-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Ron Stephens Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 10:57 PM To: Baha'i Studies Subject: Re: Questions about Omniscience and related matters
" but He chose that phrase and image to try to communicate His reality to us." Which is what, Ron? Susan, I have no idea." Dear Ron, Then I guess He didn't do a particularly good job of communicating that reality to us.;-} I really don't know whether to take that passage from the Lawh-i Hikmat literally or not. It strikes me as rather specific to be simply symbolic, but it certainly seems more plausible that Baha'u'llah had a supernatural way of reading those books than He had a supernatural knowledge of Socrates acquitance with the Jewish Prophets. Yet, as Firouz points out, most of the time Baha'u'llah read books the same way you and I do. When push comes to shove, though, revelation itself is something beyond natural law so if you confine what God can do to that, I think revealed religion itself goes out the window. "Thanks for being patient with me. I know that, as you say, I amy not be well liked or generating much sympathy by my posting style." I'm afraid I've not been as patient as I could be. I get annoyed with two things you sometimes do. One is refuse to give others the same level of tolerance you want for yourself. The other is making assumptions about what others positions are. I can relate to your wanting a community of like-minded people. I'd like that too. You can get that in Protestant Christianity inasmuch as those Christians who think alike form separate denominations. We don't have that option in the Baha'i Faith. We have to learn to get along with those who *don't* think like we do. My own issues are slightly different from yours. You want a religion which consistently abides by your conceptions of science and reason. I'm not terribly concerned with that. What I *am* concerned is that religion not interfere in scientific and scholarly investigation in the name of some preconcieved orthodoxy. These issues may appear similiar but in practice they are quite different. For instance, you read a sacred text and try to make it 'fit' your understanding in terms of science and reason. When I read a sacred text, I set that aside and try to determine what Baha'u'llah was saying in the context of His time and place. To do otherwise would be to violate basic historical method. warmest, Susan __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu 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/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
