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Reports on Activities
The Moral Maze, the 1998 ABS(ESE) Annual Conference
Nineteenth and Twentieth 'Irfan Colloquia, 1998
Forthcoming Events and Courses — the
Wilmette Institute
The Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilisation
World Religions: An Integrated Approach
The Bahá'í Faith: A Systematic Introduction
Exploring the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh
'The Kitáb-i-Íqán and related texts'
and 'The Kitáb-i-Aqdas and related texts'
Media Watch
Evangelische Kommentare (the Lutheran Church of Germany)
A Short Encyclopaedia of the Bahá'í Faith
REPORTS ON ACTIVITIES
'THE MORAL MAZE'
THE 1988 ABS(ESE) ANNUAL CONFERENCE
31 OCTOBER -1 NOVEMBER 1998, OXFORD
As a new contributor to the Annual Conference it was with mixed feelings of trepidation and exhilaration that I approached the attractively situated Milham Conference Centre on the outskirts of Oxford. The rain was relentless and by the end of the day one might have been forgiven for conjecturing that a tidal wave of leviathan proportions had attempted to overwhelm our gathering. On the contrary, however, this sizeable meeting of friends from around the world was enveloped by a sense of sharing and of the incipient growth processes which would bear significant harvests in the years to come. My feelings of trepidation were without foundation. It was a conference of youth and age, of male and female, of established scholars and those at the beginning of their careers, of friends and strangers who became friends: It was Bahá'í.
The proceedings were opened by Barney Leith, General Secretary of the UK National Spiritual Assembly, who emphasised the contributions which scholarship can make to the progress of the Cause and in particular the theoretical and spiritual foundations which it gives to executive functions. This was followed by a presentation from the present writer on Morality and Fulfilment based on the thesis that an ethical foundation is organically necessitous to the acquisition of skills for life. Special emphasis was laid on marriage/family relationships and on the need for the revitalisation of the educational system through the re-introduction of moral values based on religion. Our final Saturday morning session was an energetic exposition from Barry Thorne of attitudes to chastity, drawing on historical examples from literature notable for their preoccupation with repressive tendencies and dominated by male orientation. The Bahá'í ethic however in this respect offers positive approaches which free us 'from untold spiritual and moral difficulties' and represents a new era of freedom from the tyranny of our animal natures.
On Saturday afternoon Babak Javid gave us a lively and comprehensive review of current scientific thinking on the aetiology of homosexuality. Long considered to be a difficult area of discussion for Bahá'ís this examination of the latest biological findings on the possible causes of homosexual behaviour was interesting and useful and clearly revealed that the Bahá'í Faith is in no way reactionary but is, on the contrary, potentially a source of inspiration and guidance in the ways in which we should approach this subject. Similarly, the paper which followed, by Nasim Mavaddat, showed that advances in biotechnology could also bear scrutiny in the light of Bahá'í principles. Although the ethical issues involved in the latest biotechnological advances, especially in relation to genetic engineering, provide us with areas of enormous challenge, this discussion also clearly showed that we are not without guidance and appropriate material for a coherent moral response.
Our afternoon session was completed by three papers, the first by Robert Ghanea-Hercock entitled 'Scientists: Mad, Bad, or God?' This concentrated on the influence which science has had on twentieth century society, especially emphasising its dominance as a result of the waning influence of religion in institutionalised forms. An important debate ensued on the possible channelling of scientific endeavour towards achieving positive results for humanity and the effects of political, military and commercial interests upon scientific orientation.
Corinne Podger on 'Doubt' and Roger Kingdon on 'Kant's Categorical Imperative' also gave us plenty of food for thought. Both encouraged us to strive towards and understanding of difficult concepts which in the first ease can lead to certitude, and in the second can lead us to a positive and consistent pathway through the moral maze. Throughout life, as we read in The Seven Valleys, doubt and certitude coexist and interact with each other. Similarly action, motivation and the search for moral law are part of an interactive process. Logical analyses and the quest for certitude both in truth and action were clearly and challengingly pursued by both speakers. Our Saturday sessions were concluded by a discussion on Bahá'í Societies, a subject which highlighted the concerns of university and college populations and aspects of Bahá'í academic life which were later broached again in the plenary session the following day.
