Tim Nolan wrote:
I assume you meant to type "don't agree with facts".
Yes, thank you.
As I see it, Abdu'l Baha was in a category different from the rest of
us, and different from the House of Justice. He combined humanness
with superhuman knowledge and perfection.
Forgive me if I seem to be dense about this, but how do we know
Abdul-Baha possessed superhuman knowledge when he couldn't discern
factual errors?
However, even He sometimes made statements which relied on
information someone had reported to Him. If the information was
inaccurate or incomplete, then the Master might have written something
which was not in accord with facts.
Yes, there are a number of instances in which I think this is correct.
For example, Abdul-Baha wrote in Secret of Divine Civilization that
Voltaire and other philosophers of the Enlightenment were atheists, when
Voltaire's own words dispute this, but the belief that European
philosophers were atheists based on their promotion of secularism was a
common misunderstanding in the Arab world.
This does not reflect at all His infallibility, it shows nothing more than
the need for accurate information.
Can you explain this a little more. It would seem that the use of
inaccurate information contradicts infallibility in all statements.
On the other hand, it is a mistake, in my opinion, to merely say that
Abdu'l Baha was wrong. There is always wisdom to be learned from
Him, even if His words are counter to the facts.
Yes, I agree with you here. Even where Abdul-Baha is factually wrong,
it does not necessarily take away from what he was saying because he was
more concerned with spirituality than with the mere facts of material
existence. I think I understand Abdul-Baha's "conferred infallibility"
related to being the Head of the Faith, but I am not sure where those
words come from. But I am more than a little puzzled about explaining
Abdul-Baha's errors, especially related to science, to nonBahais. To
maintain that he was infallible understand all circumstances makes no
sense and seems to elevate him to a Manifestation of God, a station he
repeatedly denied. Marleen
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