Hi, Alex
Regarding:
"...religious truth is not absolute but relative..."
Shoghi Effendi
You wrote:
>>For the sake of dispassionate argument, I disagree with this quote by Shoghi Effendi. What could he possibly have meant by saying this?<<
Here is Shoghi Effendi's statement in some context:
"Far from the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar offering such a spectacle of incoherent and confused sectarian observances and rites, a condition wholly incompatible with the provisions of the Aqdas and irreconcilable with the spirit it inculcates, the central House of Baha'i worship, enshrined within the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, will gather within its chastened walls, in a serenely spiritual atmosphere, only those who, discarding forever the trappings of elaborate and ostentatious ceremony, are willing worshipers of the one true God, as manifested in this age in the Person of Baha'u'llah. To them will the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar symbolize the fundamental verity underlying the Baha'i Faith, that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is not final but progressive."
-- Shoghi Effendi, Baha'i Administration, p.185
and:
"Its [the Baha'i Revelation's] teachings revolve around the fundamental principle that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is progressive, not final. Unequivocally and without the least reservation it proclaims all established religions to be divine in origin, identical in their aims, complementary in their functions, continuous in their purpose, indispensable in their value to mankind."
-- Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p.57
To my understanding, religious truth is entirely relative to what has been revealed by a particular Prophet:
"Know thou that whoso seeketh to scale the summits of the divine mysteries must needs strive to the utmost of his power and capacity for his Faith, that the pathway of guidance may be made clear unto him. And should he encounter One Who layeth claim to a Cause from God, and Who holdeth from His Lord a testimony beyond the power of men to produce, he must needs follow Him in all that He pleaseth to proclaim, command and ordain, even were He to decree the sea to be land, or to pronounce earth to be heaven, or that the former lieth above the latter or below it, or to ordain any change or transformation, for He, verily, is aware of the celestial mysteries, the unseen subtleties, and the ordinances of God."
-- Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p.23
As I see it, "religious truth" is simply a name for what has been revealed by a particular Prophet. That truth is relative (and progressive) to each Prophet. It is also horizontally and vertically relative to individuals and societies:
"It is clear to thine Eminence that all the variations which the wayfarer in the stages of his journey beholdeth in the realms of being, proceed from his own vision. We shall give an example of this, that its meaning may become fully clear: Consider the visible sun; although it shineth with one radiance upon all things, and at the behest of the King of Manifestation bestoweth light on all creation, yet in each place it becometh manifest and sheddeth its 19 bounty according to the potentialities of that place. For instance, in a mirror it reflecteth its own disk and shape, and this is due to the sensitivity of the mirror; in a crystal it maketh fire to appear, and in other things it showeth only the effect of its shining, but not its full disk. And yet, through that effect, by the command of the Creator, it traineth each thing according to the quality of that thing, as thou observest.
"In like manner, colors become visible in every object according to the nature of that object. For instance, in a yellow globe, the rays shine yellow; in a white the rays are white; and in a red, the red rays are manifest. Then these variations are from the object, not from the shining light. And if a place be shut away from the light, as by walls or a roof, it will be entirely bereft of the splendor of the light, nor will the sun shine thereon."
-- Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p.18
Via moderna, Mark A. Foster • http://markfoster.net
... since [a] word is said to be common, it can be called
a universal. - Wm. of Ockham, Summa Logicae, part I
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