Sunday brought with it calm after storm and was a truer reflection of the clear skies of our refreshing and stimulating conference. Undeterred by time and distance a substantial gathering reconvened, many of us further invigorated by the centenary celebrations of the Oxfordshire communities the previous evening. Our proceedings reopened with a contribution from a long honoured member of the Association, Stephen Lambden, who spoke on 'Colour Mysticism in Bábí-Bahá'í Literature', a learned and comprehensive presentation of a complex subject. Explanations of key Islamic traditions led us to an understanding of various aspects of mystical cosmology as an introduction firstly to an examination of a central theme, the 'Divine Throne', and secondly to the investigation of colour terminology employed by the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh in a large number of their Writings, terminology which reflects Islamic mystical and cosmological thought. Two particular motifs explained were the 'Snow-White Spot' and the 'Crimson Ark'.
A substantial paper followed on moral education contributed by Roger Prentice. Having outlined a number of principles derived from the Bahá'í Writings in relation to a moral focus in education we were led into an in-depth discussion of the differences between education and training, highlighting issues of openness and multi consciousness, concentration and focus. This was a practical paper and gave much consideration as to how we teach both the Faith and its principles as well as an extended curriculum.
Our final presentations were given by two gifted and energetic speakers from France, Anne-Sophie Lamine and Bernard Reber. The former gave us a thorough and meticulously researched paper on the problems raised by pluralism, diversity and values especially in a global context. As members of the Bahá'í Faith we have to assume responsibility on a global level yet at the same time use consultation as a major tool in the resolving of the inevitable conflicts of opinion, making dialogue between religion and culture necessary and possible. The final presentation brought together many threads from other examinations of moral dilemmas in the field of biotechnology as well as raising more questions concerning the relationship between politics, science and ethics. It was suggested that a 'New Deal' is necessary to enable science to face the problems raised by new technologies and to consider seriously the contribution which should be made by religion in strengthening a rational and ethical foundation to protect society against the irrational, destructive tendencies of humanity. These become dominant when humankind divorces itself from personality and fulfilment. It seems that the Bahá'í Faith with its developed understanding and expression of unity must have a significant contribution to make.
After our weekend of formal presentations we were delighted and inspired by the talk given by Mr Hassan Sabri concerning social and economic development projects. In his work and, more recently, through his involvement with BASED-UK, Mr Sabri has had extensive experience in this field and he led us on a historical journey which was informative and uplifting, outlining the heritage we have received from early teachers and exponents of the Faith and illustrating the potentially effective nature of Bahá'í principles in all areas of life. Emphasis was laid on the importance of interaction with cultural specialities, empowerment rather than imposition, so that the naturally inherited gifts and skills of each local community could be used to their highest levels of productivity and fulfilment. This was followed by the final plenary session. Though impossible to summarise or to comment on all the events and thought-provoking exercises of this weekend it was clear to all that the status of scholarship in Bahá'í thinking is a living issue. Any indications of anti-intellectualism existing within the Bahá'í Faith, against the exhortations of Bahá'u'lláh, are to be directed towards a fuller understanding of the value of the contributions which scholarship has to make to our present day society. The presentation of the Bahá'í Faith to a confused world is the vital task to all of us, and it is especially urgent to offer it to those people of capacity who are able to benefit from the depth of insight which the Faith provides on all contemporary issues. It was on a note of hope that the conference ended and a particular wish of the young among us to carry forward their aspirations and their own special awareness as Bahá'ís into the world beyond our immediate community. It is to be hoped that they will receive the encouragement and support their enthusiasm so richly deserve.
No report of this event however would be complete without due thanks being given to all those who worked so hard to make it a success, both spiritually and physically. We look forward to the next such conference with confidence and trust and return to our communities, families and places of work with a wider and deeper vision of this great Faith which a bewildered world so badly needs.
Report by Margaret Paton
Abstracts of the talks from the Annual Conference may be obtained free of charge from
Roger Kingdon, on (tel.) +44(0)1235 522641 or (e-mail)
rdkingdon@dera.gov.uk.
