The Baha'i Studies Listserv :"previous obtuseness" i would offer to u that the most perfectly obtuse angle is the best mirror, and to become mirrors is a worthy goal...:-) i am a simple beast of the field, and so, organise things with clumsy paws. if it cannot be written on a cave wall or shown to a child..how real can it be? shoghi effendi is reported in a pilgrim's note to have elucidated this issue of speration...by being both shogh effendi and Guardian, in one of my favorite reads, which imho informs the Guardian of what the Guardian must infallibly discuss in Dispensation.. i offer you some hilites, to perhaps, if u wish, have more curiosity. :"KEITH INTERRUPTED:
We are told in the Will and Testament that your shade is the shade that shadoweth all mankind, and that to dispute with you is to dispute with God etc. Surely after reading these words we cannot consider you just an ordinary human being. SHOGHI EFFENDI: But I am. I am a human being like you or anybody else and I have no divine station. I am under the protection of Bahá'u'lláh. The master promised to protect me from error, likewise the House of Justice. No one is justified in lokking upon me as other than human. KEITH:Your word is infallible when it comes to interpreting the text. SHOGHI EFFENDI: Yes, the GUARDIAN alone can determine whether any piece of legislature [sic] can be undertaken or whether the condition is covered in the holy text. It si promised that the Guardian is protected by God from making mistakes in these decisions. But apart from that I am like anyone else. KEITH: I have been teaching that it is wrong to think of you as a human being. I have been teaching that you know the end from the beginning and have a spiritual status that endows you with superhuman knowledge. S.E. This is entirely wrong. I am a human being endowed with the unfailing protection of Bahá'u'lláh. To claim for me a station different from that of humanity or to consider me endowed with superhuman powers is quite unjustified. For example I have no idea what is going on in America at present. I must depend upon information for such knowledge. Undoubtedly you speak with unchallengable authority and we must consider your words authoritative and infallible. S.E. (Smiling) I leave that to your own judgement. In your human affairs I make suggestions and recommendations. When I interpret the Words I am guided by Bahá'u'lláh. Keith: Why does Abdul Baha call down the fierce indignation of God upon those who disobey you? S.E. This is only when I insist or command, then my interpretation is infallible. The believers must distinguish between what I recommend or definitely state. Keith: Can you imagine the friends refusing to follow your recommendation? S.E. They must discriminate. KEITH: There is a picture of you in the Bahai hall at Karachi labelled "His Holiness, Shoghi Effendi". Shoghi Effendi (emphatically): Then they must take it down. Keith: Oh my, I should not have mentioned this! Lorol: Why not if it is wrong? Shoghi Effendi: I have requested, suggested, but now the time has come when I must insist in no unmistakable terms that these things must cease. For instance, this is what we have been speaking about when you say I am infallible, that is when I insist. In this I am infallible. http://bahai-library.com/file.php?file=ransom-kehler_haifa_talks __________________________________________________ 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] Or 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 (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
