Firouz,
At 05:34 AM 1/23/2005, you wrote:
>>I thought the House is infallible on matters of legislation. Are you saying
>>they are infallible on every decision they make?<<
If I might throw in my 2¢ here. To my understanding, the infallibility of the
House of Justice refers to its legislative decisions based on an elucidation of
the Text. Personally, I understand "legislation" as dealing, broadly, with
matters of praxis.
Yesterday I suggested that the approval of documents, such as _Century of
Light_, might not fall under the legislative "magisterium" of the House of
Justice. I would also question whether certain of its own papers and letters,
those which do not focus on praxis, would be included in its legislative
authority.
The House of Justice can clearly do what it wants. However, the *guarantees* of
protection ('ismat/ma'sum) against impurity or sinning (failing to conform to
the Will of God) may be absent when it exceeds its legislative magisterium.
Shoghi Effendi himself distinguished between statements which *clearly* came
under divine protection. In summarizing various comments made by the Guardian
over the years, the Universal House of Justice, in a letter dealing with errors
in _God Passes By_, wrote:
"The infallibility of the Guardian is confined to matters which are related
strictly to the Cause and interpretations of the Teachings; he is not an
infallible authority on other subjects, such as economics, science, etc."
http://bahai-library.com/uhj/infallibility.guardian.html
Regards, Mark A. Foster • http://markfoster.net • [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger." ---- Abbie Hoffman
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