Some Answered Questions

‘Abdu’l-BaháProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.5

Word count: 466K words
Chapters: 47

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Some Answered Questions by `Abdu'l-BaháAuthor: `Abdu'l-Bahá, 1844-1921,Language: English, Class: BP: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Islam, Bahaism, Theosophy, Other and new beliefs, Release Date: Sep 18, 2006

Editor's review

This is a question-and-answer work by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, compiled from oral replies and therefore retaining a sense of live dialogue: the questions are specific, and the answers unfold layer by layer, touching on religion and science, soul and matter, the oneness of humanity, and relations among religions. Compared with systematic theological treatises, its readability comes from the question-and-answer progression; readers can jump to the questions they care about or read continuously to sense the coherence of the argument. The book's value lies in showing how the Bahá'í Faith confronts common challenges in the modern intellectual context, discussing principles while striving for rational explanation, making it a window into this faith's way of thinking. Its strength is the intimacy and directness of the Q&A format; its difficulty is that some topics presuppose a religious context, so non-believers should note the premises of the argument. Overall, it is better read with questions in mind than treated as a neutral philosophy textbook.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who want to understand Bahá'í thought through a Q&A format
Learners interested in the relationship between religion and science
Educators or community workers needing material for interfaith dialogue

Not a good fit for

Researchers seeking strict academic annotation and textual criticism
Readers expecting purely philosophical argument without religious premises
Readers who want only short summaries and will not follow the argument

Reading tips

First skim the list of questions, then choose three to five you care about most and read them closely
When you reach a key argument, restate it in your own words to test whether you truly understand it
Mark pages where you disagree, and after finishing, review their premises and inferences together

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Does the Q&A format make the content seem fragmented?

Individual questions may seem independent, but many answers share the same line of thought on the oneness of humanity and the evolution of religion. It is best not to judge from one or two questions; reading several related topics in succession makes the inner coherence easier to see.

What use is this book to non-Bahá'í readers?

It can be read as a sample of how a modern religious thought responds to science, the soul, religious diversity, and similar issues. Even without full agreement, readers can understand this faith's way of arguing and reflect on their own assumptions about these issues.

Can the answers in the book be taken as scientific conclusions?

They should not be understood that way. The discussion of religion and science here is an exposition from a faith perspective, not a scientific experiment or academic verdict. Readers should distinguish its religious argumentation from scientific knowledge and avoid conflating the two.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

‘Abdu’l-Bahá Author · Iranian · 1844–1921

‘Abdu’l-Bahá (1844–1921), born ‘Abbás Effendi in Tehran, Iran, was a leading figure of the Bahá’í Faith and the eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh. After long imprisonment in ‘Akká, he was released in 1908 and subsequently traveled to Egypt, Europe, and the United States to spread Bahá’í teachings. His works address doctrinal exposition, ethical exhortation, and memorials of figures of the faith. Representative titles include Memorials of the Faithful, Paris Talks, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, Tablets of the Divine Plan, and Some Answered Questions, along with compiled or translated texts such as Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. His writing, often in the form of talks, letters, and answers to questions, is plain and hortatory in tone and had a profound influence on the spread of the Bahá’í Faith in Europe and America. He died in Haifa in 1921.