Abstract: This article discusses theological statements of the
possibility of extraterrestrial life (ETI) in the universe in
Christianity and the Bahá'í Revelation. The persecutions of
Giordano Bruno and Galileo are used to disclose the dogma of the
Catholic Church concerning ETI. Quotations from the Bahá'í
Writings are given to disclose the exotheology of the Bahá'í
Revelation. Contains Endnotes and Bibliography. See also compilation on extraterrestrial life.]
Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every
planet its own creatures, whose number no man can compute. -
Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
I[t] must be confessed in other realms there are Still other
worlds, other breeds of men... -Lucretius (99-55 BC), On the
Nature of Things
I have ... the strong belief ... that there are inhabitants in
other worlds - Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Critique of Pure Reason
Fascination with the possibility of intelligent lifeforms on
other planets has lasted over two millennia, and perhaps much
longer. Philosophy, science, religion and literature all contain
strong statements of belief about such a possibility. It is a
profoundly interesting question because it raises issues about
the origins of life and our place in the physical and spiritual
universe. It also has inspired a new discipline: exotheology.
Exotheology is the examination of theological issues as they
pertain to Extraterrestrial Intelligence (ETI). Traditional
Christian theology and the Bahá'í Revelation disclose fascinating
observations on exotheology.
In Western Christendom the Inquisition burned the Dominican monk
Giordano Bruno at the stake in Rome in 1600 for insisting on a
heliocentric (sun-centered) rather than a geocentric (earth-
centered) universe. Bruno took matters a step further by
insisting the universe was populated by ETIs. Brun said,
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these
suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve
around our sun. Living being inhabit these worlds." (Drake, Is
Anyone Out There? Page 65)
"If one accepted the view that the universe is infinite, which
Bruno believed was unavoidable, then its being peopled by a
limited, and therefore "imperfect," population of intelligent
beings was to Bruno incompatible with the infinite goodness or
perfection attributed to God and His works. Thus, he said,
"infinite perfection is far better presented in innumerable
individuals than in those which are numbered and finite." He
therefore concluded that there must be an infinite number of
morally imperfect beings, inhabiting the infinitude of worlds."
(We Are Not Alone Page 15)
The Catholic Church made a public declaration of its theological
position on extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) when it clashed
with Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) over the movement of the earth
some 350 years ago. Galileo exhibited the first telescope in
1609. With it he visually confirmed the 100-year old Copernican
(heliocentric) hypothesis that the earth revolves around the sun.
Galileo's view ran counter to 1300-year old Church dogma which
had already adopted the Ptolemaic (geocentric) system. In the
Ptolemaic system planets--as well as the sun--circle a fixed
Earth.
The disagreement did not come down to a choice between two
competing scientific views. It was instead Galileo's scientific
challenge to a theologically-fixed notion of reality sanctioned
by the Church. Catholic theologians argued their case against
Galileo on the grounds that the Copernican system (which he
supported) contradicted what was construed to be the last refuge
of literal inerrancy, The Bible. As 'proof' of Galileo's error
theologians of the Church offered in evidence the first verse of
the 93rd Psalm, which says in part: 'the world also is
stablished, that it cannot be moved.' Another citation came from
Joshua where God had 'delivered up the Amorites' to the children
of Israel and commanded the sun to stand still 'And the sun stood
still, and the moon stayed,...' (10:13) And again, 'The sun and
moon stood still in their habitation...'. (Habbakuk 3:11) (A
History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom
128)
[1]
Officers of the Church argued that Galileo's ""pretended
discovery vitiates the whole Christian plan of salvation. ... It
upsets the whole basis of theology. If the earth is a planet, and
only one among several planets, it cannot be that any such great
things have been done specially for it as the Christian doctrine
teaches. If there are other planets, since God makes nothing in
vain, they must be inhabited; but how can their inhabitants be
descended from Adam? How can they trace back their origin to
Noah's Ark? How can they have been redeemed by the Savior?""
(Warfare 3.:2)
[2]
Under the threat of torture, death and excommunication Galileo
recanted his support for the Copernican System.
