A Compilation on Scholarship

The House of Justice had hoped that the publication of the statement 1 would stimulate discussion among Bahá’í scholars and encourage them to examine more profoundly all aspects of their work, and the effect it has upon both Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í audiences. The aim was not to instruct scholars to abandon any specific methodology but to warn them of the dangers of taking for granted the a priori assumptions of modern non-Bahá’í scholars and of allowing their thinking and their understanding of the Faith to be limited by criteria which they themselves, as Bahá’ís, would know to be in error. It was also the hope of the House of Justice that Bahá’í scholars would realize the significance of the manner in which they express themselves, and that they would guard against use of the proud and scornful language with which some had been publicly referring to their fellow believers who, nevertheless, were devotedly trying to serve the Faith of God. 26