Paradise and Paradigm

Christopher Buck is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion at Millikin University. He is the author of Symbol and Secret: Qur'an Commentary in Baha'u'llah's Kitab-i Iqan, the 1996 Baha'i Book of the Year. Buck is also a two-time recipient of the Award for Excellence in Baha'i Studies, presented by the Association for Baha'i Studies.

"If the Baha'i Faith has a specialist in comparative religion, it is Christopher Buck … This volume is certainly … the best comparative work on the Baha'i Faith and another religious tradition that has yet appeared, and may serve as a model for future such studies." — The Baha'i Studies Review"Christopher Buck's project is a success both as a methodological experiment and as practical comparative effort … As a piece of Baha'i scholarship, it remains unparalleled. In terms of academic comparative efforts involving the Baha'i Faith, Buck's book is a pioneering work." — H-Net Reviews (H-Baha'i)"…the book's four central chapters offer separate historical and symbolic profiles, first of Syriac Christianity and then of the Baha'i faith. Buck has packed these chapters with fascinating detail, assembling a wealth of background unavailable elsewhere in any single volume that I am aware of … Paradise and Paradigm is a goldmine of information about two relatively little studied but fascinating developments in Middle Eastern religious history … a very worthwhile contribution." — Middle East Studies Association of North America"This is a provocative and groundbreaking work. Its careful attention to methodology and its attempt to work through the project with the attitude of experimentation will provide a significant impulse to the study of religion, especially in relationship to the symbol systems, which religions contain." — University of Toronto Quarterly"This is an extremely powerful contribution to an important part of comparative religions, and will establish its author as a major academic scholar. Its purpose is to compare the symbologies of early pre-Muslim Persian (Sassanian) Christianity, especially in the work of Ephrem the Syrian, with the late nineteenth century Persian religion of the Bahai's, post-Islamic, as centered in the writings of Baha'u'llah. The symbolic center of the comparison is the family of symbols having to do with paradise. Both in its methodology and its scholarly treatments of Persian Christianity and Baha'i Faith, the book is insightful. It gives its subjects allure." — Robert Cummings Neville, author of The Truth of Broken Symbols"This work is a model of comparison, an eye-opener regarding the interesting Syriac Christian traditions, and quite a useful and revealing account of the Baha'i." — William Paden, University of Vermont

• AcknowledgmentsI. Comparing Paradises1.0 Objective1.1 Paradises and Paradigms1.2 Systems of Symbols1.3 Key Symbols1.4 Dimensional Model1.5 Symbolic Profiles1.6 Worldview Comparison1.7 Symbolic Transformation as Paradigm ShiftII. A Historical Profile of Syriac Christianity2.0 Syriac Christianity2.1 Ephrem the Syrian and Aphrahat*, ''the Persian Sage"2.2 Syriac Christianity as a Mesopotamian Response to Late Antiquity2.3 The Universality of the Church of the East: How Persian was Persian Christianity?III. A Symbolic Profile of Syriac Christianity3.0 Syriac Symbol TheoryKey Scenarios3.1 Doctrinal: The Way3.2 Ritual: Robe of Glory3.3 Ethical: Sons/Daughters of the Covenant3.4 Experiential: The Wedding Feast3.5 Mythic: Harrowing of Hell3.6 Social: Noah's Ark/MarinerRoot Metaphors3.7 Doctrinal: Physician3.8 Ritual: Medicine of Life3.9 Ethical: The Mirror3.10 Experiential: The Pearl3.11 Mythic: Tree of Life3.12 Social: Paradise3.13 The Syriac Paradigm of PurityIV. A Historical Profile of the Baha'i* Faith4.0 Introduction4.1 Baha'u'llah*4.2 The Baha'i* Faith as a Response to ModernityV. A Symbolic Profile of the Baha'i* Faith5.0 Baha'i* Symbol TheoryKey Scenarios5.1 Doctrinal: The Promised One5.2 Ritual: The Covenant5.3 Ethical: Illumination5.4 Experiential: Lover and the Beloved5.5 Mythic: The Maid of Heaven5.6 Social: The Crimson Ark and the Holy MarinerRoot Metaphors5.7 Doctrinal: Physician5.8 Ritual: Wine/Water of Life5.9 Ethical: Mirror/Gems5.10 Experiential: The Journey5.11 Mythic: Lote-Tree/Sinai5.12 Social: Paradise5.13 The Baha'i* Paradigm of UnityVI. Paradise Similarities and Paradigm Differences6.0 Procedure for Dimensional Analysis6.1 Doctrinal6.2 Ritual6.3 Ethical6.4 Experiential6.5 Mythic6.6 SocialVII. Paradise and Paradigm7.0 Introduction7.1 Sapiential Theosis* : A New Reading of Ephrem the Syrian's Hymns on Paradise7.2 Paradise and Society in Baha'i* TextsVIII. Conclusions8.0 Interpretation of Results8.1 Evaluation of Research Design8.2 Counterindications8.3 Suggestions for Further Study8.4 Relevance to the Study of ReligionAppendixesI AbbreviationsII. Syriac Transliteration SchemeIII. Arabic/Persian Transliteration SchemeIV. Fragments of a Lost Persian Christian LiturgyWorks CitedIndex