Please give your name and a postal address.
The Nineteenth and Twentieth 'Iran Colloquia were held October 9-12, 1998, at Louhelen Bahá'í School in Davison, Michigan. The weekend programme was the first to involve simultaneous conferences in English and Persian.
The Persian section, the nineteenth session of the 'Iran colloquium, attended by about 120 people, focussed on the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh during the Istanbul-Adrianople period (1863-68). It began Friday night with words of welcome and a presentation on the significance of the Words of God. The section included seventeen presentations by eleven speakers: Muhammad Afnan, Mu'in Afnani, Iraj Ayman, Tal'at Bassari, Manuchehr Derakhshani, Moojan Khadem, Ehsan Khoshbin, Sohrab Kourosh, Azar Movagh, Elham Rastegar-Kourosh, Habib Riazati, Nader Saiedi, and Parivash Samandari-Khoshbin. The first presentation on the 1863-68 period summarised the revelation during that period. Then presentations focussed on specific tablets, such as the Tablet of the Branch, the Kitáb-i-Badí (the longest work by Bahá'u'lláh not yet translated into English), Bahá'u'lláh's mathnavi (a poem), the Lawh-i-Sultán (the Tablet to the Shah of Persia), other tablets to the Kings, both tablets of Ahmad (Persian and Arabic), the Tablet of Bulbul-i-Faraq, the Tablet of Ra'is, the Tablet of Sarraj, the Tablet of Ridvanu'l-Iqrar, the Tablet of Ashraf, the Súriy-i-Damm, the Súriy-i-Adhan, the Súriy-i-Vidad, the Súriy-i-Dhibh and the Tablet of the Celestial Nightingale. Themed talks considered 'The Vanguard of the Revelation of Laws', 'Pantheism and the Station of the Manifestation of God', 'The Most Great Separation', 'Human Rights and Collective Security', and 'Principles of Bahá'í Theology'. Every evening a panel discussion with all the speakers of the day allowed the audience to ask questions. It was followed by Persian songs and music by Shokouh Reza'i and Manuchehr Vahman, and socialising.
The Twentieth Colloquium, in English, had an audience of 25 and fifteen presentations. Two themes were followed: the Bahá'í Faith and Christianity (three talks), and the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh during the Baghdad-Adrianople period (twelve talks). Friday night began with an 'Overview of the Bahá'í View of Christianity' by Robert Stockman. Saturday morning had presentations by Gary Selchert on 'A Comparative Study of Christianity and the Bahá'í Faith' and Ted Brownstein on How Bahá'u'lláh Taught Christians: The Rhetoric and Pedagogy of Bahá'u'lláh's Writings to Followers of Jesus Christ'. The rest of the weekend examined tablets revealed by Bahá'u'lláh during the Istanbul-Adrianople period (1863-68), including many of the same tablets presented in the Persian Section by the same speakers.
Each speaker had sixty minutes to present. A half-hour break for refreshments and informal discussion followed. Special sessions in both Persian and English sections of the programme were devoted to the sesquicentennial of the Badasht Conference. Special programmes on the same themes of the conference were conducted for the 25 children who had accompanied their parents to Louhelen.
The 'Iran Colloquium was begun in 1993; currently English and Persian conferences are held annually in both North America and Europe. ''Iran' is a Persian word referring to mystical, theological, and spiritual knowledge. The conferences are sponsored by the Haj Mehdi Arjmand Memorial Fund, which was established in 1992 to honour Haj Mehdi Arjmand (1861-1941), a Persian Bahá'í who became very well known for his profound knowledge of the Bible, Qur'an, and the Bahá'í scriptures. The purpose of the Fund is to foster study of the scriptures of the world's religions from a Bahá'í perspective. The abstract booklet (36 pages) is available for $3 by writing the Research Office, Bahá'í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, USA. Cheques should be made out to the 'Bahá'í Services Fund'. Eventually many of the papers will be published in a series of Arjmand-sponsored volumes. Next year's 'Iran colloquia in English and Persian will also be held at Louhelen over the Columbus Day weekend.
Report by Robert Stockman
Are you A SCHOLAR in search of a subject?
