reasons beyond the reach
pretation of the Writings, impose             and ken of our finite minds." Over
such a view on others, or insist such         time, through study, prayerful
a view is a guide to the action of in-        reflection, and an effort to live a
dividual believers or the community.          Bahá'í life, immature ideas yield
Toward a Framework for Action                             43

to a more profound understand-                 Bahá'u'lláh's Writings mean and what
ing of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation.               must be done in order to achieve His
Service to the Cause plays a par-              intended purpose for humanity. The
ticular role in the process, for the           problem is the insistence that a par-
meaning of the Text is clarified as            ticular view of an individual about
one translates insights into effec-            the meaning of the Bahá'í teachings is
tive action. As a matter of prin-              correct and that, as a result, the Bahá'í
ciple, individual understanding or             community must accept this individu-
interpretation should not be sup-              al's interpretation and its implications
pressed, but valued for whatever               for Bahá'í practice—or at least, that
contribution it can make to the                the community should be open to end-
discourse of the Bahá'í commu-                 less dissent and disputation about such
nity. Nor should it, through dog-              matters, while ignoring the consulta-
matic insistence of the individual,            tive methods established by Bahá'u'lláh
be allowed to bring about disputes             for resolving disagreements.
and arguments among the friends;                  Such a posture, especially on issues
personal opinion must always be                central to the Covenant and the prac-
distinguished from the explicit                tice of the Faith, strikes at the heart
Text and its authoritative inter-              of the authority invested in the twin
pretation by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and                  institutions of the Administrative Or-
Shoghi Effendi and from the elu-               der of Bahá'u'lláh—the Guardianship
cidations of the Universal House               and the Universal House of Justice—
of Justice on "problems which                  whose common fundamental objective
have caused difference, questions              is to "insure the continuity of that
that are obscure and matters that              divinely-appointed authority which
are not expressly recorded in the              flows from the Source of our Faith,
Book." (letter dated 14 November               to safeguard the unity of its follow-
2005)14                                        ers and to maintain the integrity and
flexibility of its teachings" in acting
The problem described here is not             to "administer its affairs, coordinate
a matter of Covenant-breaking in the             its activities, promote its interests, ex-
sense of challenging the authority as            ecute its laws and defend its subsidiary
Center of the Cause or claiming to               institutions" (Shoghi Effendi, World
have equal authority, as witnessed at            Order 148).
the time of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh,             The intellectual life of the commu-
'Abdu'l-Bahá, or Shoghi Effendi. Rath-           nity is vulnerable to this pitfall when
er, it centers on the question of what           there is excessive insistence by an indi-
vidual or a group of individuals on the
14 For an overview of Bahá'í hermenu-         correctness of their personal under-
tics and practice, see Paul Lample, Revela-      standing. Again, it is quite natural for
tion and Social Reality, especially chapter 2.   an individual to believe that his or her
44                  The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

personal understanding of the teach-       progress, distort the understanding
ings is in precise conformity with the     of the wider society about the Bahá'í
meaning intended by Bahá'u'lláh. It is     teachings, and extinguish the light of
also obvious that this cannot always       faith in some misled souls.
be true. Humility is required, as well        In response to one such assault on
as an attitude of learning, in order to    the intellectual life of the community
work in harmony with other believers       some years ago, the Universal House
under the direction of the institutions    of Justice observed that there was
to achieve Bahá'u'lláh's intended will     a "campaign of internal opposition"
and purpose. This condition includes       (Messages 296:2), which, "while pur-
the freedom to share one's views with      porting to accept the legitimacy of
others. However, for an individual to      the Guardianship and the Universal
become so convinced of the truth of        House of Justice as twin successors
a personal interpretation, or even of      of Bahá'u'lláh and the Center of His
what he or she concludes to be a lim-      Covenant," attempted "to cast doubt
itation of Bahá'u'lláh's thought or of     on the nature and scope of the author-
the interpretations of 'Abdu'l-Bahá or     ity conferred on them in the Writings"
Shoghi Effendi, and then for this same     (Messages 296:5). The individuals in-
individual to attempt continually to       volved "sought to use the language,
bend the community to this personal        the occasions and the credibility of
understanding, is to strike at the unity   scholarly activity to lend a counter-
of the community and to subvert the        feit authority to a private enterprise
search for truth and the endeavor to       which was essentially ideological in
translate the teachings into effective     nature and self-motivated in origin"
action. This attitude or action is very    (letter dated 8 February 1998). The
different from setting forth a point       House of Justice stated that "Even if
of view with sound arguments with-         their original aims were idealistic in
out insisting it is correct and without    nature—no matter how ill-informed
challenging an authoritative statement     and erroneous in concept—they had
in the Writings or a decision of the       evolved in practice into an assault on
House of Justice. It is, instead, an at-   the Covenant which Bahá'u'lláh has
tempt to impose a change in the Bahá'í     created as a stronghold within which
community in direct opposition to the      His Cause would evolve as He intends"
safeguards Bahá'u'lláh put in place to     (letter dated 8 February 1998). In as-
maintain the unity of His Cause and        serting and attempting to win sym-
preserve the integrity of His teach-       pathy for their views, this group of
ings. While, owing to the provisions       individuals complained that a funda-
of the Covenant, such improper ef-         mentalist religious authority was at-
forts will ultimately fail, they can in    tempting to suppress intellectual free-
the short term foment discord and          dom; yet what actually occurred was
confusion, create division, obstruct       an effort to create and impose a form
Toward a Framework for Action                             45