[3]
He died under house arrest in 1642. The view of an earth-
centered universe prevailed in official Church doctrine for the
next 350 years--up to 1992--when Pope John Paul II finally
acknowledged the Vatican's error in the matter of Galileo's
trial. ("Galileo" Microsoft, Encarta, 1994)
So for over 350 years virtually all of Western Christendom held
to an implied denial of the possibility of other worlds inhabited
by ETIs. During those 350 years science made impressive
astronomical discoveries, notably the finding that there are
billions of stars in our own galaxy--the Milky Way--and perhaps
billions of galaxies in the universe. Mathematical probabilities
suggested to some a high likelihood of intelligent life having
appeared elsewhere.
[4]
In 1960 astronomer Francis Drake began searching the heavens with
a radio telescope in hopes of receiving messages from intelligent
beings outside our solar system. The search for ETI has been
expanded tremendously and continued to the present. Though there
have been some "hits" thus far there have been no independently
confirmed transmissions received.
[5]
A science that has accompanied space exploration is exobiology.
Exobiology, is the study of the conditions necessary to support
the independent development of extraterrestrial life. Direct
proof has not yet been found of life anywhere in the universe
other than on the earth, although the recent press conference on
the results of a two and one-half year study of a Martian
meteorite leaves open the possibility of science confirming
extraterrestrial life in our time--but extraterrestrial life that
existed millions of years ago and only unicellular life at that.
It has only been in the past year that astronomers have confirmed
the existence of planets outside our own solar system. (Time
Magazine, 5 February 1996) For many in the scientific community
the debate rages over whether or not life arises spontaneously
when the conditions are right or whether it is transmitted
through space in some way.
The Bahá'í Writings contain many statements that implicitly and
explicitly point to the existence of not only extraterrestrial
lifeforms but to EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE (ETI) as well.
It should be pointed out here that while the Bahá'í teachings
expressly support the notion of the agreement of science with
religion and vice versa, it is also believed that statements in
Bahá'í sacred literature are--to Bahá'ís--statements of reality,
whether they apply to spiritual law or natural law. Bahá'u'lláh
said, "Say: O leaders of religion! Weigh not the Book of God
with such standards and sciences as are current amongst you, for
the Book itself is the unerring Balance established amongst men."
(The Kitab-i-Aqdas 56)
Implicitly, a clear logical deduction of the existence of ETI can
be drawn from statements of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Briefly the argument
runs thus, God has always existed. Manifestations have always
existed (presumably for the spiritual education of souls). Man is
phenomenal on this Earth. There was a time when the Earth did
not exist. There was never a time when man did not exist.
Logical deduction: There was a time when the Earth did not exist.
During that time man existed somewhere else in the universe.
"...[T]he reality of Divinity is without a beginning, creation is
also without a beginning." (SFTW A-B 61) "[T]he coming of the
Manifestations of God are not circumscribed by time." (FWU 53)
"...[A]s God is creator, eternal and ancient, there were always
creatures and subjects existing and provided for." (FWU 101)
"...[T]he human soul has existed on the earth for prolonged times
and ages, yet it is phenomenal." (SAQ 151) "...[T]he earth has
not always existed,...". (SAQ 152) "...[T]he universe is not
limited to this terrestrial globe." (SAQ 152) "...[I]t cannot be
said there was a time when man was not." (SAQ 196) "...[I]t
cannot be imagined that the worlds of existence, whether the
stars or this earth...were without man!" (SAQ 197)
Another indirect statement comes from Bahá'u'lláh in the "Hidden
Words": "Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient
eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I
created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to
thee My beauty." This clearly implies the existence of man as
correlated with "ancient eternity" of God's existence. Or we can
quote from "Gleanings" when and argue that God's title "the Lord
of Men" implies the existence of men somewhere at all times! (GL
150)
Let's examine some more explicit statements of extraterrestrial
lifeforms. Bahá'u'lláh says in Gleanings, "Know thou that every
fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own
creatures, whose number no man can compute." Shoghi Effendi was
asked about this quotation in 1937:
"Regarding the passage on p. 163 of the 'Gleanings'; the
creatures which Bahá'u'lláh states to be found in every planet
cannot be considered to be necessarily similar or different from
human beings on this earth. Bahá'u'lláh does not specifically
state whether such creatures are like or unlike us. He simply
refers to the fact that there are creatures in every planet. It
remains for science to discover one day the exact nature of these
creatures." (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to
an individual believer, February 9, 1937) (Lights of Guidance
478)
What is unclear in Shoghi Effendi's response is whether or not
these "creatures" are sentient. Do they possess souls or are
they simply some form of animal or other type of life?
