Expert: Ron Price - 11/14/2009

Question
Hello, how are you today?

My name is Mario, I'm a new Baha'i, and have really enjoyed browsing your site.

My question is this: "How do Baha'is believe that God speaks to them?"

I know that God speaks to man through the Universal House of Justice, the Manifestations, and that even some dreams can be interpreted as messages of God; however, do some Baha'is believe that God ever directly tries to communicate with them symbolically?

The reason that I ask this is because I was recently visiting a Christian friend of mine for the weekend, and decided to attend his church service that Sunday. When I was there, I found that the pastor and a number of individuals from the church were testifying that God had spoken to them in a number of symbolic ways.

For example, the pastor kept mentioning that he was seeing the number "3" in different places, and went into a long story of what he thought that God was telling him, and the significance of the number "3".
In a second instance a woman showed the congregation a statuette of a woman embracing her daughter. This statuette had fallen off of a table in her house by accident, and when it hit the ground only the face had fallen off. She then went into a long interpretation of what that meant, and what God was telling that whole congregation though that small event.

I have a hard time believing that God is speaking to me all day through minute symbols. If he was, then how could I ever know if my interpretation of these minor events was correct? I would be able to interpret them however I please.

On the other hand, god is omnipotent and has the ability to interfere with our daily lives at any moment. However, if God were to do this, do you think that this would be an assault on our free-will?

Thinking on this is very confusing for me. We have the Universal House of Justice to look to for guidance, an abundance of scripture that has been revealed through the Manifestations, and even some dreams that may have symbolic interpretation, but are there any other ways that Baha'is believe that God individually guides his servants beyond this?

Thank you for your time.


Answer
CONTEXT FOR THIS ROLE OF EXPERT AT THE “ABOUT SITE”

Note: Before reading my ‘answer’ to your question, please read the 1500 word framework below, a framework that trys to place my remarks in a general and relevant context.   If I don’t answer your question immediately, I will try to get back to you within 24 hours.

The function of an expert at this site is to act within the terms of reference as outlined by the About moderators.  These terms of reference specifically define the general objectives and methods of an expert.  I see my role as serving the specific need of an individual who writes to this site with a question and who is seeking an answer to that question.  I am not here to dictate arbitrarily to anyone, but rather to serve as one of the multitude of unifying factors at work in the Baha’i Faith.  I try to be courteous and tactful on the one hand and to respond in a frank and honest way on the other in dealing with questions and comments that come in. Courtesy and frankness are difficult qualities to combine.   I also aim to foster a spirit of independence rather than a spirit which excessively relies on others to carry out their research and their study of the Baha’i Faith.   Whether the person is a Bahá’í, an interested observer or, indeed, someone without any special interest in this Faith, often the answer to their question can easily be found on the internet at one of the thousands of sites, Baha’i and other, now in existence.  Often in answering a question, I direct the questioner to one or more of those sites for a more complete answer than the one I am providing.

It is also important, especially for Baha’is but also for others who write in, to utilize the many sources of assistance within both Baha’i administration and the burgeoning number of locations for expertise available in our diverse society. Government organizations, non-government organizations and special interest groups, inter alia are now available at the press of a button, the dialling of a number and a few clicks on the internet. So, too, are books, journals, pamphlets and a vast cornucopia of print and electronic media.   Evolution is forcing humanity to engage in a cooperative enterprize that is global--interplanetary--intergalactic now--in its reach.  This site on About, and my contribution, is but a small part of this vast cooperative enterprize.

There are generally two kinds of Baha’i literature or writings about this Faith. One presents the/an official view and has the voice of authority behind it.  Such words are not the personal opinions of individual Baha’is.  There is a second category which includes all other writing.  The writing that I place here exists in this latter category, although from time to time I insert quotations that belong to the first category to explain my answer to a particular question.  The quotations, of course, are used by me in a certain way and form a part of an interpretive schema that becomes part of the second category--that is, opinion.  

Truth, the correct and only answer, often cannot be found for many of the questions that arise here, even if the evidence of the Baha’i Revelation is included.  This is mainly because there are often many truths, many answers, depending on the circumstances and situations—and many perspectives depending on the person answering the question and the person to whom one is writing.  To put this briefly, I could simply say that truth is relative, especially religious truth which is the main variety I deal with here and with which the various questions that come in are concerned.  As much as possible I try to draw on relevant quotations from the voluminous Baha’i Scriptures.  Sometimes I simply do not have access to the relevant literature on a specific question since Baha’i literature in its many forms has become burgeoning, especially since the 1980s and 1990s.  The Baha’i Faith had some 200,000 adherents in 1953 when I first came in contact with this new Faith which claims to be the emerging world religion on the planet.  It now has some 5 to 6 million in 2009.  In those six decades much of its literature, originally in Persian and Arabic, has been translated into English.  Still, there is much that remains untranslated.

