Religion and science are the two wings upon which man's
intelligence can soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress.
It is not possible to fly with one wing alone! Should a man try to fly with the
wing of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of superstition,
whilst on the other hand, with the wing of science alone he would also make no
progress, but fall into the despairing slough of materialism.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris
Talks: 143)
We have seen that the religious faculty as a
faculty of the soul is universally present in humanity, as is the faculty of
justice. ‘Abdu’l-Baha also says that all
the Prophets have taught “the one code of morality”, so we may plausibly imply
a moral faculty that responds to this code.
Intellect or mind is also a universally-present faculty. But with intellect we have already, in the
form of scientific inquiry and verification, a universally accepted knowledge
system. Science is systematic inquiry
that “discovers the secrets of creation”: an inquiry where beliefs are tested
for their veracity, where facts not opinions matter, where a solid and enduring
basis for human knowledge is laid. The unity here circles around the pivot of science,
which is a universal means of acquiring knowledge. There is no western or eastern science. The science practiced by all races and
peoples is the same.
But if it is a real and distinct state of spiritual being and mind there are or should be links and
connections between the faculties, each one helping to define the other and
regulate each other in a beneficial way, as there was for the state of human, and before that for natural man.
Intellectual investigation and discovery should be guided by moral
values and attitudes that serve the cause of justice whose purpose is the
appearance of unity, which is the recognition of the unity of Revelation and God.
The secrets of creation are the knowledge of
God deposited, so to speak, within the universe. One of those secrets that scientific
understanding is discovering is, as the House of Justice states, that of the
oneness of humankind. They write in The Promise of World Peace:
“World
order can be founded only on an unshakeable consciousness of the oneness of
mankind, a spiritual truth which all the human sciences confirm. Anthropology,
physiology, psychology, recognize only one human species, albeit infinitely
varied in the secondary aspects of life. Recognition of this truth requires
abandonment of prejudice—prejudice of every kind—race, class, colour, creed,
nation, sex, degree of material civilization, everything which enables people
to consider themselves superior to others.
“Acceptance
of the oneness of mankind is the first fundamental prerequisite for
reorganization and administration of the world as one country, the home of
humankind. Universal acceptance of this spiritual principle is essential to any
successful attempt to establish world peace.” (The Promise of World Peace: para. 38-40.
It is in the domain
of practical and instrumental reason that the mind applies spiritual principle.
This is different from the power of
understanding, the rational faculty, discovering the Word, which is the
intellect functioning in its higher aspects, called inspiration, ecstatic
reason, or other names. The Master tells
us that: “Science is the first emanation from God toward man. All created
beings embody the potentiality of material perfection, but the power of
intellectual investigation and scientific acquisition is a higher virtue
specialized to man alone. Other beings and organisms are deprived of this
potentiality and attainment. God has created or deposited this love of reality
in man.” (The Promulgation of Universal
Peace: 49)
Now we should be careful
reading this quote. Science is
what? I believe that here He means something
like “Scientia”, the divine knowledge, the knowledge of God. We might read the quote as divine philosophy
is the first emanation. It is also the
highest discovery of the human world, the crown of the natural, discursive
intellect. That is, science is both the
origin and goal, foundation and fruit, of intellectual investigation. But
humanity is moving out of the human domain into the spiritual, so it is in need
of spiritual science. Intellect is the highest power of the soul and in
creation, but it is not born unaided into a spiritual state of awareness and
knowing, but must make certain efforts to be lifted out of its natural
condition.
We know that different kinds of knowledge
draw forth their commensurate being. Only
spiritual knowledge, the knowledge of God, draws forth spiritual being. Thus for spiritual understanding and education
“intellect” means not the natural intellect which “consists of the rational, or
logical, reasoning faculty, which apprehends general ideas and things
intelligible and perceptible.” (‘Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith: 370) Intellect
here is that mind that has been enlightened by Revelation.
The Master is clear: “that which is the cause of everlasting life, eternal honor,
universal enlightenment, real salvation and prosperity is, first of all, the
knowledge of God. It is known that the
knowledge of God is beyond all knowledge, and it is the greatest glory of the
human world.” He goes on to state the
relations between the knowledge of God and the faculties of the heart, of
intellect, justice (discernment), and morality. "(T)he knowledge of God is the
cause of spiritual progress and attraction, and through it the perception of
truth, the exaltation of humanity, divine civilization, rightness of morals and
illumination are obtained.” (Some
Answered Questions: 300.
But for the mind to grasp the spiritual
realities that are the knowledge of God it must undergo its own transformation
named transcendence, because: “By mere intellectual development and power of
reason, man cannot attain to his fullest degree—that is to say, by means of
intellect alone he cannot accomplish the progress effected by religion.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace: 170)
As ‘Abdu’l-Baha implies, though we have this
great endowment of intellect, by itself it is inadequate to achieve the kind of
intellectual progress that can be achieved by the aid of revealed religion. In regards to some transcendent
understanding, intellect is mere potential until some power stimulates it into
transformation, makes it whole, and trains it to a mature level of
operation. That power is, from the
explicit point of view of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, holy and spiritual: is the Religion of
God. To a European audience He stated: “Likewise
the Holy Spirit is the very cause of the life of man; without the Holy Spirit
he would have no intellect, he would be unable to acquire his scientific
knowledge by which his great influence over the rest of creation is gained. The
illumination of the Holy Spirit gives to man the power of thought, and enables
him to make discoveries by which he bends the laws of nature to his will.” (Paris Talks: 59)
He returned to this theme in America: “God
has opened the doors of ideal virtues and attainments before the face of man.
He has created in his being the mysteries of the divine Kingdom. He has
bestowed upon him the power of intellect so that through the attribute of
reason, when fortified by the Holy Spirit, he may penetrate and discover ideal
realities and become informed of the mysteries of the world of significances.”
(The Promulgation of Universal Peace:
303)
However, while it is clear that this
spiritual Power of Mind is not a happy invention of the human imagination,
neither is it some wholly abstract quality floating around waiting for some
mind to be infused by it. According to the Bahá’i Writings, as we read, it is a
specific Individual carrying to all humanity a universally fertilizing
Message. He is the Manifestation of God
and His special attribute is that His Mind is truly universal. We'll return to that theme in the next post.
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