of eccelsiastical authority to usurp         aroused the concern of the House of
the authority Bahá'u'lláh placed in an       Justice was "the systematic corruption
elected body. As the House of Justice        of Bahá'í discourse in certain of the
explained at the time, "by diminishing       Internet discussion groups, a design
the station of Bahá'u'lláh—a disser-         which became increasingly apparent
vice done to previous Manifestations         to many of the Bahá'í participants
by people similarly inclined—by cast-        and whose first victim, if it were to
ing doubt on the authority conferred         succeed, would be Bahá'í scholarship
on 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Guardian and the        itself " (letter dated 8 February 1998).
Universal House of Justice, and by              In establishing the basis of His re-
calling into question the integrity of       ligion, Bahá'u'lláh seized power from
Bahá'í administrative processes, they        ecclesiatics, ended priesthood, and
would be able to persuade a number of        abrogated powers exercised by the
unwary followers that the Bahá'í Faith       learned in the Islamic dispensation.
is in fact not a Divine Revelation but       While extolling the truly learned, He
a kind of socio-political system being       redefined their obligations and guard-
manipulated by ambitious individuals"        ed against their excesses through the
(letter dated 8 February 1998). The          instrument of His Covenant.16 These
scheme insisted "that even the nature
of religion itself can be adequately         confirmation of the Holy Spirit, because it
understood only through the use of           is in the safekeeping and under the shelter
an academic methodology designed to          and protection of the Ancient Beauty, and
ignore the truths that make religion         obedience to its decisions is a bounden and
what it is" (Messages 296:6). In the         essential duty and an absolute obligation,
absence of a Guardian, they claimed          and there is no escape for anyone" (qtd. in
to possess "quasi-doctrinal authority,       Compilation of Compilations 1:323).
parallel to and essentially independent         16 "In a letter written on 14 March
of the local House of Justice, which         1927 to the Spiritual Assembly of the
would permit various interests to in-        Bahá'ís of Istanbul, the Guardian's Secre-
sinuate themselves into the direction        tary explained, on his behalf, the principle
of the life processes of the Cause"          in the Cause of action by majority vote. He
(Messages 296:7).15 The problem that         pointed out how, in the past, it was certain
individuals who 'accounted themselves
15 Such vain and idle imaginings turn     as superior in knowledge and elevated in
on its head the authoritative guidance       position' who caused division, and that it
of 'Abdu'l-Bahá: "Let it not be imagined     was those 'who pretended to be the most
that the House of Justice will take any      distinguished of all' who 'always proved
decision according to its own concepts       themselves to be the source of contention.'
and opinions. God forbid! The Supreme        'But praise be to God,' he continued, 'that
House of Justice will take decisions and     the Pen of Glory has done away with the
establish laws through the inspiration and   unyielding dictatorial views of the learned
46                    The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

