Bahá’í Ethics in Light of Scripture Volume 1

Bahá’í Ethics in Light of Scripture  (2007) by Udo Schaefer Volume 1

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Contents

Preface
Chapter 1 The Baha’i Faith: A Historical Overview
Chapter 2 Doctrines: A Systematic Survey

1. God
2. Creation
3. Revelation
4. The Messengers, the ‘Manifestations of God’
5. The Baha’i Faith and Its Relationship to Other Religions
6. Man
7. The Covenant of God
8. The Word of God
9. The Recognition of Truth
10. Evil, Suffering and Theodicy
11. Death, Immortality, Resurrection and the World to Come
12. Rites, Prayer, Fasting, Meditation
13. Bahá’u’lláh
14. The Political Dimension
15. The Oneness of Mankind
16. A Global Order
17. The ‘Most Great Peace’

Chapter 3 Prolegomena to Baha’i Ethics: The Resurgence and Reconstruction of Morality

1. The Spirit of Modernism and the Crisis of Morals
2. Whence a New Ethics?
3. The Ethos of Interfaith Dialogue
4. A New Option

Chapter 4 Exordium

1. The Centrality of Moral Orientation in Baha’u’llah’s Revelation
2. Categories of Norms

   The Criterion for Distinction

   Differences in Implementation, Development and Nature

   The Implementation of Norms

   The Development of Norms

   The Coercive Nature of Law

Chapter 5 On the Origin, Derivation and Theological Vindication of Moral Values

1. The Origin of Moral Values in Christian and Islamic Thought
2. Ethical Voluntarism in the Baha’i Faith
3. On Natural Law
4. A New Dimension in Ethical Thought
5. The Law of God: A Manifestation of His Mercy and Grace
6. The Infallibility of the Manifestations
7. The Authenticity of the Revealed Word
8. The Law of God — A Provocation?
9. The Source of Ethical Knowledge

Chapter 6 The Metaphysical Nature of Man

1. Human Nature in Philosophy and the Humanities
2. Baha’u’llah’s Anthropology and the Process of Spiritualization
3. The ‘Self’ and the ‘Flesh’
4. Renunciation and Detachment
5. Human Weakness and Divine Assistance
6. Baha’u’llah’s Verdict on Asceticism
7. Digression: Baha’u’llah’s Verdict on Hedonism

Chapter 7 Man’s Responsibility

1. The Metaphysical Relevance of Human Actions
2. Good Will and Right Motives Good Will

   The Knowledge of God

   The Love of God

   The Fear of God (taqwd, khashiyyah)

   Faith in God and Morality

   A Hierarchy of Motives

   The Fear of God and Obedience to the ‘Higher Powers’

3. Free Will versus Determinism
4. Sin, Repentance and Forgiveness

Chapter 8 Bahá’í Epistemology: Reason and Conscience

1. Reason

   On the Claim to Moral Autonomy

   On the Limitations of Reason

   Reason According to the Testimony of Scripture

   Reason in Need of an Absolute Standard

   Theonomy and Autonomy

2. Conscience

   Conscience in Christian and Islamic Doctrine

   Conscience in Christian Tradition

   Conscience in Islamic Tradition

   The Term ‘Conscience’ in Baha’i Scripture

   The Pure Heart and Moral Judgement

   The Two Spheres of Perception

   Conscience — An Autonomous ‘Creative’ Instance?

   Freedom of Conscience and Independent Search for Truth

   The Formation of Conscience — Moral Education

   Special Issues

Chapter 9 Liberty and its Limits

1. The Western Concept of Liberty
2. Liberty within the Bounds of Moderation
3. Political Liberty
4. Divine Law and “True Liberty’

Chapter 10 General Outline

1. Basic Structures
2. The Moral Action
3. An ‘Ethic of Ultimate Ends’ or ‘An Ethic of Responsibility’?
4. Features of Baha’i Ethics in Comparative Perspective

   The Moral Philosophy of Kant and Baha’i Teachings

   Islamic Ethics and Bahá’í Teachings

Appendix

I. What is the ‘Independent Search for ‘Truth’?

II. Freedom of Conscience and its Limits

III. Freedom of Conscience versus State Law and Majority Decision

IV. The Freedom of Historical Research

Bibliography
Index of Names
General Index