The "Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh" reveal an equally ambiguous passage:
"Verily I say, the creation of God embraceth worlds besides this
world, and creatures apart from these creatures." (188)
Shoghi Effendi did make one unequivocal statement of ETI in the
authorized Writings when he said, "'Abdu'l-Bahá stated there are
other worlds than ours which are inhabited by beings capable of
knowing God." (Light of Divine Guidance, Vol. 2, 82) "Worlds" is
plural meaning more than one, other than our own. That means
there are at least two more distinct civilizations that are
evolving on other planets.
The most explicit statements about ETI come from Divine
Philosophy a book of statements allegedly made by 'Abdu'l-Bahá
and published by Isabel Fraser Chamberlain. While this book
(available online at
http://bahai-library.com/books) may not be wholly authentic the statements
are quite provocative when taken together with those already
cited.
"The earth has its inhabitants, the water and the air contain
many living beings and all the elements have their nature
spirits, then how is it possible to conceive that these
stupendous stellar bodies are not inhabited? Verily, they are
peopled, but let it be known that the dwellers accord with the
elements of their respective spheres. These living beings do not
have states of consciousness like unto those who live on the
surface of this globe; the power of adaptation and environment
moulds their bodies and states of consciousness, just as our
bodies and minds are suited to our planet." (114)
It would seem from the foregoing quotation that other sentient
extraterrestrial lifeforms might or might not look like us. What
is most intriguing in the quotation just cited is this line: "the
power of adaptation and environment moulds their bodies and
states of consciousness, just as our bodies and minds are suited
to our planet." Their "states of consciousness" or "minds" could
be different from ours. Shoghi Effendi said that "man lives in a
three dimensional plane of consciousness." (Lights, #1575) Does
that imply that ETIs might have different mental capabilities
than we do? Possibly. Might they also have different
awarenesses of their environment than we do? Possibly. For
example, electromagnetic radiation which comes from the sun
ranges from radio waves to x-rays. Within this spectrum is light
energy ranging from infrared to ultraviolet, with visible light
being between infrared and ultraviolet. The human eye is capable
of seeing only that tiny portion of electromagnetic radiation
known as visible light on Planet Earth. We need special
technology (infrared film or night vision cameras) to record the
infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum before it can be
seen by us. Might such extraterrestrial beings literally be able
to "see" things that our unaided vision is incapable of
perceiving?
The Bahá'í Writings make it clear that all self-conscious beings
are made in God's image. 'Abdu'l-Bahá said, "A human being is
distinguished from an animal in a number of ways. First of all,
he is made in the image of God, in the likeness of the Supernal
Light, even as the Torah saith, 'Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness.' [Genesis 1:26] This divine image betokeneth
all the qualities of perfection whose lights, emanating from the
Sun of Truth, illumine the realities of men. And among the
greatest of these attributes of perfection are wisdom and
knowledge." (Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 140)
Humans potentially possess the ability to manifest the qualities
and attributes of God.
The role of the Manifestations of God must be taken into account
in the evolution of ETI. It is safe to say that the cosmic model
of spiritual and social evolution is based upon Progressive
Revelation. Progressive Revelation is a process in which a
Perfect Man appears bearing a Revelation from God. As a result
of the Manifestation of Perfect Men mankind is raise up
spiritually and socially. These Manifestations have appeared in
cycles. Shoghi Effendi identified nine Earth-based
Manifestations Whose lives resulted in "nine great world
religions." (Lights, #1374) Including the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh,
the other seven are Sabean (whose Founder's name is unknown),
Krishna (Hindu), Moses (Judaism) Zoroaster (Zoroastrian), Buddha
(Buddhist), Christ (Christianity) and Muhammad (Islam). (Lights,
#1373 & #1694) That there were many more is testified to the
Writings. 'Abdu'l-Bahá said:
"...[T]here have been many holy Manifestations of God. One
thousand years ago, two hundred thousand years ago, one million
years ago, the bounty of God was flowing, the radiance of God was
shining, the dominion of God was existing." (Promulgation of
Universal Peace, 463)
Further, "All that we can say is that this terrestrial globe at
one time did not exist, and at its beginning man did not appear
upon it. But from the beginning which has no beginning, to the
end which has no end, a Perfect Manifestation always exists.
