Religion and Evolution Reconciled

This article offers a systematic and comprehensive overview of Baha'i theology and philosophy. Since Bahá'í thought is still in very nascent stages of development, without any established philosophical or theological schools, it is discussed within the comparative framework of what has already been long established in both of these scholarly fields. Bahá'í religious texts contain a great deal of philosophical passages and speculation, sometimes of a highly technical nature. Bahá'í scriptures make use of such Aristotelian terms as essence, substance, essential and accidental attributes, four-fold causality, potentiality, and its actualization, and so on. In addition to Aristotelian philosophical ideas, the Bahá'í Writings make use of a Neoplatonist concept of emanation. Overall, the article explores Bahá'í views in the areas of epistemology, ontology, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of religion and history, social and political philosophy, ethics, and aesthetics.

Religions, 2025

The Bahá'í doctrine of progressive revelation, while universal in principle, has been limited, in scope and application, by what has previously been described as "Arya-Semiticentrism"with a paradigmatic focus on Semitic religions (the "Abrahamic Faiths" of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, along with the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths), and the so-called "Aryan" religions (Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism) to the relative exclusion of Indigenous religions. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablet to Amír Khán may offer a solution and resolution, to wit: "Undoubtedly in those regions [the Americas] the Call of God must have been raised in ancient times, but it hath been forgotten now." This paper provides an exegesis of the Tablet to Amír Khán-an authenticated, authoritative Bahá'í text, with an authorized translation. Our basic premise is that, just as 'Abdu'l-Bahá has "added" the Buddha and Krishna to the Bahá'í list of "Manifestations of God," 'Abdu'l-Bahá has also "added" the principle of Indigenous Messengers of God to the Americas-without naming principals (i.e., the names of individual Indigenous "Wise Ones"), thereby demonstrating that 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablet to Amír Khán effectively expands the scope of the Bahá'í doctrine of progressive revelation to include and engage Indigenous spiritual traditions.

We do not currently possess an explicit philosophy within the Bahá'í Faith. This is due to the Faith's youthful and evolving nature. Philosophy traditionally emerges in religious traditions as they transition from dynamic developmental phases to scholastic eras. This is not a denial of the Faith's rich philosophical background but an acknowledgment that the development of knowledge in a faith tradition typically follows a process of expansion and consolidation. As faith traditions move beyond periods of heroism and persecution, establishing a foundation of authority, the sense of urgency and mission is replaced by a more serene environment conducive to intellectual discourse. 1 However, this general statement should not be misconstrued as a suggestion that Baha'i's must await a golden age to formulate their philosophical thinking. On the contrary, if philosophy involves engaging in higher reflective considerations, solid reasoning, a sense of inquiry, and the ability to synthesize and integrate, then the need for philosophy is paramount in the present. Care is essential to prevent prematurely identifying any system of thinking with the potential characteristics of a comprehensive model of Bahá'í philosophy destined to fully develop in the future. The Bahai writings underscore the pivotal role of religion in catalyzing positive change in the world, emphasizing a belief in the dynamic nature of existence. According to Abdul Baha, religion is the outer expression of the divine reality and must be living, vitalized, and progressive to reflect the divine life; otherwise, it becomes stagnant and lifeless. 2 This perspective challenges 1 This concept was thoroughly expounded upon by Dr. Alimorad Davoudi, a Baha'i philosophy professor at Tehran University. Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, he was abducted due to his beliefs and is presumed to have been later murdered. 2 Religion is the outer expression of the divine reality. Therefore, it must be living, vitalized, moving and progressive. If it be without motion and nonprogressive, it is without the divine life; it is dead. The divine institutes are continuously active and evolutionary; therefore, the revelation of them must be progressive and continuous. All things are subject to reformation. This is a century of life and renewal. Sciences and arts, industry and invention have been reformed. Law and ethics have been reconstituted, reorganized. The world of thought has been regenerated. Sciences of former ages and philosophies of the past are useless today. Present exigencies demand new methods of solution; world problems are without precedent. Old ideas and modes of thought are fast becoming obsolete. Ancient laws and dimensions of a new paradigm of knowledge that incorporates consciousness-related phenomena. This paradigm recognizes the intricate interplay between the physical and metaphysical realms, acknowledging the interconnectedness of human experiences. By synthesizing diverse elements of knowledge, the Bahá'í philosophy aims to foster a holistic understanding that transcends reductionism and materialism. The integrative Bahá'í philosophy seeks to offer a nuanced perspective on the unity of knowledge, serving as a guiding framework for Bahá'í education and scholarship. Its ambitions extend beyond intellectual exercises, striving to contribute meaningfully to the realization of a world characterized by unity, justice, and the harmonious integration of material and spiritual dimensions. Ultimately, A Bahá'í-inspired philosophy, if distilled into the scheme of the sciences, holds the potential to provide human understanding with a meaningful sense of wholeness.

