A Compilaton on Scholarship

Universal House Of Justice

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• Publié par: thewyar
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 9
• Langue: English

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Title: A Compilaton on Scholarship

Author: Research Department of the Universal House of Justice

Release Date: September

Language: English

2006 [Ebook 19291]

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COMPILATON ON SCHOLARSHIP***

A Compilaton on Scholarship

by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice

Edition 1, (September 2006)

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Contents

Baha'i Terms of Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [Letter to selected National Spiritual Assemblies] . . . . . EXTRACTS FROM THE WRIT- INGS OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH AND ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ AND FROM THE LETTERS OF SHOGHI EFFENDI AND THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE ON SCHOLARSHIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. THE STATION OF SCHOLARSHIP . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Importance of Knowledge and Learning . . . . . . From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh . . . . . . . . . From the Writings and Utterances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá From a Letter Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi 1.2 Characteristics of the “truly learned” . . . . . . . . From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh . . . . . . . . . From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá . . . . . . . From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi 1.3 Scope of “Bahá’í Scholarship” . . . . . . . . . . . From a Letter Written on Behalf of the Universal House of Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 Appreciation of Scholarship . . . . . . . . . . . . From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh . . . . . . . . . From the Writings and Utterances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá From a Letter Written by Shoghi Effendi . . . . . 2. FUNCTIONS OF BAHÁ’Í SCHOLARSHIP . . . . . . 2.1 Promotion of Human Welfare . . . . . . . . . . . . From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh . . . . . . . . . From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá . . . . . . . From a Letter Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi From a Letter of the Universal House of Justice .

v 1 3 5 7 9 15 23 27 29 39 43 49 51 55 57 65 71 75 77 79 85 89 93

viii

A Compilaton on Scholarship

2.2 Defence of the Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh . . . . . . . . . 99 From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá . . . . . . . 103 From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi 107 2.3 Expansion and Consolidation of the Bahá’í Com- munity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá . . . . . . . 115 From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi 119 From a Letter Written on Behalf of the Universal House of Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 2.4 Contribution to Scholarly Development . . . . . . 133 From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi 135 From Letters Written by or on Behalf of the Universal House of Justice . . . . . . . . 141 3. GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES . . . . . 151 3.1 Spiritual Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh . . . . . . . . . 155 From the Writings and Utterances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá161 From a Letter Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi169 From Letters Written on Behalf of the Universal House of Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 3.2 “Useful” Sciences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh . . . . . . . . . 183 From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá . . . . . . . 187 From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi 191 From a Letter Written on Behalf of the Universal House of Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 3.3 Attitudes of the Scholar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh . . . . . . . . . 203 From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá . . . . . . . 213 From Letters Written by or on Behalf of the Universal House of Justice . . . . . . . . 217 3.4 Methodological Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Baha'i Terms of Use

65: “Weigh not the Book of God with such standards and sciences as are current...” . 66: “When the eyes of the people of the East were captivated by the arts...” . . . . . . From the Utterances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá . . . . . . . . . 67: “There are only four accepted methods of comprehension—that is to say,...” . . . . From Letters Written on Behalf of the Universal House of Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68: “The concern was expressed that many of the friends, holding that there...” . . . . . . . 69: “The House of Justice had hoped that the publication of the statement...” . . . . . . 70: “From your letter the House of Justice un- derstands that you desire to...” . . . . . . 71: “The principal concern of the House of Justice is over a methodological...” . . . 3.5 The Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ix

229 231 233 235 237 239 243 245 247 249 From Letters Written by or on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi 251 253 255 257 259 261

72: “Concerning the course of study you may follow:.... The Cause is...” . . . . . . . . 73: “The Guardian feels that a sound knowledge of history, including religious...” . . . . . 75: “It seems what we need now is a more profound and co-ordinated Bahá’í...” . . 76: “He was very pleased to hear you do a lot of lecturing for the Cause; this...” . . . . . . From Communications of the Universal House of Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[Letter to selected National Spiritual Assemblies]

10 February 1995 To selected National Spiritual Assemblies Dear Bahá’í Friends, We have been asked by the Universal House of Justice to send you the enclosed copy of a compilation on scholarship prepared recently at its request by the Research Department at the Bahá’í World Centre. It is the hope of the House of Justice that a study of this compilation will serve as a stimulus and a guide in the further development of Bahá’í scholarship, and that the unique features of this vital aspect of Bahá’í activity will be clarified through a perusal of its contents. The House of Justice calls upon the members of the com- munity of the Greatest Name, young and old, men and women alike, to strive to develop and offer to humanity a new model of scholarly activity along the lines set out in this compilation, animated by the spirit of inquiry into the limitless meaning of the Divine Teachings. This scholarly endeavour should be charac- terized by the welcome it offers to all who wish to be involved in it, each in his or her own way, by mutual encouragement and cooperation among its participants, and by the respect accorded to distinguished accomplishment and outstanding achievement. The spirit and approach should be far removed from the ar- rogance, contention, and exclusiveness which have too often sullied the name of scholarship in the wider society, and which have created barriers to the sound development of this worthy pursuit.