February 25, 2005

Wilmette Institute Focuses on Texts

February, March, and April all will see Wilmette Institute courses on authoritative texts. February 15 marked the beginning of a course on The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, a collection of recently translated tablets by Baha'u'llah to kings and rulers. The works occupy an important stage in the early to middle part of Baha'u'llah's revelation, after the emphasis on mystical topics and scriptural exegesis typical of His earliest works and before His emphasis on personal laws and principles of social reform that dominate much of his later revelations. A small but dedicated group of students has begun to study the tablets; there is still room for more. The course will not be rerun for three years.

March 15 will mark the beginning of a course on The Promised Day is Come, Shoghi Effendi's 1941 letter about the apocalyptic conditions of the world and the divine promise they hold. This is the Wilmette Institute's first course on the work, and it should be popular.

The Wilmette Institute's course on the Qur'an begins April 15. First offered in 2002, the course is a chance to fulfill the Guardian's exhortation that the Baha'is should study the revelation of the Muhammadan dispensation. The course covers the history of the revelation of the Qur'an, the contents of individual surahs (chapters), the compiling of the surahs into a single book, and the history of interpretation of some of the text.