Science

Children conduct an experiment at a school in Colombia.

The Bahá’í Faith teaches that religion and science are two means for describing and understanding truth and that when properly understood, science and religion will never conflict as each are complementary. By truth is meant all that can be understood about life, our existence and the world both physical and spiritual.

The Bahá’í teachings state that whenever conflict arises between religion and science it is due to human error; either through misinterpretation of religious scriptures or the lack of a more complete understanding of science. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained that religious teachings which are at variance with science should not be accepted; he explained that religion has to be reasonable since God endowed humankind with reason so that they can discover truth.

Harmony between science and religion

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The harmony of science and religion is a central tenet of the Bahá’í teachings. The principle states that truth is one, and therefore true science and true religion will always be in harmony, thus rejecting the view that science and religion are in conflict. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asserted that science and religion cannot be opposed because they are aspects of the same truth; he also affirmed that reasoning powers are required to understand the truths of religion. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, described science and religion as "the two most potent forces in human life."

Science and religion in the Bahá’í writings are compared to the two wings of a bird upon which a person's intelligence can increase, and upon which a person's soul can progress. Furthermore, the Bahá’í writings state that science without religion would lead to a person becoming totally materialistic, and religion without science would lead to a person falling into superstitious practices. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in one of his public talks said:

"If religion were contrary to logical reason then it would cease to be a religion and be merely a tradition. 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. All religions of the present day have fallen into superstitious practices, out of harmony alike with the true principles of the teaching they represent and with the scientific discoveries of the time."

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 143.)

The Bahá’í writings state that religion must always stand the analysis of reason, and agree with scientific statements of fact. Another teaching of the Bahá’í Faith, Independent investigation of truth, also uses the harmony of science and religion by stating that each individual should free themselves from all prejudices from learned belief, and then individually search for the truth.

Scholarship

Scientific and academic pursuits are encouraged in Bahá’í Scripture, and excellence is promoted. For a look into the Bahá’í view of scholarship this link is a compilation by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice on the topic.

Science in Bahá’í scriptures

The Bahá’í writings for the most part are silent on specific scientific issues, explaining that most of this is the work of future scientists. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains that science is a progressive field which will continually progress in further and further ways.

"Mathematicians, astronomers, chemical scientists continually disprove and reject the conclusions of the ancients; nothing is fixed, nothing final; everything is continually changing because human reason is progressing along new roads of investigation and arriving at new conclusions every day. In the future much that is announced and accepted as true now will be rejected and disproved. And so it will continue ad infinitum."

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 21)

There are a few specific references about scientific issues that are mentioned below.

Medicine in Bahá’í scriptures

The Bahá’í writings emphasize the important contributions that the study of medicine will bring to society.

Without mentioning any particular school of medicine, or any particular form of science, the Bahá’í writings simply encourage its study and emphasize the important contributions that it will bring to society. A few certain guidelines and principles were laid down in the writings, such as that when ill, people should always seek medical advice and follow the doctor's instructions, and that in the future nutrition through certain foods will help increase the general wellness of humankind:

"At whatever time highly-skilled physicians shall have developed the healing of illnesses by means of foods, and shall make provision for simple foods, and shall prohibit humankind from living as slaves to their lustful appetites, it is certain that the incidence of chronic and diversified illnesses will abate, and the general health of all mankind will be much improved. This is destined to come about. In the same way, in the character, the conduct and the manners of men, universal modifications will be made.

"According to the explicit decree of Bahá’u’lláh one must not turn aside from the advice of a competent doctor. It is imperative to consult one even if the patient himself be a well-known and eminent physician. In short, the point is that you should maintain your health by consulting a highly-skilled physician.

"It is incumbent upon everyone to seek medical treatment and to follow the doctor's instructions, for this is in compliance with the divine ordinance, but, in reality, He Who giveth healing is God."

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 156)

Scientific statements by the founders

Several science-related statements by founders of the Bahá’í Faith have generated some level of controversy, such statements being seen as opposed to or out of harmony with current scientific thought. Such statements have caused some to call into question claims of infallibility and have been described as "thorny theological issues". For many Bahá’ís, however, this is not a strong issue. Many see it as irrelevant. In cases of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's statements, many point to distinctions made in the Bahá’í Writings between the "Most Great Infallibility" possessed by Bahá’u’lláh and that of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, which the Writings describe as related to their roles as interpreters and expounders. In short, the propositional inerrancy of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi is not a claim made by the Bahá’í Faith. Statements by Bahá’u’lláh of a cosmological nature are also concerning to some, but given the relative absence of material cosmological assertions, and the prevalence of Sacred Writings that direct the believers to science to resolve such questions, these issues are far less controversial in the Bahá’í community than in many other faiths.

