We must not take many of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statements as dogmatic finalities, for there are other points which when added to them round out the picture. For instance, when He calls Aristotle and Plato Philosophers of the East, He is obviously placing them in that category because He believes they belong more correctly to Eastern culture than to Central European and the New World cultures of the West. When He calls the philosophers of the West materialistic this does not for a moment mean He includes all Western philosophers for, as you truly point out, many of them have been very spiritual in their concepts....
Historians cannot be sure Socrates did not visit the Holy Land. But believing as we do that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had an intuitive knowledge quite different from our own, we accept His authority on this matter....
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 7 June 1946 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi; ‘Arohanui, Letters from Shoghi Effendi to New Zealand’)
