>"But many, if not most, Baha'i's, understanding of statements by the Central Figures is that They (and the Universal House of Justice) are infallible, so as to mean that they can't make a mistake, literally."<
To those who think this way I offer these thoughts.
Being infallible is not the same as being omniscient. It is clear from the Will and Testament that the Universal House of Justice is freed from all error, but if the information they receive is inaccurate, then it is possible they will say something that
is not in accord with the facts. For example, in the Ridvan 2005 message, the House wrote: "Altogether, more than 200,000 worldwide have completed Book 1 of the Ruhi Institute,..."
(The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 162, 2005)
Where do you think the House got that number "more than
200,000"?
Do you think Baha'u'llah told them what number to write? Is it not more likely
that they relied on reports from around the world for this information? And therefore, if some of those reports were inaccurate, it is possible that the true number is
199,995, that is, less than 200,000. If it were determined that the true number was less than 200,000, do you think that would make the House of Justice fallible?
I say no. The factual accuracy of a number is irrelevant to the infallibility of the House of Justice. Because most of the time when the House makes a statement of fact
like that, they are relying on information that others give them. If the information is correct, then the House's statement is factually accurate. If the information they receive is faulty, then, it is possible the House might say something that does not
accurately reflect the
facts. But that is a fault of the information, not of the House.
Whever the House of Justice makes a statement of fact, I think it is always with the
implied condition "Provided the information we have received is accurate and complete."
As I see it, the Universal House of Justice is always right, in the light of the information available to them. But they are not omniscient. If better information comes along, the House may decide to change a decision. That does not indicate that the first decision was wrong, it does indicate the first batch of information was not accurate.
Tim Nolan
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.
The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by the Johnson County Community College ("JCCC") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify JCCC by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you.
__________________________________________________
You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected]
Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st
Baha'i Studies is available through the following:
Mail - mailto:[email protected]
Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/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/[email protected]
New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