One reasonable hermeneutical position is that the writings of the central figures do not contain any scientific statements, per se, at all. In every case where people read statements as being about science, they are better understood to be making use of the science of the day to make a spiritual point, not a scientific one at all. In light of this principle, focusing on the supposed scientific controversy is, in point of fact, a distraction from the real purpose of the statements.

This position has a lot to say in its defense: (1) It eliminates (or at least defuses) much of the controversy. (2) It focuses attention properly on the intention of the passage. (3) It also avoids an unintentional equivocation that comes about by mistaking and misapplying terms and phrases appropriate to nineteenth century discourse in a modern context.

It makes one further change of emphasis possible. A deep contextual examination of the references to nineteenth century scientific terms, ideas and phrases, once separated from the mistaken idea that they are intended as corrective comments on science itself, illumine how different the framework from within which the statements are made is from the modern, reductive science point of view which tends to fragment the world into layers and pieces better understood in isolation from each other. This invites us to ask the question of how such holism can be restored in the modern context.

Existence of ether

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Light shows both particle- and wave-like characteristics in a simulated double-slit experiment. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's explanation of the aether concept has been said to foreshadow the quantum theory of matter.

Aether, or ether, was a substance postulated in the late 19th century to be the medium for the propagation of light. The Michelson-Morley experiment of 1887 made an effort to find the aether, but its failure to detect it led Einstein to devise his Special theory of Relativity. Further developments in modern physics, including general relativity, quantum field theory, and string theory all incorporate the non-existence of the aether, and today the concept is considered obsolete scientific theory.

The aether was originally understood as an undefined medium for the propagation of light, and continuing adherents to ether argue that Einstein's theory ignores the wave-like nature of light by assuming no medium exists, which was the basis behind the theory of ether. Many of the primary experiments to disprove ether focused on disproving "ethereal winds", which do not necessarily disprove the existence of ether, but only that the experiment is moving through it.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá's use of the aether concept in one of his talks - his audience including scientists of the time - has been the source of some controversy. The chapter in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Some Answered Questions which mentions aether differentiates between things that are "perceptible to the senses" and those which are "realities of the intellect" and not perceptible to the senses. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá includes "ethereal matter" (also translated as "etheric matter"), heat, light and electricity among other things, in the second group of things which are not perceptible to the senses, and are concepts which are arrived at intellectually to explain certain phenomena. The Universal House of Justice referring to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's use of the word state that, "in due course, when scientists failed to confirm the physical existence of the 'ether' by delicate experiments, they constructed other intellectual concepts to explain the same phenomena" which is consistent with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's categorization of aether.

Robin Mishrahi in his published paper on the issue titled "Ether, Quantum Physics and the Bahá’í Writings" also argues that the usage of the word is probably due to the fact that the language of modern quantum mechanics did not exist at the time, and the semantics used actually are explaining counterparts in contemporary scientific literature. The paper also explains that quantum mechanics can be seen as a support of the Bahá’í concept of the unity of science and religion; he concluded in his paper:

“ As a final observation it should be noted that because many of the scientific discoveries and theories referred to in the Bahá’í Writings were yet unknown to the contemporaries of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, They obviously could not have used the technical terms applied for their description nowadays. Instead, They had to make use of and sometimes redefine already existing concepts and terms (e.g. the ether concept or the idea of the four elements of ancient Greek philosophy) in a way that they would accurately explain what They had in mind. On a superficial level, this might give the impression that the Central Figures of the Faith did not actually formulate any new ideas about physical reality. When we study Their Writings more closely, however, we come to realise that this only seems to be the case because Their references to such topics were purposely made in such a way that they would neither offend Their addressees who believed in certain (erroneous) contemporary scientific concepts, nor make use of a terminology that had not yet been developed by contemporary scientists. ” — (Robin Mihrshahi, Australian Bahá’í Studies Journal Volume 4, p. 3-20.)

Life on other planets

An artist's depiction of an extrasolar planet with an Earthlike satellite.

