It can be helpful to consider that, on occasion, a believer
may discover that a personal understanding differs to some degree from the
teachings. How can it be otherwise, when our conceptions are forged in a social
milieu that Bahá’u’lláh has come to radically transform? “An exact and thorough
comprehension of so vast a system, so sublime a revelation, so sacred a trust,”
Shoghi Effendi reminds us, “is for obvious reasons beyond the reach and ken of
our finite minds.” A sensible approach is simply to recognize that the human
mind is both finite and fallible and that acquiring spiritual insight and
greater understanding is a gradual and ever-unfolding process that requires
time, continued study, reflection on action, and consultation with others. This
perspective is quite different, however, from contending with or attempting to
change explicit provisions of the Faith. Humility is required, rather than an
insistence that one’s personal views at any given time are correct.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a
letter dated 22 April 2013 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
to an individual believer)
