A contingent world is a world where the future is dependent upon the
present. Baha'u'llah called our world "the contingent world" many times,
like in this quote:
"Whatsoever in the contingent world can either be expressed or
apprehended,
can never transgress the limits which, by its inherent nature, have been
imposed upon it." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of
Baha'u'llah,
p. 150)
Presumably His world, or God's reality, is not contingent but absolute.
His
Truth is true regardless of the contingent world or empiricism or any
other
consideration.
Religious truth is revealed, not verifiable, but is not necesarily the
same
truth as absolute truth. Religious or revealed truth is reasonable, not
scientifically verifiable. Examples of revealed or religious truth are
Progressive Revelation, the Abomination of Desolation, that Manifestations
of God walked the earth, the Greater Covenant of God and the attributes of
God.
When we accept religious truth we put our religious world in order, we use
the reasons to accept that truth to help us decide the truth of other
propositions, like the Covenant of Baha'u'llah and how to live our
individual lives.
Existentialism is the proposition that we create our world, our realities,
meaning and truth, with our lives and our work. Existential truth is found
through living, working, making reality and meaning, that such only exists
if we make it so.
In existentialism truth becomes verifiable after the fact, that no
absolute
truth exists unless we live it and give meaning to our truths.
So, if any of you have stuck through this far, it should not be difficult
to
get you to consider the difference between existential truth and religious
truth.
We cannot know absolute Truth, and our contingent world is limited in what
it is possible for us to know. But it is possible to see clearly what is
religious truth and what is a fact, and the differences between the two.
I believe, for various reasons, that existential truth and religious truth
only differ by whether or not absolute truth exists. If we believe that
God's Truth exists then we believe our contingent world will inevitably
progress as foretold by Baha'u'llah. If we do not believe in such
absolute
Truth the future of this contingent world can still proceed in the same
manner.
It is the difference between "can" and "will", between the possible and
the
foregone conclusion, and I submit, between the inevitable regardless of my
personal actions and what I am responsible to do.
--Kent
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