actions, which reflect the maturity of          to excel in scholarly activity will, of
the human race that the provisions of           course, strive to live up to the high ex-
Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation seek to foster,        pectations set forth by Bahá'u'lláh and
in no way diminishes the vital impor-           'Abdu'l-Bahá," the Universal House of
tance of learning and scholarship,              Justice states. "Whatever the extent of
but frames, reinforces, protects, and           their achievements, they are an inte-
canalizes such essential powers and             gral part of the community; they are
contributions. In this way, Bahá'u'lláh
upholds freedom of conscience and               Firmness in the Covenant is not the po-
expression while safeguarding the               lar opposite of the freedom to express
development of the Faith and pre-               personal views; both are aspects of a
serving the integrity of the teachings.         harmonious body of thought set forth by
The personal interpretation of indi-            'Abdu'l-Bahá. They are points of spiritu-
viduals is both respected and bound             al guidance intended to lift us, guard us,
within the contraints of wisdom. In             and propel us, not clubs to use to beat
this dispensation, there will be no St.         each other. In this respect, the unity of
Paul who recasts the thought of the             the individual, the community, and the
Manifestation, no Arius whose actions           institutions again arises. The prerogatives
sever the bonds of union among the              and obligations, the aspirations and expec-
believers.17 "The friends who seek              tations, of each are not in opposition, but
must find harmonious expression along
and the wise, dismissed the assertions of       the common part of their organic devel-
individuals as an authoritative criterion,      opment according to the will and purpose
even though they were recognized as the         of Bahá'u'lláh as expressed in His Teach-
most accomplished and learned among men         ings and by His authoritative interpreters.
and ordained that all matters be referred to    "The ocean of the Covenant shall send
authorized centres and specified assemblies.    forth a wave and shall disperse and throw
Even so, no assembly has been invested          out these foams. Consider thou, at the
with the absolute authority to deal with        time of Christ and after Him, how many
such general matters as affect the interests    childish attempts were made by different
of nations. Nay rather, He has brought all      persons! What claims they have advanced
the assemblies together under the shadow        and what a multitude have they gathered
of one House of Justice, one divinely-ap-       around themselves! Even Arius attracted
pointed Centre, so that there would be only     to himself a million and a half followers
one Centre and all the rest integrated into a   and strove and endeavoured to sow the
single body, revolving around one express-      seeds of sedition in the Cause of Christ.
ly-designated Pivot, thus making them all       But eventually the sea of Christ surged
proof against schism and division'" (Uni-       and cast out all the gathering froth and
versal House of Justice, Messages 111:12).      nothing was left behind save everlasting
17 Attitudes toward theology should          malediction." ('Abdu'l-Bahá qtd. in Star of
not give rise to dichotomous thought.           the West 10:5:96).
Toward a Framework for Action                        47

not exempt from obligations placed         of God would be shaken. (qtd. in
upon any believer and, at the same         Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas 8)
time, deserve the community's under-
standing, forbearance, support, and         In the course of history, human
respect" (letter dated 24 July 2013).    beings have learned the rules of logic
"Whatever comes within the sphere     and reasoned argument. If someone
of human comprehension must be           systematically violates these principles,
limited and finite," 'Abdu'l-Bahá af-    there is no need for contention, for it
firms (Promulgation 72–73). In the       is recognized by all that the argument
Bahá'í Faith, no individual or group     is inferior and unsound, and others
of scholars can say what the Bahá'í      ignore it. In the Bahá'í electorial pro-
teachings really mean or how Bahá'ís     cess, there is no electioneering, and an
ought to behave, and certainly no per-   individual who acts in such an obvious
son could ever claim authority on the    manner to attract attention will not
basis of their academic credentials or   receive the votes of the electors who
their "learned" opinions to challenge    find such behavior to be unacceptable
the actions or the elucidations of the   for qualification for membership in a
House of Justice. As 'Abdu'l-Bahá em-    Bahá'í institution. In a similar manner,
phatically affirms:                      the principles governing the action of
learned individuals in contributing to
Today this process of deduc-        the search for truth, the progress of
tion is the right of the body of       the Cause, and the betterment of the
the House of Justice, and the          world, have been clearly set forth by
deductions and conclusions of in-      Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá and must
dividual learned men have no au-       be increasingly understood and inter-
thority, unless they are endorsed      nalized by the community. "Now some
by the House of Justice. The dif-      of the mischief-makers, with many
ference is precisely this, that from   stratagems, are seeking leadership, and
the conclusions and endorsement        in order to reach this position they in-
of the body of the House of Jus-       still doubts among the friends that they
tice whose members are elected         may cause differences, and that these
by and known to the worldwide          differences may result in their drawing
Bahá'í community, no differences       a party to themselves," 'Abdu'l-Bahá
will arise; whereas the conclusions    states. "But the friends of God must be
of individual divines and scholars     awake and must know that the scatter-
would definitely lead to differenc-    ing of these doubts hath as its motive
es, and result in schism, division,    personal desires and the achievement
and dispersion. The oneness of         of leadership. Do not disrupt Bahá'í
the Word would be destroyed, the       unity, and know that this unity cannot
unity of the Faith would disap-        be maintained save through faith in the
pear, and the edifice of the Faith     Covenant of God" (Selections 214).
48                   The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