This Man of Whom we speak is not every man; we mean the Perfect
Man. For the noblest part of the tree is the fruit, which is the
reason of its existence. If the tree had no fruit, it would have
no meaning. Therefore, it cannot be imagined that the worlds of
existence, whether the stars or this earth, were once inhabited
by the donkey, cow, mouse and cat, and that they were without
man! (Some Answered Questions, 196-197) One might reasonably
deduce from these quotations that sentient beings on other
planets have evolved in a different time frame and have different
capabilities than us; or less possibly, be at nearly the same
evolutionary state that we are. The evolutionary state of Planet
Earth is planetary unity. In the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh
Shoghi Effendi tells us that the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh will
take us to planetary unity:
...[T]he founding of a world civilization and culture--all of
which must synchronize with the initial stages in the unfoldment
of the Golden Age of the Bahá'í Era--should, by their very
nature, be regarded, as far as this planetary life is concerned,
as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society,
though man, as an individual, will, nay must indeed as a result
of such a consummation, continue indefinitely to progress and
develop. (Page 163)
The Bahá'í Writings state categorically that while Bahá'u'lláh's
Dispensation (Revelation) will endure for at least one thousand
years, He inaugurates a new cycle that will last 500,000 years.
(World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, 132; Citadel of Faith, 5) It
naturally raises the question: "What comes after the achievement
of planetary unity...inter-planetary unity?"
...[W]e cannot say definitely that His Revelation will be inter-
planetary in scope. We can only say that such a thing may be
possible. What Bahá'u'lláh means by His appearance in 'other
worlds' He has not defined, as we could not visualize them in our
present state, hence He was indefinite, and we cannot say whether
He meant other planets or not..." (From a letter written on
behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, December 24,
1941; Lights, #1555)
Nevertheless, Shoghi Effendi does not limit the Revelation of
Bahá'u'lláh to our star system alone. In answer to a letter from
a Bahá'í written in 1938 he wrote:
"As to your question whether the power of Bahá'u'lláh extends
over our solar system and to higher worlds; while the Revelation
of Bahá'u'lláh, it should be noted, is primarily for this planet,
yet the spirit animating it is all-embracing, and the scope
therefore cannot be restricted or defined." (Lights, #1594)
Thus it would seem that--unless Bahá'u'lláh was somehow able to
simultaneously appear on two or more separate planets at the same
time--sentient beings on other planets have a sequence of
Manifestations unique to that planet. This being the case, makes
one wonder--if these other civilizations are not more backward
than us--then just how far ahead of us might they be?
Whether or not they are ahead or behind we do know that 'Abdu'l-
Baha encouraged the exploration of other planets. Hand of the
Cause H.M. Balyuzi reports that "...['Abdu'l-Bahá] had been
speaking of the great technological and scientific strides of the
age; it would be meet, He said, if ways and means of reaching
other planets were now devised." ('Abdu'l-Bahá by H.M. Balyuzi,
377)
What we can glean from this brief review--apart of the
fascinating prospects arising from eventual contact with ETIs
from other star systems--is the remarkable flexibility of Bahá'í
exotheology.
Other religious systems have interpreted their Revelations in
ways that have fixed theological doctrine rather inflexibly.
Discovery of extrasolar sentient lifeforms will require a
significant recasting of traditional dogma before the majority of
faithful Catholics--for example--can fit such a conception within
its worldview. Consider the Catholic doctrines of Original Sin,
Incarnation, Atonement and Resurrection in the light of ETI.
There will need to be a considerable shift in the existing
Catholic exotheological paradigm to accommodate such an
understanding.
