The Baha'i Studies Listserv On 12/12/2011 4:12 AM, Gary Selchert wrote: > >While I agree with you Mark that it is the revealed will of God that is wholly normative for the believer, I also believe that God holds within His own mind hidden truths not yet revealed either through nature or through Manifestations. As Jesus explains in Matthew 19, God may formally command a thing which “from the beginning...was not so,” yet God suffered it “because of the hardness of your hearts...”<<
IMO, it is significant that the divine Essence, Whom Shoghi Effendi calls a "rational Being," is repeatedly referred to in the Baha'i texts as the Primal or First Will (al-Mashiyya al-Awaliyya). We know God's rationality (His "Mind," perhaps) through His Will. > >>Right up to the present time, it seems that God’s plans in this world occasionally place the security of the Israelite people in the Levant at a higher level of priority than what we would ordinarily think of as fundamental human rights, and this occasionally does cause unease to the conscience even of people who are Firm in the Covenant. God established Israel as beneficiary and also as utterly ruthless defender of the world’s most revered and venerated piece of real estate. (cf. Numbers 31; Deuteronomy 20:16)<< God's eternal or ancient Covenant (the Cause or Command) is, to my understanding, the "sign" of the Primal Will in the succession of Prophets. --- :) Mark A. Foster, Ph.D., sociologist 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-624302-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@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]