Although in some extreme cases, it         respected, and mistakes will gradual-
may be necessary for the institutions         ly be resolved. However, if there is an
to act, the generality of the believ-         intent to impose personal views about
ers should grow in understanding              the meaning of the Text on the un-
and wisdom to be impervious to such           derstanding of the community, create
machinations.18 Truth and right action        contention, spread calumny, or aquire
emerge in the course of sincere indi-         power to direct the community's af-
viduals making efforts, and sometimes         fairs along the path of one's choosing,
making mistakes. They cannot emerge           then such intention or action strikes a
from a misplaced desire to prevent all        blow at the very process of the search
mistakes. What is more important,             for truth and sound collective action
perhaps, is to discern the intent asso-       for the progress of the community.
ciated with the appearance of mistakes        "Mere intellectual understanding of
and the effort exerted by an individual       the teachings is not enough," a letter
to adhere to Bahá'í principles associat-      written on behalf of the Guardian ex-
ed with collective action.                    plains. "Deep spirituality is essential,
If the desire is to assist the prog-       and the foundation of true spirituality
ress of the Faith, if there is an effort      is steadfastness in the Covenant" (qtd.
to uphold the principles of consulta-         in Hornby 85).
tion and of the administration, then             When, in the 1890s, despite the best
unity is maintained, the decisions of         efforts of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, news of the
the institutions—and particularly the         machinations of Muhammad Ali be-
guidance of the House of Justice to           gan to circulate to the believers outside
resolve difficult problems—will be            the Holy Land, creating doubts and
confusion, one of the learned Bahá'ís
18 "[T]he believers need to be deep-       wrote to Him seeking clarification
ened in their knowledge and appreciation      about what was happening and guid-
of the Covenants of both Bahá'u'lláh and      ance about what should be the proper
'Abdu'l-Bahá. This is the stronghold of       attitude and conduct of the sincere
the Faith of every Bahá'í, and that which     friends. In a long and moving Tablet,
enables him to withstand every test and       'Abdu'l-Bahá pours out His personal
the attacks of the enemies outside the        anguish and His resolute guidance for
Faith, and the far more dangerous, insidi-    the safeguarding of the Faith of God.
ous, lukewarm people inside the Faith who     He advises the friends of their atti-
have no real attachment to the Covenant,      tudes toward others and of their need
and consequently uphold the intellectual      to guard themselves:
aspect of the teachings while at the same
time undermining the spiritual foundation       Conduct yourself with the utmost
upon which the whole Cause of God rests"        gentleness, affection, friendliness,
(letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effen-      well-wishing and compassion. . . .
di, qtd. in Light of Divine Guidance 2:86).     Pray for all and implore God for
Toward a Framework for Action                          49