Main article: Extraterrestrial life

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• "Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own creatures, whose number no man can compute."

Bahá’u’lláh stated:

"The learned men, [divines] that have fixed at several thousand years the life of this earth, have failed, throughout the long period of their observation, to consider either the number or the age of the other planets. Consider, moreover, the manifold divergencies that have resulted from the theories propounded by these men. Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own creatures, whose number no man can compute."

(Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 162-163) [Emphasis added.]

Very few Bahá’í sources deal with this idea in detail, so interpretations range greatly and rely more on science than scriptural references.

Taken on its face — reading creatures as living things and planets as terrestrial or jovian planets — this statement is contradicted by current understanding of astrobiology and planetary science. Life, as currently known, would not evolve on any world lacking liquid water.

Bahá’ís could point to a broad interpretation of the passage, in which "creature" is defined as: "anything created" or "anything not self-existent" (in addition to the usual meaning of "living thing"). ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stressed that even the mineral kingdom is gifted by God with existence, and hence a "creature" of God.

They also could point to the possibility of continued future discoveries that would vindicate a more literal interpretation of the passage, supported by modern evidence and theories of durable and widespread life forms or based on an alternative biochemistry.

The idea of each star having planets is not very controversial. "Planet" was defined then as: "a celestial body which revolves about the sun in an orbit of a moderate degree of eccentricity." The Solar nebula|Nebular Theory]] suggests that every star forms with orbiting material.

On the subject of extraterrestrial life, the Universal House of Justice wrote the following:

"As you rightly state, Bahá’u’lláh affirms that every fixed star has its planets, and every planet its own creatures. The House of Justice states however, that it has not discovered anything in the Bahá’í Writings which would indicate the degree of progress such creatures may have attained. Obviously, as creatures of earth have managed to construct space probes and send them into outer space, it can be believed that creatures on other planets may have succeeded in doing likewise."

(From a letter dated 11 January 1982 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, published in a letter from the Universal House of Justice, 1996 Aug 06, "Sabeans, UFOs, Alien Abduction and Genetic Engineering")

For more on the science of extra-terrestrial life, see this BBC article. Also for more on the subject of intelligent extra-terrestrial life from a Bahá’í perspective, see this article.

Evolution

Entwicklungsgeschichte des Menschen ("Family-tree of man"), Ernst Haeckel (1874). Several statements from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá support the concept of an evolutionary "tree of life", that is, that the diversity of life on earth has a single origin.

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The concept of the origin of man has created tension between science and religion. Cultural traditions that are strongly influenced by monotheistic religions state that man was created and designed by God. Darwin's theory of evolution, in the eyes of many scientists and religious adherents, contracts the view of creation. Scientists argue that evolutionary theories provide adequate explanations for the existence of life, and that the forces of nature explain the workings of nature, and thus there is no compelling reason for the belief in God.

In regards to evolution and the origin of man, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave extensive comments on the subject when he addressed western audiences in the first two decades of the 20th century. These published talks can be found in Some Answered Questions, Paris Talks and the Promulgation of Universal Peace. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá describes the human species as coming into being through a developmental process – that Mehanian and Friberg argue is consistent with scientific evolution – and that the developmental process is working out of a divine creative impulse.

A fundamental part of `Abdul-Bahá's teachings on evolution is the belief that all life came from the same origin: "the origin of all material life is one..." (Promulgation, p. 350). He states that from this sole origin, the complete diversity of life was generated: "Consider the world of created beings, how varied and diverse they are in species, yet with one sole origin" (Paris Talks p. 51–52). He explains that a slow, gradual process led to the development of complex entities:

"[T]he growth and development of all beings is gradual; this is the universal divine organization and the natural system. The seed does not at once become a tree; the embryo does not at once become a man; the mineral does not suddenly become a stone. No, they grow and develop gradually and attain the limit of perfection"

(`Adbu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 198–99)

‘Abdu’l-Bahá also stresses the importance of interdependence and diversity on evolution; he states that all things are connected like a chain and it is through interaction that development and growth is achieved.. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states that humankind has progressed through stages; he states that humans did not appear all at once but instead developed gradually. He once again compares human evolution to the growth of an embryo into an adult:

"[I]t is evident and confirmed that the development and growth of man on this earth, until he reached his present perfection, resembled the growth and development of the embryo in the womb of the mother: by degrees it passed from condition to condition, from form to form, from one shape to another."

