{"id":1058,"date":"2007-11-29T16:19:48","date_gmt":"2007-11-29T14:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sholeh.calmstorm.net\/blog\/archives\/1058"},"modified":"2007-12-03T08:31:56","modified_gmt":"2007-12-03T06:31:56","slug":"science-and-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sholeh.calmstorm.net\/blog\/archives\/1058","title":{"rendered":"Science and Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

My last post regarding science and religion\u00c2\u00a0was touched on very lightly, so I thought I’d explain a bit of where I am coming from.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>The following excerpts explain much better than I ever could.<\/p>\n

“Among the ancient philosophers the infallible way to knowledge was through logic. The different schools of logic weighed everything in the scales of cold scholasticism. As to religious people their criterion has ever been the sacred text which must be accepted as final. One is not allowed the slightest reflection. “The word of God,” they say, “is truth.” Inspiration is the fourth criterion. Occultists say, “I have had a revelation. This truth has been revealed to me.”\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 For them everything outside direct revelation is viewed with doubt. So we have indicated the four criterions: the senses, reason, the sacred text, inspirations. There is no fifth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let us speak of the first criterion — that of the senses. Contemporary philosophers say, “We have spent our time in universities and laboratories analyzing composition. We have not encountered the spirituality of God, or any sign of the soul’s existence. We are people of truth, intelligent, learned men, but we can find no proof of the existence of a divine being.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

The senses mistake a mirage for water; the eyes see the sun move; your train or boat seems immobile and the landscape seems to pass by, planets look like fixed points of light; but they have measurable dimensions. A lighted point set in rotation appears like a circle. These examples show the senses subject to error. How can we put our trust in them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The test of logic is just as imperfect, for were this criterion perfect there would never have been the continual clash of opinion as to the sacred texts. How can they be interpreted by logic if the means be at fault?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inspiration, what is it? Whence comes it? Is that which reaches our heart divine or satanic? How can we judge?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is no proof of intelligence to reject everything which does not strike the senses. Nay, rather, such a one is brother to the animal. The cow has no idea of God; she does not know the soul. So the only difference between her highness the cow and a materialistic philosopher is that the latter takes a great deal of trouble! It is not a special or exclusive privilege to be the prisoner of one’s senses; the cow is the example of this theory.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0(Abdu’l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 94)<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Until now it has been said that all religions were composed of tenets that had to be accepted, even if they seems contrary to science. Thanks be to God, that in this new cycle the admonition of [Baha’u’llah] is that in the search for truth man must weigh religious questions in the balance of science and reason. God has given us rational minds for this purpose, to penetrate all things, to find truth. If one renounce reason, what remains? The sacred texts? How can we understand God’s commands and to what use can we put them without the balance of reason?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The priests are attached to ancient superstitions and when these are not in keeping with science, the priests denounce science. When religion is upheld by science and reason we can believe with assurance and act with conviction, for this rational faculty is the greatest power in the world. Through it industries are established, the past and present are laid bare and the underlying realities are brought to light. Let us make nature our captive, break through all laws of limitation and with deep penetration bring to light that which is hidden. The power to do this\u00c2\u00a0 is the greatest of divine benefits. Why treat with indifference such a divine spark? Why ignore a faculty so beneficial, a sun so powerful?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0(Abdu’l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 100)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My last post regarding science and religion\u00c2\u00a0was touched on very lightly, so I thought I’d explain a bit of where I am coming from.\u00c2\u00a0 The following excerpts explain much better than I ever could. “Among the ancient philosophers the infallible…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bahai","category-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sholeh.calmstorm.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sholeh.calmstorm.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sholeh.calmstorm.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sholeh.calmstorm.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sholeh.calmstorm.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sholeh.calmstorm.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sholeh.calmstorm.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sholeh.calmstorm.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sholeh.calmstorm.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}