Seek no more!
See Peter Khan's article in the
Bahá'í Studies Review
Volume 3, Number 2
The Wilmette Institute is pleased to announce its course offerings for the 1999 and 2000 school years. The four-year 'Spiritual Foundations' course is active and is taking new students. As well, we are now offering fifteen distance education ('correspondence') courses in 1999-2000, up from three in 1998. We are offering courses on Bahá'í history, Bahá'í perspectives on the major world religions, a systematic introduction to the Bahá'í Faith, and courses on the Kitáb-i-Íqán and the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Brief summaries of the courses follow.
Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilisation is a four-year university-level program of systematic study of the Bahá'í Faith, parts of which are accreditable at the university level. The program is open to Bahá'ís aged eighteen or older with a high school degree or equivalent. Its purpose is to raise up a new generation of knowledgeable, articulate teachers and administrators of the Bahá'í Faith by imparting knowledge; developing various skills, including teaching skills; inculcating a spirit of service; and fostering Bahá'í identity and a sense of Bahá'í community.
DATES:
Preparatory Home Study:
May 1 - July 15 1999
Residential Study: July
17 - August 6 1999
Home Study: September 11999
- March 31 2000
COST:
See website for details
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION:
March30, 1999.
These seven courses introduce Bahá'ís to the origin, founders, development, teachings, practices, and followers of the various world faiths. They are studied as integral parts of the ever-developing religion of God, not as isolated phenomena. Since the Bahá'í perspective on specific teachings or movements is often not defined, the student will be able to participate in the effort to explore and discover the Bahá'í principles relevant to study of other religions. The series uses some of the techniques of the scholarly study of religions (often called comparative religion). The courses are 'formally organized' and 'systematic'; they are designed to be equivalent to a college evening course. These seven courses do not need to be taken in order and have no prerequisites - depending on personal interests and time, students may pick and choose which ones to take.
DATES:
Hinduism: January 1 - February
28, 1999
Judaism: March 1 - April
30, 1999
Buddhism: May 1 - June 30
1999
Christianity: September
1 - October 31, 1999
Chinese Religions: November
1 - December 31, 1999
Zoroastrianism: January
1 - February 29 2000
Islam: March 1 - May 31,
2000.
COST:
$100 per course;
$80 per course per student
if a local study group is formed
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION:
Preferably, at least two
weeks prior to start of each course. Late applications may be considered.
'The Bahá'í Faith: A Systematic Introduction' is designed to give the student a thorough exposure to the history and teachings of the Bahá'í Faith, the lives of its Central Figures, and the development of its community. It is particularly aimed at students who want to study a religion at a college level of difficulty, both Bahá'ís wishing to acquire a systematic foundation in their religion and non-Bahá'ís wishing to understand the basics of the Faith. The course will include readings, discussion on a listserver, conference calls, and completion of learning projects of the student's choosing. It will be offered once per year.
DATES:
June 1-August 31, 1999,
June 1-August 31, 2000
COST:
Tuition: $150, or
$120 per student if joining
as a member of a local study group.
The Bahá'í Faith is the best example of a 'Religion of the Book'. Because its Founder Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892) lived in the modern world, when there was widespread literacy, printing presses, cheaply available paper, and relatively rapid transportation and communication, He relied extensively on writing to disseminate His teachings. He wrote in Arabic, Persian, and a unique mixture of both. A century after Bahá'u'lláh's passing only a small fraction of His writings has been translated into English. Through English translations of the Bahá'í revelation, summaries of some works, descriptions, and commentaries, the writings of Bahá'u'lláh' will be surveyed. This study is broken up into four distinct courses, covering the years 1853-63; 1863-68; 1868-73; and 1874-92. These courses do not need to be taken in order and have no prerequisites - depending on personal interests and time, students may pick and choose which courses to take.
DATES:
Course 1, 1853-63: January
1-June 30, 1999
Course 2, 1863-68: July
1-December 31, 1999
Course 3, 1868-73: January
1-June 30 2000
Course 4, 1874-92: July
1-December 31 2000
COST:
Tuition: $225, or $180 per
student if joining as a member of a local study group.
