Hi Susan, you wrote: "That particular passage does not strike me as saying anything different than what is true of all of our elected institutions..."
It seems to me that that entire passage from the Guardian quoted by the House in its Constitution is an elucidation of the verse "God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth" which comes from Baha'u'llah's "Leaves of Paradise:" "It is incumbent upon the Trustees of the House of Justice to take counsel together regarding those things which have not outwardly been revealed in the Book, and to enforce that which is agreeable to them. God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth, and He, verily, is the Provider, the Omniscient." (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 68) It is clear from the words "Trustees of the House of Justice", and the words "those things which have not outwardly been revealed in the Book", that this passage solely applies to the Universal House of Justice. If there is any doubt that this verse is intended to also apply to subordinate bodies, the Guardian's elucidation makes clear that it does not: "They, and not the body of those who either directly or indirectly elect them.." Those who "directly" elect them are the National Spiritual Assembly members; those who "indirectly" elect them are the adult believers over 21, and the delegates to the National Conventions. So it seems clear to me that this passage from Shoghi Effendi quoted from the Dispensation by the House in its Constitution, is precisely on point, referring to the unique guidance flowing to the Universal House of Justice. Brent wrote: "Finally, Shoghi Effendi describes this guidance that flows to the elected membership as the "ultimate safeguard" of the Revelation." Susan replied: "Huh? I didn't see that phrase in the passage you cited." It's the last sentence: "They, and not the body of those who either directly or indirectly elect them, have thus been made the recipients of the divine guidance which is at once the life-blood and ultimate safeguard of this Revelation." Tu Hermano Brent __________________________________________________ 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
