Two short videos about the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and Shoghi Effendi are the Wilmette Institutes latest effort to provide basic background information on the Bahá’í Faith. The two informal talks were recorded for use at the beginnings of courses on the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and Shoghi Effendi, respectively. But they are on the Wilmette Institute’s YouTube channel and available to all.
Introduction to the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, by Robert Stockman, is a 33-minute review of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings. The talk
- compares the quantity of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation to both the Bible and Qur’an;
- notes the different genres (such as essays and poetry) that Bahá’u’lláh uses;
- explores the language He uses; and
- provides a chronological listing of Bahá’u’lláh’s major works, noting the evolution of themes in them.
Introduction to the Writings of Shoghi Effendi, also by Robert Stockman, is shorter, just 19 minutes long. The video
- summarizes Shoghi Effendi’s life;
- touches on the major priorities of his Guardianship;
- summarizes the vastness of Shoghi Effendi’s writings and their sophistication; and
- lists the major works of Shoghi Effendi in chronological order, with some attention to the events of the time.
Both videos have a “cc” button that, if clicked, will turn on the closed captioning/subtitles. A short video about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is in the planning stage. Please let us know if you find the videos useful (or not):
wi@usbnc.org.