Study materials and special
compilations included at no extra cost.
These two courses each study one of Bahá'u'lláh's major books, the Kitáb-i-Íqán and the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, as well as some related texts. These courses are not connected: one does not need to sign up for both or take them in any particular order, and there are no prerequisites. The course on the Íqán looks not only at its historical context and its content, but at related texts such as Some Answered Questions. The course on the Aqdas involves reading the Most Holy Book and related texts both chronologically and topically.
DATES:
The Kitáb-i-Íqán:
April 11999 - Sept.30 1999
The Kitáb-i-Aqdas:
Nov. 11999 - April 30 2000
COST:
Tuition: $225, or $180 per
student joining as a member of a local study group.
Study materials and special
compilations included at no extra cost.
The students who have taken our courses have found them highly instructive and a thoroughly positive experience; some comments can be seen on the website. We sincerely hope that these courses will be of interest to many of you, and we look forward to receiving your applications! For further information, please visit <http://www.usbnc.org/wilmette/>, or write to the Registrar, Heather Gorman, at <Wilmette_Institute@usbnc.org>.
Contributed by Jonah Winters
MEDIA WATCH
A Protestant monthly magazine, 'Evangelische Kommentare', Monatsschrift zum Zeitgeschehen in Kirche und Gesellschaft, published in its issue of September 1998 articles on the religious minorities in Germany. The editor pleaded for a 'culture of dialogue and tolerance'. Members of the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hinduist and Bahá'í communities had the opportunity to inform the reader about their experiences with the Christian majority. A translation from the German of the article on the Bahá'í Faith follows. The title and subtitle of this article were formulated by the editor.
Rays of the same Light: The Bahá'ís are committed partners in the dialogue of the religions
Christopher Sprung
(Editor's note) The German Bahá'í community is a small but lively one. After it succeeded in correcting incorrect representations that had been circulated about it among the general public, the Bahá'ís have more recently been appreciated as religious partners, by the churches as well Christopher Sprung of the German Bahá'í community describes the situation of a religious minority.
The Bahá'ís are a small minority within the spectrum of religious communities in Germany. Small religious communities usually meet with scepticism and mistrust; they are often quickly dismissed as 'sects'. The heated debate about the sects in the last few years, as well as the actions of many 'sect experts' has intensified this tendency. To be sure, a religion existing in the diaspora has always had an uncomfortable position, and this is still true in a secular state with a constitution that guarantees religious freedom.
Thus it is not rare for the Bahá'í religion to be labelled by church officials as a 'sect'. Yet it is almost undisputed among scholars of comparative religion that the Bahá'í Faith is not a 'sect', and not a sect of Islam either, but an original prophetic religion. In 1980, for example, the 'Theologische Realenzyklopädie' (Theological Encyclopædia) has included the Bahá'í Faith among the world religions.
The 'Evangelisehe Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen (EZW) (The Lutheran Centre for Questions of World View and Ideologies) has called the Bahá'í Faith a 'post-Islamic world religion' in its 'Materialdienst (an information journal sent regularly to Lutheran churches).
At meetings and in publications the Bahá'ís were given the impression that many of the officially recognized churches regard the Bahá'í' Faith as a post-Christian 'foreign religion'. whose theological paradigm of the mystical oneness of religions, the cyclical recurrence of revelation and the story of salvation as a process that moves forward into the future as a paradigm incompatible with the central teachings of Christian dogma.
From this point of view the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892) is a 'skandalon'. a 'stumbling block' (cf. 1. Cor. 1, 23). However, it seems that it is not the mere existence of a community with a universal claim to truth that irritates the churches so much as the communities missionary' activities, which question the Christian monopoly on religious truth. The Bahá'ís have had quite different experiences with active Christians and church officials; however, more recently they have been mainly positive. In the post-war period, even until the Seventies, the opinion of Lutheran theologians, who were influenced by the dialectic theology of Karl Barth (Roman Catholic theologians hardly mentioned the Faith), had been one of brusque rejection, because in their opinion there simply could never be anything in common 'between Christ and Belial, between light and darkness'.