Each Baha’i seeks to acquire, in his or her own way, a deeper understanding of the Revelation of Baha’u’llah. What is written here represents some of the fruits of my own efforts, limited as they are.  As I have said above, my words are not authoritative. This site for Baha’i expertise offers but one source of opinion and this opinion is written in accordance with my capacity and understanding.  Readers might like to try drawing on other Baha’i volunteer-experts at this site if they find my answers not to their satisfaction.(1)  

The Universal House of Justice, the internationally elected body of the Baha’i Faith, pointed out recently that “the exercise of wisdom calls for a measure of love and the development of a sensitive conscience.”(2)  I am only too well aware of my incapacities on these fronts.  I feel somewhat presumptuous in taking on this role of expert.  I do not seek any preference or distinction; I do not regard my ideas or myself as superior in anyway.  All of one’s talents in life are a gift from God, a gift as one writer put it, of some unmerited grace.  After more than 50 years of association with a global Force that makes such a significant claim to be the emerging world religion on this planet, I offer these words and any answers I might give to questions simply as a service to others. If you would like a more personal, direct and continued communication with me just write to the email address I have provided below. -Ron Price, http://www.allexperts.com 4 February 2009(Original: September 2004).
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(1)With the extensive development of the internet in recent years and the massive number of sites that now exist on that easily accessible medium, at least easily accessible to those who come to this “About” site,  answers to questions like the ones I receive here can, as I say and as I want to reiterate, be found by seekers, questioners, students and others written by ostensibly informed members and often authoritative sources.  These sources include those: (a) within their own religion, sect, denomination, branch, division, cult or school, (b) within what one might call some individualist position as part of the existing framework of that individual or (c) within some other interest group to chose a convenient general label.  

Often  individuals who ask questions of me here at the “About” site see themselves as “Christian,” but they are not adherents of any particular group of Christians.   The answers that I am suggesting such people seek are answers written from a perspective, a point of view, of the adherents of their own particular religious-sub-group: fundamentalist Christianity, Sunni Islam, Theravadan Buddhism, et cetera--or written from some particular philosophical stance: secular humanism, agnosticism, atheism or existentialism among others--of the questioner.  Such answers are often, if not usually, more satisfactory to such seekers.  Answers that I write here are inevitably and obviously written from a Baha’i perspective and questioners need to keep what you might like to call this Baha’i bias in their minds as they read my answers to their questions.

I am suggesting, then, that questioners seek out answers from other writers, other writers who tend to be more satisfactory from within their own specific religious or philosophical framework, from within any one of the wide variety of possible religious and philosophical positions because these answers: (1) usually confirm and conform with what these questioners already believe and/or (2) they provide a much more thorough answer within the framework of experience of that religious or philosophical group vis-ŕ-vis the Baha’i Faith.  

Of course I leave the approach taken by those who seek out answers that I might give to each seeker who comes to this “About” site and I trust that whatever answers I may offer to questioners are helpful to them.  After five years of answering questions at this site and after receiving a standard of feedback which indicates a high level of satisfaction on the part of questioners, I feel confident that my service here is a valued one.
(2) “Extracts from Letters of the Universal House of Justice on issues Related to the Study of the Baha’i Faith,” in Baha’i Canada, May 1998, p.18.
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Ron Price, Tasmania, Australia
ronprice9@gmail.com
6 Reece Street
George Town Tasmania 7253
Australia
Tel: 03-63824790-from mainland Australia; or
dial your international access code #  and then 613-63824790-from outside Australia.
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Let me start by drawing on a post at the internet site: Baha'i Topics: An Information Resource of the International Baha'i Community
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The Bahá'í Concept of God1
The Bahá'í belief in one God means that the universe and all creatures and forces within it have been created by a single supernatural Being. This Being, Whom we call God, has absolute control over His creation (omnipotence) as well as perfect and complete knowledge of it (omniscience). Although we may have different concepts of God's nature, although we may pray to Him in different languages and call Him by different names--Allah or Yahweh, God or Brahma--nevertheless, we are speaking about the same unique Being.

Extolling God's act of creation, Bahá'u'lláh said:

   All-praise to the unity of God, and all-honor to Him, the sovereign Lord, the incomparable and all-glorious Ruler of the universe, Who, out of utter nothingness, hath created the reality of all things, Who, from naught, hath brought into being the most refined and subtle elements of His creation, and Who, rescuing His creatures from the abasement of remoteness and the perils of ultimate extinction, hath received them into His kingdom of incorruptible glory. Nothing short of His all-encompassing grace, His all-pervading mercy, could have possibly achieved it.2

Bahá'u'lláh taught that God is too great and too subtle a Being for the finite human mind ever to understand Him adequately or to construct an accurate image of Him:

   How wondrous is the unity of the Living, the Ever-Abiding God--a unity which is exalted above all limitations, that transcendeth the comprehension of all created things.... How lofty hath been His incorruptible Essence, how completely independent of the knowledge of all created things, and how immensely exalted will it remain above the praise of all the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth!3

According to Bahá'í teachings, God is so far beyond His creation that, throughout all eternity, human beings will never be able to formulate any clear image of Him or attain to anything but the most remote appreciation of His superior nature. Even if we say that God is the All-Powerful, the All-Loving, the Infinitely Just, such terms are derived from a very limited human experience of power, love, or justice. Indeed, our knowledge of anything is limited to our knowledge of those attributes or qualities perceptible to us:

   Know that there are two kinds of knowledge: the knowledge of the essence of a thing and the knowledge of its qualities. The essence of a thing is known through its qualities; otherwise, it is unknown and hidden.

