Theocracy and Separation of Church and State

27 April 1995

Dear Bahá’i Friend,

Your email of 19 February 1995 addressed to the Research Department was referred to the Universal House of Justice. In it you quote two phrases which appear in a book you have recently read, and which seem from the context to be citations from Shoghi Effendi. These phrases are "Bahá’i theocracy" and "humanity will emerge from that immature civilization in which church and state are separate". You ask whether these references can be authenticated and dated. We have been instructed to send you the following reply.

A reference to "Bahá’i theocracy" is to be found in a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual Bahá’í on 30 September 1949. This reads as follows:

“He thinks your question is well put: what the Guardian was referring to was the theocratic systems, such as the Catholic Church and the Caliphate, which are not divinely given as systems, but man-made, and yet, being partly derived from the teachings of Christ and Muhammad are in a sense theocracies. The Bahá’i theocracy, on the contrary, is both divinely ordained as a system and, of course, based on the teachings of the Prophet Himself.”

The other passage does not comprise words of Shoghi Effendi, although its purport was approved by him. As you yourself have since discovered, it can be found in The Bahá’i World, volume VI, on page 199, in a statement entitled "Concerning Membership in Non-Bahá’i Religious Organizations", about which the Guardian’s secretary had written on his behalf on 11 December 1935:

"The Guardian has carefully read the copy of the statement you had recently prepared concerning non-membership in non-Bahá’i religious organizations, and is pleased to realize that your comments and explanations are in full conformity with his views on the subject."

The complete paragraph in which the words appear is as follows:

“In the light of these words, it seems fully evident that the way to approach this instruction is in realizing the Faith of Baha’u’llah as an ever-growing organism destined to become something new and greater than any of the revealed religions of the past. Whereas former Faiths inspired hearts and illumined souls, they eventuated in formal religions with an ecclesiastical organization, creeds, rituals and churches, while the Faith of Baha’u’llah, likewise renewing man’s spiritual life, will gradually produce the institutions of an ordered society, fulfilling not merely the function of the churches of the past but also the function of the civil state. By this manifestation of the Divine Will in a higher degree than in former ages, humanity will emerge from that immature civilization in which church and state are separate and competitive institutions, and partake of a true civilization in which spiritual and social principles are at last reconciled as two aspects of one and the same Truth.”

Reincarnation, rebirth and the progress of the soul

Memorandum

To: The Universal House of Justice

Date: 25 April 1995

From: Research Department

Reincarnation, Rebirth and the Progress of the Soul

A letter dated 25 December 1994 written on behalf of the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of … requests material from the Bahá’í Writings on the subject of reincarnation. This Assembly is in contact with some people who believe in reincarnation and have challenged the Bahá’í perspective on life after death. They argue that "psychological data" such as the regaining of past life memories through hypnosis supports the view that this life and one’s previous life are somehow connected to each other, and that this cycle of physical death and physical rebirth repeats itself many times. The Assembly wishes to deepen its understanding of these issues in order to present the Bahá’í perspective accurately. Their request was forwarded to the Research Department and the following is our response.

With reference to the subject of reincarnation, the Spiritual Assembly might wish to study ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Some Answered Questions (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1984), chapters 33, 60, 63, 66 and 81. The attached compilation entitled "On Reincarnation and the Nature and Progress of the Soul" may also be helpful. Outlined below are some points drawn from this compilation; the numbers in brackets identify the extracts from which a point is taken.

1. Reincarnation, the Soul and the Concept of "Return"

1.1 The Spiritual Assembly is correct that Bahá’ís do not believe in reincarnation. We have several references in the Bahá’í Writings which state that the concept of reincarnation is based on an incorrect view of the progress of the soul and life after death. For example, reincarnation is a "man-made doctrine" [15, 16]. "No Revelation from God has ever taught reincarnation" [15]. Bahá’u’lláh would have mentioned it in His Teachings if it had any importance or reality [17].

The Bahá’í view of life after death does not accord with the idea that the human soul can pass from one body to another. "We come on to this planet once only." [12, 17]

"The concept of the soul returning to this physical world is erroneous, and an outgrowth of man-made doctrines which have grown up about the fundamental concept of the progress of the soul." [16]

Mental Tests

Memorandum

12 March 1995 

To: The Universal House of Justice

From: Research Department

The Research Department has studied the questions raised by Mr. ... in his electronic mail message of 30 December 1994. Mr. ... refers to the following statement in the letter dated 19 May 1994 from the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States:

May they be granted the celestial strength to pass, over and over again, the mental tests which 'Abdu'l-Bahá promised He would send to them to purify them, thus enabling them to achieve their divinely conferred potential as a force for change in the world.

And in attached correspondence between himself and the National Assembly, Mr. ... notes that Shoghi Effendi made similar statements in some of his letters. He asks whether there are specific references in the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to "mental tests", and he enquires about the availability of a general compilation on the subject which would supplement the material contained in such compilations as Crisis and Victory and Opposition. We provide the following comment.