Inquisitorial Sect Experts
Today such statements are rare; however, there are still clergymen,
irritated by Bahá'í meetings and events in their city, who
warn their community about this religion. And this always has terrible
effects on the Bahá'ís in the small country communities.
One particular problem is the work of the official church sect experts, who have often given distorted information about what Bahá'ís believe and who have placed the Bahá'í in the same category as 'dangerous sects' or even accused them of being 'enemies of democracy'. For a long time they had taken their information from a publication by Francesco Ficicchia 'Der Bahá'ísmus - Religion der Zukunft?' Stuttgart, (1981) It has now been widely acknowledged that this book is biassed and of a pseudo-scientific nature.
The Bahá'í religion is described in it in such an ugly, repulsive way that the reader wonders how something like this could ever find followers. The Herder Publishing Trust asked the same author to write articles for entries pertaining to the Bahá'í Faith in both of its encyclopædias. And finally, the article on the Bahá'í Religion which appeared in the 'Handbuch Religiöse Gemeinschaften' (Manual of Religious Communities), published by the Lutheran Church Office, was based on the theories of this author. These publications, (which already had impacts on scholarly study of the Bahá'í Faith) seriously damaged the reputation of the Bahá'í Faith in the whole of the German-speaking world.
The Bahá'í community tried to enter into a dialogue to explain the matter with the particular publishers. In order to avoid religious controversy the Bahá'í community for a long time hesitated to take a public stand against the accusations that tried to put the community in a similar category as fascist, seditious groups. In the long run, however, a critical refutation Ficicchia's book was unavoidable. ln the meantime this refutation has been published (U. Schaefer/N. Towfigh, U. Gollmer: 'Desinformation als Methode. Die. Bahá'ísmus-Monographie des F. Ficicchia', Hildesheim, Olms-Verlag 1995). In reviews by scholars, but also in a review in the 'Materialdienst' of the EZW (10/1996) the high quality of the scholarship in this work was acknowledged. Thereafter, numerous sect experts of both churches assured the Bahá'ís that they would now strive to give correct information about the Bahá'í Faith. Nevertheless, some still have problems dealing with the Bahá'ís: in one very recent case, one sect expert from a church said he had no time to read such a comprehensive book as the above-mentioned refutation. The information which he distributed about the Bahá'ís led to a boycott of the Bahá'ís. The sale of a piece of land which was about to be sold to a Bahá'í was prevented by the mayor of a city, because he did not want to have anything sold to 'members of a sect'. Even a state 'sect information centre' joined in and sent copies of Ficicchia's articles to all the youth welfare offices in the whole of that German federal state. Meanwhile the Ministry of that state has expressed its regret for this incident to the Bahá'í community.
In the last few decades, however, the churches have renounced their traditional attitude of irreconcilability towards other religions. The Second Vatican Council with its statement concerning religious freedom brought about a fundamental new orientation. The interfaith dialogue which then began and which has found a firm foundation particularly in the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP), the 'Guidelines for Dealing with People of Other Religions,' issued by the Ecumenical Council of Churches in 1977, and last but not least, the fact that in Europe, members of other religions are now living in our midst, have caused many Christians to change their way of thinking, and that is also expressed in a more positive attitude towards the Bahá'ís. Fear of contact with the Bahá'í community was diminished, and so today Bahá'ís and Christians often have contact with each other, a situation that was unthinkable in the past. Some examples: Bahá'ís are active in WCRP and this brings them more and more in contact with active Christians and open-minded clergy of both confessions. Increasingly, Bahá'ís are invited to talk about their Faith or to give their opinions on different matters from the viewpoint of their Faith at religious congresses, interfaith events, or before church communities. Occasionally Bahá'ís are permitted to celebrate their religious feasts in church halls. A memorial service held on the occasion of the execution of a Bahá'í in Iran because of apostasy (falling away from the Islamic Faith) was held in a church. Functions to which Bahá'ís invite representatives of the churches are by no means seldom. In a book on 'Religions in the Holy Land' which was printed with the 'imprimatur' (express permission) of the bishop, the contribution on the Bahá'í religion was written by a Bahá'í author. It can also be clearly stated that the Bahá'ís enjoy religious freedom in the Federal Republic, they do not have any problems with state institutions and are recognized by even the highest state authorities.
