antici-

Greg
Greg
Aug 28, 2017 · 9 min read

-Pation

— Dr. Frank-N-Furter

In his article “The Known and Unknown: Physics and the Revelation of Baha’u’llah.Vahid Houston Ranjbar lists some of the developments of physics and shows how they were anticipated in the Bahá’í Scriptures. In a follow-up comment to that article, I listed several more anticipations of science, but — due to limited space — did not include the passages from the Writings demonstrating where and how discoveries in physics had been usurped. I do so herein. The statements I made in the comment appear as bolded headings in this article.

`Abdu’l-Bahá’s imagery that the universe is infinite happened before the Shapley-Curtis debate.

Two astronomers differed about whether the Milky Way galaxy was the extent of the universe, and also about where in the Milky Way our sun, Sol, was located. Altho only 2 astronomers took part in the debate, they were exponents of the 2 predominant and conflicting views of the cosmos at that time.

Harlow Shapley stated that the galaxy in which our solar system is located was the whole of the cosmos. He also placed Sol far from the center of that Milky Way galaxy. Heber Curtis demurred that the universe had many such galaxies as ours. He further insisted that Sol was near the middle of the Milky Way.

Of course, we now know that Curtis was correct about the number of galaxies (lots) in the megacosm. But Shapley was more near correct about Sol’s location within the Milky Way.

From the viewpoint of this article, what is important about the debate is the year it was held: 1920. `Abdu’l-Bahá’s body passed away in 1921. For many years He had been teaching those who would hear that the cosmos was unending and the worlds of God were infinitely beyond infinite. Here is but 1 quote from a compilation published in 1918:

This physical universe is infinite, and if material existence is endless, how much more so are the worlds of God! When we think of the visible worlds as infinite, how can we think that the worlds of God are limited? — Abdu’l-Bahá, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on Divine Philosophy, compiled by Elizabeth Fraser Chamberlain, Tudor Press, 1918, p.118

Altho this compilation was published in 1918, the quote is from a talk `Abdu’l-Bahá gave in Paris in 1911.

The quotes on this topic in the Bahá’í Scriptures, some of them dating from decades before the Shapley-Curtis debate, are voluminous and unambiguous.

`Abdu’l-Bahá’s explanation that the universe evolves from state to state was given before inflation theory was proposed; and also before the idea arose that constants of the universe may have varied over time.

https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010100/a010128/BigBang_HD_LARGE_QT_Video_1.mp4

For this point, while `Abdu’l-Bahá clearly beat the scientists to the punch re the evolution of the cosmos, not much has been translated yet into English to permit grasping more fully what He might have meant. The short quote goes:

…it is clear and evident that the universe is evolving…That is to say, it is progressively transferred from one state to another. Má’idiy-i-Ásmání, compiled by ‘Abdu’l-Hamíd Ishráq Khávarí, New Delhi Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1984, vol. 2, p. 69

This quote is itself an expansion on a quote from Bahá’u’lláh. A sentence extracted from 1 of His explanations of cosmogony is:

That which hath been in existence had existed before, but not in the form thou seest today. — Bahá’u’lláh, “Tablet of Wisdom”, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1988 pocket-size edition, p. 140

So Bahá’u’lláh Himself also informs us the universe changes from form to form.

This insight was revealed long before the Big Bang was proposed. Even years later, no less than the great Professor Albert Einstein, Nobel laureate, still believed in the steady-state universe. Obviously, then, the specification about the evolving universe was there for the better part of a century before Professor Alan Guth proposed his inflation theory. Even more recently some physicists have tried to demonstrate that the constants of the cosmos have changed over time. All of these theories are proposals for how the universe has evolved from state to state.

Bahá’u’lláh’s assertion that the worlds of God are infinite was revealed before the multiverse was proposed.

I have an informal email, quoted with permission, from scholar Keven Brown in which he states.

One of the more common Arabic words [in the Bahá’í Scriptures] that is translated as ‘world’ or ‘universe’ is عالم (in romanized form, ʿ ālam). I understand it to mean the whole of the physical creation [i.e., multiverse]; whereas ‘other worlds’ [in the Bahá’í Scriptures] would, in this regard, refer to other dimensions or non-physical realms, not to other planets.

Further, I have permission from Vahid Houston Ranjbar to quote him:

Yes I agree with you and Keven, I think [the] Baha’i writings almost require an infinite multi-verse of some sort.

Mr. Ranjbar is both a Bahá’í and, according to him, a “physicist working on beam and spin dynamics”.