References to "mental tests" in the letters of Shoghi Effendi

By way of introduction, it is useful to consider several references to mental tests in letters of the beloved Guardian that are published in Bahá'í Administration: Selected Messages 1922-1932. Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1974.:

How dearly all the Holy Leaves cherish that memory of the departed Master, as He commented upon the fresh tidings that poured in from that continent, admiring the untiring activity of the friends, the complete subordination of their material interests to those of the Cause, the remarkable spread of the Movement in their midst and their staunch firmness in the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh. It is these encouraging reflections of the Master about His loved ones in America and the tests intellectual rather than physical which He said He would send to them to purify and make them ever brighter than before — it is these comments and promises of His that make of the Movement in that land such a potential force in the world today. The Beloved Master's cable to the friends in that region is a clear indication of the presence of those counteracting forces that may usher in those storms of tests that the Master Himself has said will ultimately be for the good of the Cause in that land.[1] (pp. 16-17) (21 January 1922)

Animal Spirit

9 March 1995 

The Universal House of Justice received your email and well understands the profound bond of affection that must have grown up over some sixteen years between xxx and her cat. It has instructed us to send you the following reply. The difficulty of trying to envisage the realities of the spiritual worlds lies in the limitations of our present conditions. We can picture the next life as little as an unborn child could envision the realities of its life in this world after birth. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains in Some Answered Questions and in other talks and Tablets, spirit expresses itself in the material world in varying degrees. Each of the kingdoms mineral, vegetable, animal and human is able to show forth higher qualities, and while the higher kingdoms can embrace and understand those which are lower, it is not possible for an occupant of a lower kingdom to conceive the full reality of an occupant of a higher one. For an animal, the joys and realities of life are basically physical and emotional. It neither possesses, nor can it understand, the spiritual reality of a human being. The world it inhabits is perfectly attuned to its needs and level of existence. If it were to be transported to a purely spiritual world, it would be deprived of all that it knows and values. A human being who does not develop his spiritual nature, who lives at the purely animal and materialistic level, experiences entry into the next life as a descent into hell, while a soul which has developed its spiritual capacities experiences it as an ascent into heaven as an unfolding and blossoming of greater potentialities. Thus, although, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains, the animal spirit, which becomes individualized in a particular creature, does not survive in its individual condition after death, this is no deprivation or cause of suffering for the animal, but is perfectly suited to its condition by an All-Wise and All-Perfect Creator. As for a human soul who has known and loved an animal those experiences, as memories, have become a part of his or her eternal life. This, indeed, is what happens to our relationship to all material things. They will eventually be dispersed, so all the physical beauties of this world will ultimately remain only in our memories; but, as such, they constitute an enrichment of our lives which will continue to develop in the spiritual worlds.

With loving Bahá'í greetings,

For Department of the Secretariat

(Baha’i Library Online)

Authorization of translations and the authority of publications from the Research Department

15 December 1994 

Dear Bahá’í Friend,

Your letter of 20 September 1994 to … , concerning the degrees of authority possessed by Bahá’í historical sources, the process by which translations are authorized, the development of a “canon of Bahá’í doctrine,” the status of documents prepared by the Research Department, and your request for various materials, was forwarded to the Universal House of Justice for its consideration. We are instructed to make the following reply to your questions numbered two, three and five. The remaining questions were referred to the Research Department for study. The enclosed memorandum and attachments represent the result of the deliberations of that Department.

Your questions concerning translation revolve around two major issues: the process by which new translations into the English language are authorized and the authority of the translations of Shoghi Effendi. We are asked to state that a translation is regarded as authorized when it is approved by one or more translation committees appointed by the Universal House of Justice. While members of the Research Department may well, from time to time, be appointed to serve on such a translation committee, the authorization of new translations is currently not one of the responsibilities assigned to the Research Department by the House of Justice. Further, the approval of a translation does not mean that improvements or amendments cannot be made to it in the future. As you, yourself, note, even Shoghi Effendi described his translation of the Kitáb-i-Íqán as

“.... one more attempt to introduce to the West, in a language however inadequate, this book of unsurpassed pre-eminence among the writings of the Author of the Bahá’í Revelation. The hope is that it may assist others in their efforts to approach what must always be regarded as the unattainable goal—a befitting rendering of Bahá’u’lláh’s matchless utterance.”

As to the policy concerning the publication of new translations of the Writings made by individual Bahá’ís, we are instructed to convey the fact that translations into English and revisions of earlier translations in that language must be checked by a translation committee at the Bahá’í World Centre and officially approved for publication. While individuals are permitted to paraphrase or describe the contents of the passages they have translated and to include them in their manuscripts, without reference to the World Center, new translations need to be submitted to the Universal House of Justice for checking and approval prior to publication. The importance of this policy lies in the fact that translations into most other languages are based on the approved English texts and are not made directly or solely from the original texts. There have been, however, occasions when the House of Justice has permitted the publication of provisional translations made by individuals whose work is known to it. In these cases the translations usually appear in scholarly or other publications of limited distribution and are not likely to be used as a basis for translations into other languages.

Prayers of Shoghi Effendi

11 December 1994

Dear Bahá'í Friend,

At the request of the Universal House of Justice, the Research Department has provided the enclosed response to your email message of 12 November 1994, in which you inquire about the reason that the prayers of the Guardian are not translated into English.

With loving Bahá'í greetings,

For Department of the Secretariat

1. Prayers of Shoghi Effendi

In her email letter of 12 November 1994 to the Universal House of Justice, ... enquires about the prayers written in Persian and Arabic by Shoghi Effendi. She wishes to know why these prayers have not been translated into the English language.

The following two extracts from letters written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice provide information which pertains to Miss ...'s query:

“Even though the beloved Guardian wrote some prayers in his letters to the eastern friends, he did not encourage their translation into the western languages. In a letter written on his behalf to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States on 23 February 1957, his secretary stated:

‘He sees no necessity for translating prayers that he has written in Persian into English. The Bahá'ís have a great many wonderful prayers already translated, and he feels that now is not the time to spend money on these things.’” (4 December 1985 to an individual believer)

“In response to your Email message of 6 November 1986 regarding the possibility of publishing a selection of the prayers of Shoghi Effendi translated into English, the Universal House of Justice instructs us to advise that it does not feel that the time has come for this to be done. We are to convey its further comments.