In most of the states of the Federal Republic the pupils who are Bahá'ís are allowed to stay home on Bahá'í holy days. The Constitutional Court decided in a decision of 5th February 1991 that as far as the legal structures of the Bahá'í community are 'ius divinum' (divine law) for the Bahá'ís, according to Article 4 of the Basic Constitutional Law these structures take priority over the laws in the German Civil Code concerning the formation of associations. The President of the Federal Republic, Herzog, received a delegation of the Bahá'í community in July of this year, and Chancellor Kohl honoured the contribution of the Bahá'ís to interfaith dialogue on the occasion of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the National Spiritual Assembly in May 1998. The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and the parties represented in the Bundestag, as well as human rights organisations, have been actively engaged for years in putting an end to the persecution of the Bahá'ís in Iran.
The Bahá'ís are deeply committed to the dialogue with other religions; it is an obligation that was given to them by the Founder of their religion. The religions of the earth, said Bahá'u'lláh, have proceeded from 'one Source, and are the rays of one Light'. Thus He commands His followers: 'Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.'
Living love
Despite Germany's Christian tradition new religious approaches should
be welcomed by the people as an enrichment and not regarded as a threat.
The responsibility of the religions for overcoming the urgent problems
of mankind will only be accepted by people, when the religions reflect
their teachings of love and ethics in action. And finally, the Bahá'ís
again and again experience that they have something m common with Christians
who have a firm viewpoint in coming to terms with modern times: the belief
in a divine Creator, who reveals himself to mankind and who shows them
the way to a life of fulfilment.
Contributed by Udo Schaefer
Gayle Morrison, for the Editorial Board of A Short Encyclopaedia of the Bahá'í Faith (Wilmette, USA), writes (April 1998):
Our last letter to you, written in November 1997, outlined a publishing plan involving the production of a series of interim volumes or fascicles and suggested that further information about a production schedule would be forthcoming after a meeting of the Editorial Board scheduled for February 1998. The Editorial Board began to move from an assessment to a production phase. The editorial team and the Board as a whole continued to focus on preparing for publication a selection of articles beginning with the letters A and B. Work was also begun on design elements required for a new publication, and the Board established the goal of completing an initial volume in 1998.
Meanwhile, as has been the case since the project's inception, the editors continued to maintain active consultation with both the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and the Universal House of Justice. Recent consultation with both institutions during the transition from the assessment to the publication phase resulted in a changed vision of the series of interim volumes. These are no longer envisioned to be produced sequentially, starting at the beginning of the alphabet. Instead, the first volume will include articles on important aspects of the Faith, unrestricted by the letter of the alphabet with which they begin, and subsequent volumes will contain a selection of articles approved for possible publication in A Short Encyclopaedia of the Bahá'í Faith, also drawn from all parts of the alphabet. No country articles will he included in these interim volumes, at least for the present.
Because the articles on topics at the beginning of the alphabet have received greater attention both in the past year and in 1993-94, when it was hoped that an initial volume might be produced, the editors realize that consideration of a wider range of articles will take time. New decisions will have to be made about the nature and the precise contents of the interim volumes, and work will have to begin anew on a revised selection of articles for initial publication. Further consultation with the National Assembly and the Universal House of Justice will also be necessary. Thus it is not possible at this time to estimate when a new publication plan will be announced. The editors are confident, however, that this new concept will prove to be a workable solution to some of the difficulties that have delayed production of a definitive work and that it will lead, in due course, to the comprehensive reference work that is so greatly needed.
Contributed by Seena Fazel
The Association for Bahá'í Studies (English-Speaking Europe) exists to promote the study of the Bahá'í Faith, in all its aspects, and to develop our understanding of contemporary knowledge and contemporary society through the intelligent application of Bahá'í teachings. We publish a quarterly newsletter (the Associate), an annual journal (the Bahá'í Studies Review), and a web site. We have Special Interest Groups for in depth study, and we oversee the development of the university Bahá'í Societies in the UK. We support one another in the never-ending but invigorating task of establishing a relationship between thought and belief. Interested?
Get involved.
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