David writes: " I originally assumed that House of Justice members would be required to undertake the onerous task of familiarising themselves with everything in the Writings, included all that is untranslated, in order to make their decisions. For a reason I do not understand they are obviously not required to do this. "
David,
I am sure you have read Shoghi Effendi's comments on what the qualifications are to be elected to Baha`i office - including the House. If Shoghi Effendit did not require such massive knowledge, why should we?
Regards,
Scott
David Friedman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
David Friedman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
There's a question I've asked before, which I'm considering asking the House of Justice about. I thought I'd pose it here again to see what answers I might get this time and whether people think my question is a good one to ask. I was at a talk by Ali Nakhjavani a couple days ago, and he explained how the House makes decisions. He said that the research department finds all passages in the Writings that have direct or indirect bearing on a question. These passages are often going to be from untranslated Writings, which House of Justice members are not familiar with. As we know, the Universal House of Justice is not a prophetic body, and their ability to make the right decision is dependent on getting the right information. I originally assumed that House of Justice members would be required to undertake the onerous task of familiarising themselves with everything in the Writings, included all that is untranslated, in order to make their decisions. For a reason I do not understand they are obviously not required to do this. In not doing this I would think surely the possibility is opened up for making wrong decisions because of potential errors from the fallible research department. Since the research department are not infallible, why couldn't they accidentally forget to include certain critical passages from the Writings on a subject the House asked them for information on, thus resulting in the House either making a ruling that IS revealed in the book or an incorrect ruling? Certainly this would not make the House of Justice fallible, but I don't see why this couldn't happen? Also, someone on the list told us that the House of Justice, even today, still gets sent new Tablets and such from believers. Since the House is not a prophetic body, could they not make a decision, only to find later that some previously unseen part of the Writings contradicted this decision? How does the House of Justice know that they are making a decision on something not outwardly revealed in the Book, given that "the Book" isn't, and never will be, entirely in their possession?Regards,David
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