   As our knowledge of things, even of created and limited things, is knowledge of their qualities and not of their essence, how is it possible to comprehend in its essence the Divine Reality, which is unlimited? ... Knowing God, therefore, means the comprehension and the knowledge of His attributes, and not of His Reality. This knowledge of the attributes is also proportioned to the capacity and power of man; it is not absolute.4

Thus for human beings the knowledge of God means the knowledge of the attributes and qualities of God, not a direct knowledge of His essence. But how are we to attain the knowledge of the attributes of God? Bahá'u'lláh wrote that everything in creation is God's handiwork and therefore reflects something of His attributes. For example, even in the intimate structure of a rock or a crystal can be seen the order of God's creation. However, the more refined the object, the more completely is it capable of reflecting God's attributes. Since the Messenger of God or Manifestation of God is the highest form of creation known to us, the Manifestation affords the most complete knowledge of God available to us:

   Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is a direct evidence of the revelation within it of the attributes and names of God, inasmuch as within every atom are enshrined the signs that bear eloquent testimony to the revelation of that Most Great Light.... To a supreme degree is this true of man.... For in him are potentially revealed all the attributes and names of God to a degree that no other created being hath excelled or surpasssed.... And of all men, the most accomplished, the most distinguished, and the most excellent are the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth. Nay, all else besides these Manifestations, live by the operation of their Will, and move and have their being through the outpourings of their grace.5

Although a rock or a tree reveals something of the subtlety of its Creator, only a conscious being such as man can dramatize God's attributes in his life and actions. Since the Manifestations are already in a perfected state, it is in their lives that the deeper meaning of God's attributes can be most perfectly understood. God is not limited by a physical body, and so we cannot see Him directly or observe His personality. Hence our knowledge of the Manifestation is, in fact, the closest we can come to the knowledge of God.

   Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His essence and reveal it unto men. He is, and hath ever been, immensely exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived.... He Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except through His Manifestation, and His Manifestation can adduce no greater proof of the truth of His mission than the proof of His Own Person.6

And in another similar passage:

   The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being [God] hath ever been, and will continue to be, closed in the face of men. No man's understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court. As a token of His mercy, however, and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He hath manifested unto men the Day Stars of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own Self.7

Of course, only those who live during the time of a Manifestation have the opportunity of observing Him directly. It is for this reason, Bahá'u'lláh explained, that the essential connection between the individual and God is maintained through the writings and words of each Manifestation. For Bahá'ís, the word of the Manifestation is the Word of God, and it is to this Word that the individual can turn in his or her daily life in order to grow closer to God and to acquire a deeper knowledge of Him. The written Word of God is the instrument that creates a consciousness of God's presence in one's daily life:

   Say: The first and foremost testimony establishing His truth is His own Self. Next to this testimony is His Revelation. For whoso faileth to recognize either the one or the other He hath established the words He hath revealed as proof of His reality and truth.... He hath endowed every soul with the capacity to recognize the signs of God.8

It is for this reason that the discipline of daily prayer, meditation, and study of the holy writings constitutes an important part of the individual spiritual practice of Bahá'ís. They feel that this discipline is one of the most important ways of growing closer to their Creator.

To summarize: the Bahá'í view of God is that His essence is eternally transcendent, but that His attributes and qualities are completely immanent in the Manifestations.9 Since our knowledge of anything is limited to our knowledge of the perceptible attributes of that thing, knowledge of the Manifestations is (for ordinary humans) equivalent to knowledge of God.10 In practical terms, this knowledge is gained through study, prayer, meditation, and practical application based on the revealed Word of God (i.e., the sacred scriptures of the Manifestations).

Who are the Prophets?

  1. Adapted from William S. Hatcher and J. Douglas Martin, The Bahá'í Faith: The Emerging Global Religion (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985), pp. 74-75, 123-26.
  2. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 2d rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1976), pp. 64-65.
  3. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, pp. 261-62.
  4. `Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, 3d ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1981), pp. 220-21.
  5. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, pp. 177-79.
  6. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 49.
  7. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, pp. 49-50.
  8. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, pp. 105-06.
  9. In this connection, Bahá'ís regard Bahá'u'lláh as the "complete incarnation of the names and attributes of God." See Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh: Selected Letters, 2d rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1974), p. 112.
 10. `Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 222.
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You have asked some deep and quite profound questions around which a book could be written to answer them. This post, Mario, is a start to answering your questions. Write again if you so desire and we can continue this discussion. I leave this with you. There are many internet sites which deal with your questions in one way or another.-Ron