And from the Bahá’í Scriptures themselves, starting with the same quote from above:

This physical universe is infinite, and if material existence is endless, how much more so are the worlds of God! When we think of the visible worlds as infinite, how can we think that the worlds of God are limited? There is no beginning and no end to the material or spiritual worlds. — `Abdu’l-Bahá, `Abdu’l-Bahá on Divine Philosophy, compiled by Elizabeth Fraser Chamberlain, Tudor Press, 1918, p. 118

In fact, the Bahá’í Scriptures are replete on this topic. Here are but a few examples (substituting for “worlds” as per Keven Brown):

As to thy question concerning the worlds of God. Know thou of a truth that the worlds of God are countless in their number, and infinite in their range. None can reckon or comprehend them except God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise…Verily I say, the creation of God embraceth worlds besides this world, and creatures apart from these creatures. In each of these worlds He hath ordained things which none can search except Himself, the All-Searching, the All-Wise. Do thou meditate on that which We have revealed unto thee, that thou mayest discover the purpose of God, thy Lord, and the Lord of all worlds. — Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1990 pocket-size edition, pp. 151–153

Consider the following well-known tradition…: “God, exalted be He, fashioned one hundred thousand, thousand lamps and suspended the Throne, the earth, the heavens and whatsoever is between them, even Heaven and Hell — all of these in a single lamp. And only God knows what is in the rest of the lamps.” The fact that philosophers and sages have posited limits and restrictions for such matters is to be explained by the limitations of people’s minds and perceptions and the blindness of the followers of allusions, whose natures and intellects have been rendered dull and inanimate by the interposition of many veils. — `Abdu’l-Bahá, “Tablet of the Universe”, provisional translation, originally published in Makátib-i ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Volume 1, pages 13–32, 1997

Know thou that the expressions of the creative hand of God throughout His limitless worlds are themselves limitless. Limitations are a characteristic of the finite, and restriction is a quality of existent things, not of the reality of existence.

This being the case, how can one, without proof or testimony, conceive of creation being bound by limits? Gaze with penetrating vision into this new cycle. Hast thou seen any matter in which God is bounded by limits which He cannot overstep? Nay, by the excellence of His glory! On the contrary, His tokens have encompassed all things and are sanctified and exalted beyond computation in the world of creation. — Ibid.

Bahá’u’lláh’s (and, indeed, the Buddha’s) specification that every instant regenerates all of the multiverse pre-dates the discovery of the quantum leap. (1952, if I recall correctly.)

Every thing must needs have an origin and every building a builder. Verily, the Word of God is the Cause which hath preceded the contingent world — a world which is adorned with the splendours of the Ancient of Days, yet is being renewed and regenerated at all times. — Bahá’u’lláh, “Tablet of Wisdom”, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1988 pocket-size edition, p. 141

Completion is simply and solely dependent on the will of God because creation is a continuous process. God does not create a being which then continues to exist on its own. On the contrary, everything is at every moment coming into existence and ceasing to exist. Bahá’u’lláh describes this as the continuous reflection of the different names of God, including the names of Life-Giver and Life-Taker. If nothing in the realm of creation is characterized by continuous existence, and everything is always created anew, then perfection or completion is only a matter of the divine act of creation. It is the will of God to bring into existence any being at any moment in any form He desires. — Saiedi, Nader, Logos p. 189f., summarizing Bahá’u’lláh’s Kitáb-i-Badí’, Prague: Zero Palm Press, 1992, pp. 121–123

Know thou moreover that every created thing is continually brought forth and returned at the bidding of thy Lord, the God of power and might. — Bahá’u’lláh, “Tablet to Vafá”, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1988 pocket-size edition, p. 183

These examples of the Bahá’í Scriptures anticipating science are simply of few of those re cosmogony. They are in addition to those specified by Vahid Houston Ranjbar in his somewhat broader article on physics.

There is another quote — a fav among Bahá’ís — about which I have long speculated. I think Bahá’u’lláh probably chuckled when He revealed these sentences, thinking to Himself, “Wait until they figure this 1 out!” But perhaps I am all wrong here, and maybe the quote merely contains a coincidence. After all, in the hundreds and hundreds of volumes of Bahá’í Scripture, random chance will ensure many coincidences.

The quote is

So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth. The one true God, He Who knoweth all things, Himself testifieth to the truth of these words. — Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1990 pocket-size edition, p. 288

Not to detract an iota from the obvious and potent spiritual truth of this emanation of Revelation, but what in actually illumines the whole earth, physically? Sol. How does Sol work? By fusing (unifying) hydrogen atoms into helium atoms. Since, Bahá’u’lláh tells us, this world is a metaphor for all the worlds of God, I do not believe such coincidences are. I believe there is no other way to construct reality than as an infinite series of matryoshka dolls.

Simply and ineluctably, every truth must be reflected in every manner at every level of existence. Consequently, Scripture at all times addresses everything God created and loves, for each according to its capacity and each according to its need \Apologies to Karl Marx/: from the smallest string of the least quanta to the very Kingdom of Names itself. Such Revelation would be 1 manner in which the Primal Will regenerates every particle and every soul in all the illimitable myriadverse.

There are vast fields of sciences now and the Bahá’í Scriptures anticipate much in many of them. Have fun discovering these insights and explanations. I do.

)

Greg

Written by

Greg

As with Zaphod Beeblebrox, I’m “just zis guy, you know?” Unlike Zaphod, I like to think about things.

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