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 183)

While ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states that man progressed through many stages before reaching this present form, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states that humans are a distinct species, and not an animal. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states that in every stage of evolution though which humans progressed – either mineral, vegetable, and animal – they were potentially humans. Mehanian and Friberg argue that potentiality is a key concept in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's discussion of evolution. `Abdul-Bahá states that even if humans passed through an animal stage, it does not mean that humans are animals.

"But at all times, even when the embryo resembled a worm, it was human in potentiality and character, not animal. The forms assumed by the human embryo in its successive changes do not prove that it is animal in its essential character. Throughout this progression there has been transference of type, a conservation of species or kind. Realizing this we may acknowledge the fact that at one time man was an inmate of the sea, at another period an invertebrate, then a vertebrate and finally a human being standing erect. Though we admit these changes, we cannot say man is an animal. In each one of these stages are signs and evidences of his human existence and destination."

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 358)

‘Abdu’l-Bahá rejected the interpretation that the common ancestry of humans with other animals implies that humans are animals. He does not, however, deny that humans have much in common with the animal world, but denies instead that animal characteristics comprise humankind's entire nature. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states that humans are on a different plane because of their spiritual and intellectual powers:

"Though man has powers and outer senses in common with the animal, yet an extraordinary power exists in him of which the animal is bereft. The sciences, arts, inventions, trades and discoveries of realities are the results of this spiritual power"

(Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions p. 186)

While Abdu'l-Bahá states that humans species in its current form came out of evolution, he states that evolution is governed by universal law, and states that composition of elements responsible for the appearance of life and humans is not a random process:

"This composition and arrangement, through the wisdom of God and His preexistent might, were produced from one natural organization, which was composed and combined with the greatest strength, conformable to wisdom, and according to a universal law. From this it is evident that it is the creation of God, and is not a fortuitous composition and arrangement."

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 181)

Much of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's statements are in harmony with the conclusions of the evolutionary sciences.‘Abdu’l-Bahá supports an evolutionary perspective as the perspective for understanding the emergence of humans. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá describes humans as evolving through stages, including going through the animal stage, developing from a single origin through a slow process. He agrees with much scientific thought that the interdependence of different components in nature plays an important role in evolution.

There are, however, some differences between ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's statements and current scientific thought. The Bahá’í perspective that religion must be in accordance with science seems to suggest that religion must accept current scientific knowledge as authoritative; but this is not necessarily always the case as the present scientific point of view is not always correct, nor truth only limited to what science can explain.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá argues that humankind, whether potentially or in actuality, has always existed, much like a tree exists in a seed before it germinates.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá states that humans, while they share some common characteristics with animals, are in some fundamental ways distinct from them. He also states that humans have always existed, either potentially or in actuality. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, comparing the existence of a tree in a seed, states that humankind has always been present since the beginning of the evolutionary process, and links the evolutionary mechanisms to, not only as intrinsic to development of life, but also as the unfolding of God's creation.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá's comments seem to differ from the standard evolutionary picture of human development, where Homo sapiens as one species, along with the great apes, evolved from a common ancestor living in Africa millions of years ago. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, however, used the word "species" with the implication of "kind" or "category" and not in the modern biological sense; thus Mehanian and Friberg state that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's departures from the conventional interpretation of evolution are likely due "to disagreements with the metaphysical, philosophical, and ideological aspects of those interpretations, not with scientific findings."

Thus in Bahá’í view, humans are anatomically connected with the animals as in scientific thought, but their true reality, which is intellectual and spiritual, is distinct and separate. The Bahá’í view is that evolution has left a physical imprint on humankind by constraining humans for the need for food, shelter and other physical necessities, but that the rational mind and spiritual capacity open a vast range of choices which are not available to animals.

See also the following articles by Keven Brown, Stephen Friberg, Eberhard von Kitzing, and Bahman Nadimi.

References

• Esslemont, J.E. (1980). Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era (5th ed. ed.). Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0877431604. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
• Mehanian, Courosh (2003). "Religion and Evolution Reconciled: 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Comments on Evolution" (PDF). The Journal of Bahá’í studies. 13 (1–4): pp. 55-93. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on Science and Religion
• Astrobiology Magazine
• Warwick Leaflet on Science and Religion

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Bahá’í Faith and science.