The Baha'i Studies Listserv Mark,
You have lost me now. It is entirely unclear to me how your comments relate to my comments. Peace, Gary -----Original Message----- From: Mark A. Foster <[email protected]> To: Baha'i Studies <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, Dec 12, 2011 6:02 pm Subject: Re: Slaughters 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-624303-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@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]