NOTE: 2017 is 200 th anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith, the newest revealed world religion in the tradition of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, as well as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Zoroastrian religions. It offers new perspectives on religion and its relevance to our interconnected world. The first three chapters of the book " Unity of Faith and Reason in Action: A journey of Discovery " are placed on ACADEMIA for exploration by the readers. Chapter One: Towards an Integrative Understanding of Religion Chapter Two: The nature and Purpose of Religion (already placed on ACADEMIA)

This article examines the emergence of a distinct philosophical paradigm within the Bahá’í Faith, one that reconfigures the nature, purpose, and authority of philosophy itself. Rather than framing philosophy as an autonomous rational enterprise or as subordinate to dogmatic theology, the Bahá’í Writings present a prophetic ontology in which wisdom (ḥikmat) is both divinely sourced and civilizational in purpose. Through a genealogical engagement with classical, Islamic, and modern philosophical traditions, the article analyzes how the Bahá’í Revelation both affirms and transforms philosophical categories such as being (wujūd), causality, knowledge, and interpretation. Central to this transformation is the Manifestation of God, not merely as a religious figure but as the ontological fulcrum of truth, whose utterance reorders the hierarchy of knowledge from Revelation to reason, from action to understanding. The article also introduces a new typology of philosophers, distinguishes legitimate from false uses of reason, and explores the structural function of interpretation within a post-metaphysical covenantal order. Ultimately, the Bahá’í model challenges secular and theological dichotomies by proposing a unity of thought and Revelation that is dialogical, ethically oriented, and historically responsive—a metaphysical vision of philosophy not as speculation, but as world-shaping praxis.

Abstract: This paper first suggests that many statements in the Bahá'í writings are couched in the terms of a particular discourse, or intellectual tradition, of the text's immediate audience. As such, these statements may assume some of the premises of the addressee, passing over them without necessarily seeking to challenge or affirm those premises in an absolute sense, in order to make an argument which the addressee can accept. Such premises may sometimes be factually true, in an empirical sense, while sometimes they may not be propositionally true, but may rather be true in a metaphoric and symbolic sense. This being the case, recovering the nature of the discourse being employed, or the intellectual context of the statement, can help to evaluate whether a given statement is meant to convey a propositional fact or a rhetorical truth. `Abdu'l-Bahá often adopted the particular parameters of western modernist discourse about knowledge, specifically in terms of the debate of science versus religion, and his statements are germane to contemporary questions about academic, or materialist, methodologies and the Bahá'í view toward these modes of knowledge. `Abdu'l-Bahá often appears to give precedence to logical proofs and scientific method over traditional religious modes or explanations of reality, particularly in questions of fact and information, though not necessarily where ethics and morality are concerned. He would therefore seem to assert the validity of western academic, or materialist, methodologies.

Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, 1992

2016

This paper is part of an on-going project of studying the philosophic principles explicitly and implicitly embedded in the Bahá’í Writings and correlating them with other religions and/or philosophies. Shoghi Effendi recognized the necessity of such correlation work as early as 1933,1 when he wrote, It is hoped that all the Bahá’í students will follow the noble example you have set before them and will, henceforth, be led to investigate and analyse the principles of the Faith and to correlate them with the modern aspects of philosophy and science. Every intelligent and thoughtful young Bahá’í should always approach the Cause in this way, for therein lies the very essence of the principle of independent investigation of truth.2 In this statement, Shoghi Effendi not only asserts the

This article proposes the development of a Bahá’í paradigm of science, grounded in the teleological and integrative vision of Bahá’í epistemology and structured in dialogue with Thomas Kuhn’s concept of scientific paradigms and Edgar Morin’s theory of complexity. Building on a previously articulated typology of seven interrelated forms of knowledge—material, conceptual, existential, moral, divine, intrinsic divine, and knowledge in conformity with reality—this study argues that every scientific theory or method must be evaluated across these epistemic dimensions to be considered valid. Within this model, each form of knowledge can either affirm, remain neutral toward, or oppose a given research program; only theories that are either affirmed or neutrally situated across all seven modes qualify as scientifically legitimate. The article further asserts that this framework provides not only an internal coherence among diverse domains of knowledge but also promotes external interdisciplinarity, making it suitable for evaluating both natural and social sciences within an ethically and spiritually guided worldview. By integrating epistemological plurality, ontological humility, and a moral telos, the Bahá’í paradigm offers a systematic alternative to both empirical reductionism and relativist constructivism. A demonstrative case study in early childhood education is provided to illustrate the model’s practical utility. An example teaching methodology is analyzed through the lens of the seven epistemic domains, showing how pedagogical practices must align with both scientific rigor and moral-spiritual coherence to meet the Bahá’í criteria of knowledge. The article concludes that the proposed paradigm advances the civilizational aim of knowledge—not merely to describe the world, but to transform it through justice, unity, and the spiritual realization of humanity’s latent capacities.