Bibliography: #BIB23634

web link	bahai-library.com/bibliography/BIB23634
reference type	Book Section
online here	Bahá'í Universalism and Native Prophets
title	Bahá'í Universalism and Native Prophets
book title	Reason & Revelation : New Directions in Bahá'í Thought
series title	Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions
author	Buck, Christopher
Authority control 1	Christopher Buck
authority control	Christopher Buck
editor	Fazel, Seena and Danesh, John
year	2002
publisher	Kalimát Press
place published	Los Angeles, CA
abstract	There has been a revival of interest in native spirituality. This essay explores the possibility of accepting prophets from indigenous cultures in the Bahá'í doctrine, reflecting a development that has already taken place in popular Bahá'í belief in North America. A hitherto understudied Persian text by 'Abdu'l-Bahá establishes this principle in such a way that its explicit enunciation is now possible. The prophetic credentials of Iroquois culture hero and statesman Deganawida are examined as a text case. The legend of Deganawida has a kernel of historicity overlaid by hagiography. Nonetheless, if the Bahá'í principle of progressive revelation can assimilate the Amerindian spiritual legacy, then it might be possible to accord Deganawida a theoretical status within Bahá'í prophetology, and affirm Bahá'u'lláh's unifying role in world history, as oral cultures take their place alongside the more familiar "literate" traditions.
language	English
keywords	INDIGENOUS PEOPLES; MANIFESTATIONS; NORTH AMERICA; DEGANAWIDA
pages	173–201
section	7.
series volume	v.13

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