> 1. The Guardian stated that he is not infallible in economics or science. Somehow, "history" got added to that list.
Dear Brent, The way it got 'added' to the list is because of the letter which was written to the House of Justice asking about historical errors in the Guardians writings and the House responding by quoting those letters, and citing instances where both the Guardian and Abdu'l-Baha made errors in historical fact. "And I think that the guidance from the Guardian and the House about not limiting the sphere of the Guardian's infallibility should be kept in mind here." I think you are taking that statement out of context, Brent. Let's look at the entire passage: ""'... It is not for individual believers to limit the sphere of the Guardian's authority, or to judge when they have to obey the Guardian and when they are free to reject his judgment. Such an attitude would evidently lead to confusion and to schism. The Guardian being the appointed interpreter of the Teachings, it is his responsibility to state what matters which, affecting the interests of the Faith, demand on the part of the believers, complete and unqualified obedience to his instructions.'" (Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 311) This clearly has to do with people raising questions as to authority of the Guardian's decisions and whether or not we have to obey them. I frankly, don't see how this applies here. >> 4. Shoghi Effendi many times uses the Dawn-breakers as a source for his own history of the Faith, throughout God Passes By. What's good enough for him, is good enough for me. That's just me as an individual believer, and perhaps a believer who is a professional historian would take a different view. And that is where the tire hits the road, isn't it? As you know, Hand of the Cause Mr. Khadem once asked me not to write anything that contradicted either Dawnbreakers or God Passes By. I didn't feel I could make the promise and still maintain my integrity as a historian. So I asked the House about this. I wrote: "this issue came up for me in the course of a conversation I had with Mr. ... years ago when I received an award from the Association of Baha'i Mr. ... was emphatic that I should never write anything which might contradict things in any way either the Dawnbreakers or God Passes By. I did not feel I could in good conscience give him the assurance he asked me for because it was my understanding that historical matters needed to rest upon evidence rather than authority. Is this insistence on relying upon original sources and giving precedence to evidence over authority what the House of Justice has in mind when it refers to "materialistic methodologies?"" The House responded with the following: "The House of Justice recognizes that, at the other extreme, there are Baha'is who, imbued by what they conceive to be loyalty to Baha'u'llah, cling to blind acceptance of what they understand to be a statement of the Sacred Text. This shortcoming demonstrates an equally serious failure to grasp the profundity of the Baha'i principle of the harmony of faith and reason. The danger of such an attitude is that it exalts personal understanding of some part of the Revelation over the whole, leads to illogical and internally inconsistent applications of the Sacred Text, and provides fuel to those who would mistakenly characterize loyalty to the Covenant as "fundamentalism". " > " The fact that he so copiously annotated it with quotations from impartial historical and diplomatic sources shows that he regarded it as a work of authentic history, and wished us to do so, too." Since many of those footnotes contain contradictory materials one might conclude that he also wanted us to read it critically. But of course, it is authentic. No one is suggesting otherwise. But that only tell us it isn't pseudepigraphic or being credited to the wrong person like the Naqtu'l-Kaf. warmest, Susan __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
