The Baha'i Studies Listserv On 11/26/2011 1:08 AM, Matt Haase wrote:
I don't know how I would describe my views on the Godhead. I would say that I think "God" is unknowable in the sense that creation can not fully comprehend the creator, but that it can still have a relationship with it. In Sufic interpretations of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad is believed to be God's first creation, and that everything else (including us) was created through the "light" of Muhammad. Thus, all of creation is a manifestation and an expression of the Muhammadan Reality. If I misunderstood this, someone please correct me. I don't want to misrepresent what they say. This is just how I understand what I have researched.
Yes, the emphasis on the nUr (light) of Muhammad is, these days, particularly common among the Naqshbandi Sufis (Shaykh Nazim). They focus on that "light" in their meditations.
I think Baha'is would say something similar about Baha'u'llah, that Baha'u'llah is the epitome of creation and that creation experiences God through him. Is this related to critical realism?
Critical realism is indirect realism. According to Bhaskar, reality ("essence") is directly unknowable. We observe reality through "actuality." That would be something like attributes or representations.
From that standpoint, God is unknowable. We learn about Him through His individualized Attributes as Prophets.
--- Regards, Mark A. Foster, Ph.D. 29 domains: http://markfoster.net Two books: http://bahaifaith.info Clinical: http://fosterservices.com __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-621664-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu 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]
