privileged to
recognize the station of Baha'u'llah have the bounty of access to a
Revelation which casts light upon all aspects of thought and inquiry, and
are enjoined to use the understanding which they obtain from their
immersion in the Holy Writings to advance the interests of the Faith.

Those believers with the capacity and opportunity to do so have repeatedly
been encouraged in their pursuit of academic studies by which they are not
only equipped to render much needed services to the Faith, but are also
provided with the means to acquire a profound insight into the meaning and
the implications of the Baha'i Teachings. They discover also that the
perceptions gained from a deeper understanding of the Revelation of
Baha'u'llah clarify the subjects of their academic inquiry.

It is useful to review a number of statements written by Shoghi Effendi on
this subject. To a believer who had completed advanced academic studies in
a subject related to the Teachings the Guardian stated, in a letter
written on his behalf:

It is hoped that all the Baha'i students will follow the noble example you
have set before them and will, henceforth, be led to investigate and
analyse the principles of the Faith and to correlate them with the modern
aspects of philosophy and science. Every intelligent and thoughtful young
Baha'i should always approach the Cause in this way, for therein lies the
very essence of the principle of independent investigation of truth.

When he was informed of the enrolment of a scientist in the Faith, the
response set out in the letter written on his behalf was:

We need very much the sound, sane, element of thinking which a
scientifically trained mind has to offer. When such intellectual powers
are linked to deep faith a tremendous teaching potential is created....

His secretary wrote, on another occasion, that:

Shoghi Effendi has for years urged the Baha'is (who asked his advice, and
in general also) to study history, economics, sociology, etc., in order to
be au courant with all the progressive movements and thoughts being put
forth today, and so that they could correlate these to the Baha'i
teachings. What he wants the Baha'is to do is to study more, not to study
less. The more general knowledge, scientific and otherwise, they possess,
the better. Likewise he is constantly urging them to really study the
Baha'i teachings more deeply.

In the simultaneous endeavour to pursue their studies and to del