Taking just the theological notion of the Incarnation as an
example: "The existence of extra-terrestrial intelligences would
have a profound impact on religion, shattering completely the
traditional perspective on God's relationship with man. The
difficulties are particularly acute for Christianity, which
postulates that Jesus Christ was God incarnate whose mission was
to provide salvation for man on Earth. The prospect of a host of
'alien Christs' systematically visiting every inhabited planet in
the physical form of the local creatures has a rather absurd
aspect. Yet how otherwise are the aliens to be saved?" (Paul
Davies, "God and the New Physics" qtd. in "The Gods Have Landed")
Such convoluted revisionist ploys to make traditional theology
fit with modern scientific findings will not happen in the Bahá'í
Revelation because of its teaching of the fundamental agreement
of science with religion (theology). Indeed, Bahá'í exotheology
already contains strong statements of ETI existence as well as a
cosmic model (Progressive Revelation) to explain the process of
the spiritual education of extrasolar souls.
Regardless of nature of ETI Bahá'u'lláh reminds us all (ETIs and
Earthlings) are bound by the same spiritual law:
O SON OF MAN! Wert thou to speed through the immensity of space
and traverse the expanse of heaven, yet thou wouldst find no rest
save in submission to Our command and humbleness before Our Face.
(Arabic Hidden Words, #40)
Endnotes
1. Biblically-speaking, a counter-argument in support for ETI
might be found in John 10:16: 'And other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold' or John 14:2: 'In my Father's house are many
mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you.' 2 Lest anyone should image that
Protestants held a more liberal view on the Earth's movement,
Andrew Dickson White reports:
"All branches of the Protestant Church - Lutheran, Calvinist,
Anglican - vied with each other in denouncing the Copernican
doctrine as contrary to Scripture; and, at a later period, the
Puritans showed the same tendency. Said Martin Luther: "People
gave ear to an upstart astrologer who strove to show that the
earth revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the
moon. Whoever wishes to appear clever must devise some new
system, which of all systems is of course the very best. This
fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but
sacred Scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand
still, and not the earth." "(Warfare, 3:1)
3. In 1616 Pope Paul V ordered that Galileo be brought before the
Inquisition and confronted by the Grand Inquisitor, the Jesuit
cardinal Robert Bellarmine. Galileo, knowing that his scientific
view was a heretical one in the eyes of the Church
and therefore
punishable by excommunication and deathreversed himself.
""I, Galileo, being in my seventieth year, being a prisoner and
on my knees, and before your Eminences, having before my eyes the
Holy Gospel, which I touch with my hands, abjure, curse, and
detest the error and heresy of the movement of the earth."" (A
History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom by
Andrew Dickson White 1896; 1965, p. 3:3)
Galileo preserved his life and went on with his research. In
1632 he published a book on tides which again gave strong support
to the Copernican System. He was again summoned to Rome and
again stood before the Inquisition. (Cardinal Bellarmine was
dead by then.) Though Galileo presented two licenses permitting
him to publish his book, he was convicted of having violated the
terms of the 1616 Inquisition which had forbade him to ever speak
or write of the Copernican System as valid. He again recanted
his "heresy" and was sentenced to life imprisonment which was
quickly commuted to permanent house arrest. He died under house
arrest in 1642. In 1979 Pope John Paul II appointed a papal
commission to review Galileo's case.
Finally, in October 1992, the Vatican admitted its 360 year old
error, thereby opening a theological door to the possibility of
ETI in the universe. ("Galileo" Microsoft, Encarta, 1994.)
4. Drake's Equation estimating the probability of intelligent
extraterrestrial lifeforms just in our galaxy capable of
communicating over interstellar distances. The formula and
explanation follows:
The Formula: N = R* fp ne fl fi fc L.
The explanation of the formula and its seven factors is as
follows:
Where: N = Number of communicating civilizations (N). N varies
with the values assigned to each of the seven factors. -
Factor 1: R = Rate of starbirths (R*). Life requires a home
planet, which in turn requires a home star. Over the lifetime of
the galaxy, the average number of stars formed each year is 10.
- Factor 2: fp = Number of stars with planets. What portion of
stars will go on to form planets? Astronomers estimate that
planets form around all stars, thus setting f at 1.
- Factor
3: ne = Planets with life-supporting environments. What
percentage of planetary systems include a habitable world? Drake
believed all systems should be able to produce one and set this
number at 1. So every solar system should have been able to
produce one inhabited world.
