On Teaching Progressive Revelation: A Big Shaut Out to Rick

Did you notice all the supportive comments from Emily, Tan Ya, and Rick Schaut to Max's posts on his blog, Religious Ramblings? Here is Rick's way of explaining progressive revelation to Max using geometry.

To understand the Baha’i concept of progressive revelation, try this little thought experiment. Stand at the North Pole. Go south a ways, then turn left. Go east a ways, then turn left. Go north again until you get back to the north pole.

You’ve just walked a triangle, but you’ve made two 90-degree turns. The sum of the interior angles of that triangle has to be greater than 180 degrees.

But, waittaminute! Didn’t we learn in grade school that the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is always equal to 180 degrees? How can I have just walked a triangle whose interior angles have to be greater than 180 degrees?

In grade school, we drew our triangles on flat surfaces. The triangle you walked in this little thought experiment was on the surface of the Earth: a sphere, if you will. The basic concepts are the same, but you reach different conclusions, because the surfaces are different.

The different religions are like Geometry on these different surfaces. The basic concepts are the same, but they reach different, even contradictory, conclusions. Metaphorically, the “surfaces,” i.e. our social conditons, cultural millieu and intellectual capacity, aren’t the same. So, the different religions teach different, sometimes even contradictory, things.

Good luck with your search.

Rick, Comment to Max's "First of All," Religious Ramblings