everyone's welfare. Mention ev-              But if the friends should truly
ery person with perfect courtesy.         rise as is incumbent on them in
Do not anger anyone and treat all         accordance with the Covenant
with kindness. . . . Like this ser-       and Testament, and manifest
vant, behave with the greatest for-       steadfastness and influence, then
bearance and patience, and be ac-         others will despair of changing
customed to the holy fragrances.          and perverting the Centre of the
However, do not be deceived             Covenant, and will give up their
by anyone, and do not lend ears           provocations and deliberations.
to the flattery of some. Quickly          Gradually the radiant horizon of
discern the doubts of the doubt-          the Lord's Cause will be cleansed
ful. Be perspicacious. Do not be          and sanctified of these dense
misled. Do not be attracted to the        clouds and the true friends and
praise of the waverers. Fix your          the sincere supporters, like your
gaze on the Light of God and be           kind self, will be cheered and in-
the manifestation of "Beware the          spired. (provisional translation)
discernment of the believer, for
he sees with the Light of God"              It is evident, from the Bahá'í teach-
(provisional translation).              ings, that religion is to be the cause of
the upliftment, the empowerment, and
'Abdu'l-Bahá also explains that the   the liberation of the individual. Hu-
steadfastness of the believers in the     man conscience is free. And through
face of such obvious errors—that          true religion, the individual's capaci-
is, their immunity to such machina-       ties are cultivated to serve the Faith,
tions—would be the ultimate remedy        to raise and nurture a family, to build
for and safeguard against attempts to     community, to engage in occupations
disrupt the Cause. He writes:             and in activities to address social and
economic needs, and to participate in
But you inquired about the           the wide range of human discource di-
remedy for this situation. As long      rected toward the advancement of civ-
as some have hope that through          ilization. But to do this, religion must
machinations and false rumors           be safeguarded from fruitless theolog-
this upwelling of the life of the       ical debates that have divided it in the
Covenant could be diverted from         past and from the efforts of those who,
its natural channel and this efful-     because of pride or the desire for lead-
gent star may be shifted from its       ership, attempt to use religion for their
heavenly orbit to another course,       own purposes. It was to preserve His
never shall these seditions end         Faith from these ills that Bahá'u'lláh
nor will these dark clouds be dis-      instituted His Covenant. The freedom
sipated off the horizon of God's        of the individual—indeed, the free-
Cause.                                  dom of all individuals that emerges
50                 The Journal of Bahá'í Studies 28.3 2018

from the application of the teachings    pertaining to the scholarly or intellec-
of Bahá'u'lláh—depends on steadfast-     tual work of the Cause. Much of val-
ness and the internalization of the      ue, of course, has already been written
implications of the Covenant so as to    over several decades. The message of
become innoculated against the kind      24 July 2013, written on behalf of the
of behavior that would subvert it. As    House of Justice to the National As-
'Abdu'l-Bahá states:                     sembly of Canada, makes it clear that
the task at hand is not about starting
O loved ones of God! Give a         over, but of taking stock and renew-
hearing ear to my counsel and          ing and revitalizing effort. As noted,
refrain from stirring up sedition.     the nature of the framework that
If you ever detect the odor of         governs Bahá'í endeavors is evolving,
dissention from any soul, even         and through study, consultation, expe-
though to outward seeming he be        rience, and reflection, the framework
a prominent person or an accom-        for action becomes richer and better
plished scholar, you should know       defined over time.
of a certainty that he is an anti-        The challenge is not unlike the ef-
christ among men, an opponent          fort for learning about growth and
of the religion of the glorious        community-building in the last two
Lord, an adversary of the Al-          decades. At the start of the Five Year
mighty, a destroyer of the divine      Plan in 2001, for example, it was im-
edifice, a violator of His Covenant    possible to define an intensive pro-
and Testament, an outcast from         gram of growth, but only to point to
the threshold of the All-Merciful.     some principles and prerequisites. By
Indeed a man of experience and         the end of that Plan in 2006, some
discernment is even as a brilliant     100 clusters achieved a certain level
light, is a moving impulse for         of activity that allowed the friends to
the felicity and well being of the     extend a similar productive pattern
dwellers of both this petty world      of activity to 1,500 clusters world-
and of the Great Beyond. Prompt-       wide. This progress then allowed for
ed by faith and invested with the      a further refinement of understand-
power of the Covenant he strives       ing in 2010, and a further advance in
for the highest good of humani-        the efforts so that now work has be-
ty and for the peace and security      gun in more than 5,000 clusters and
of mankind. (Risaliy-i-Siyasiyyih,     at least 200 clusters have reached a
provisional translation)               level where hundreds of active work-
ers have learned to engage thousands
CONCLUSION                  of participants in a pattern of Bahá'í
community life that is vibrant, mean-
These are merely a few thoughts on       ingful, and growing.
the elements of a framework for action      Among the questions that require
Toward a Framework for Action                       51

further consideration are: What are           The task, then, before the Associa-
the elements of the framework for          tion for Bahá'í Studies and the Bahá'í
action for scholarly endeavor? How is      community worldwide is to learn to
it possible to strengthen the capacity     contribute to bringing these concepts
of individuals to engage in a process      to bear in a pattern of action that be-
of drawing relevant insights from the      comes increasingly more expansive
teachings and applying them in some        and effective over time.
manner to the concerns of their fields
of interest? What structures can be                    WORKS CITED
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Toward a Framework for Action                         53

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Basalt
(Reynisfjara, Iceland)
SUSAN JEFFERS
-- Toward a Framework for Action (Used by permission of the curator)