- Factor 4: fl = Planets with
life. Of habitable worlds, how many actually produce life? Many
specialists believe life begins fairly easily (as it did on
Earth) and should emerge on all habitable planets, making fl =
1.
- Factor 5: fi = Intelligent life. Of life-bearing
planets, only a small fraction will have intelligent life.
Assumption is that intelligence has a 1 in 10 chance of emerging,
making fi = 1.
- Factor 6: fc = Communicating societies.
Even intelligent life may not develop radio or may not wish to
contact others. If one out of ten alien intelligences is able
and willing to communicate, fc is 1.
- Factor 7: L =
Civilization life span. How long a civilization lasts after
developing radio is uncertain, given the risk of catastrophes
such as nuclear war. At a 1961 conference L was set to from
1,000 to 1,000,000,000 years. One scientist has pointed out that
though we may wish to insert values for each of the seven factors
we have the problem of not even being able to make a
"guesstimate" for some of them. For example "we still have
insufficient information about the presence of planets, and even
less about the number that are" located the proper distance of
their respective suns. (Life Search, Time-Life Books, 90-91)
5. Ninety-eight percent of its data is simply noise and various
forms of interference. The other two percent--although not
necessarily signals from 'others' are good extraterrestrial
candidates. Sagan and Horowitz published the data of 5 years of
searching and 2 years of followup in The Astrophysical Journal in
1993. "After three surveys of the sky" there are "11 "events.""
These 11 satisfy all but one of the criteria to acknowledged as
genuinely alien signals: Verifiability. He said, "We've never
been able to find any of them again. We look back at that part
of the ky three minutes later and there's nothing there. We look
again the following day: nothing. Examine it a year later, or
seven years later, and still there's nothing. It seems unlikely
that every signal we get from alien civilizations would turn
itself off a couple minutes after we begin listening, and never
repeat." (Pale Blue Dot 359)
Bibliography
'Abdu'l-Bahá. 'Abdu'l-Bahá on Divine Philosophy. Compiled by
Isabel Fraser Chamberlain. Boston, MA: Tudor Press,
1918.
Foundations of World Unity. Wilmette, IL: Bahá'í
Publishing Trust, 1945.
Promulgation of Universal Peace. Compiled by Howard
MacNutt. Wilmette, IL.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 2nd
edn., 1982.
Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Translated by a Committee at the Bahá'í World Centre and
by Marzieh Gail. Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1978.
Some Answered Questions. Compiled and translated by
Laura Clifford Barney. Wilmette, IL.: Bahá'í Publishing
Trust, 5th edn., 1981. Bahá'u'lláh.
Bahá'u'lláh. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. Trans.
Shoghi Effendi. Wilmette, IL.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust,
2nd ed., 1983.
The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh. Wilmette, IL.: Bahá'í
Publishing Trust, 1990.
Balyuzi, H.M. 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The Centre of the Covenant of
Bahá'u'lláh. Oxford: George Ronald, 1971.
The Bible. King James Version.
Encarta Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation, 1994. Funk &
Wagnall's Corporation. "Galileo" & "Exobiology", 1994.
Shoghi Effendi. Citadel of Faith. Wilmette, IL.: Bahá'í
Publishing Trust, 1980.
Light of Divine Guidance. Vol. II. Letters from the
Guardian [Shoghi Effendi] of the Bahá'í Faith to
individual believers, groups and Bahá'í communities in
Germany and Austria. Hofheim-Langenhain, Germany:
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany,
Bahá'í Verlag, 1985.
World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. Rev. edn. Wilmette, IL.:
Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1965.
Helen Hornby. Lights of Guidance. New Delhi: Bahá'í Publishing
Trust, 3rd edn., 1994.
James R. Lewis, Ed. The Gods Have Landed. Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1995.
Life Search. Time-Life Books, 1989.
Gary Matthews. The Challenge of Bahá'u'lláh. Oxford: George
Ronald, 1993.
Carl Sagan. Pale Blue Dot. New York: Random House, 1994.
Walter Sullivan. We Are Not Alone. New York: Penguin Group
(PLUME), 1994 rev. ed.
Andrew Dickson White. A History of the Warfare of Science with
Theology in Christendom. 1896; 1965.