Bahai Library Online

See also Talks and Audio presentations.

Presentations: Powerpoint/Keynote, PDF

  1. Jan T. Jasion. Abdu'l-Baha and "The Other" (2021-02). On xenophobia; Abdu'l-Bahá's response to it; his reactions to certain newspapers; the impact of xenophobia on digitized collections; some comments by Bahá'u'lláh on journalism. Text of a webinar presented to the Wilmette Institute (December, 2020).
  2. Christopher Buck, Nahzy Abadi Buck. `Abdu'l-Bahá's 1912 Howard University Speech: A Civil War Discourse for Interracial Emancipation (2012-12-22). Presentation at Grand Canyon Bahá'í Conference on Abdu'l-Bahá and the Black Intelligentsia, especially W. E. B. Du Bois; his speech to the NAACP; and reproductions of many newspaper clippings covering his visit to Washington, DC.
  3. Christopher Buck. Abdu'l-Baha's Life and Legacy: Key Facts (2021-12-11). The key principles of Bahá’u’lláh that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá expounded are part of his "living legacy" — i.e. these new or special principles are useful for presenting information about the Bahá’í Faith today.
  4. Christopher Buck, Kevin Locke. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Prophecy (2019). Slide-show overview of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's prophecy "these Indians will enlighten the whole world."
  5. Violetta Zein. `Abdu'l-Bahá, the "Mystery of God" / Abdu'l-Bahá, Le "Mystère de Dieu" (2021). Slideshow prepared by the Utterance Project for the centenary of the ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. In English, French, Italian, and Indonesian.
  6. Ray Estes, Miles Lane. Abrahamic Covenant as the Pathway to the Glory of God, The: Exploring the Mysteries of Divine Unity (2006/2011). 77 audio files of talks and interviews by a born-again Christian who became a Bahá'í, and related material, including presentations on spiritual truths and the rapture of "end times," and archive of the website innermeanings.com.
  7. Roger Coe. AI and the Human Spirit: From Existential Risk to Essential Development (2024-07). Presentation on numerous topics, including risks and potentialities of AI; Chinese philosophy; cybernetics, the "science of science"; philosophies of psychology; theories of pedagogy.
  8. Christopher Buck. Alain Locke: 'Race Amity' and the Bahá'í Faith (2007-09-24). Presentation in slide format about the "First Black Rhodes Scholar."
  9. Christopher Buck. Alain Locke: Bahá'í Principles and the Salvation of Democracy (2007). Long presentation in slide format on the history and influence of Alain Locke.
  10. Christopher Buck. Alain Locke: Race Leader, Social Philosopher, Bahá'í Pluralist: 94th Annual Commemoration of 'Abdu'l-Baha's 1912 Visit to Howard University (2006-04-15). Available both as audio and PDF, and includes press release.
  11. Christopher Buck. "And universal peace — in what Book is this written?": How and Why 'Abdu'l-Bahá Identified "New" and Distinctive Bahá'í Principles (2022-09). Reflections on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's answer to the question "What has Bahá’u’lláh brought that we have not heard before?"
  12. Maryam Valapour. Applying Bahá'í Principles to Address Current Ethics and Policy Debates in Organ Transplantation (2012-01-23).
  13. Iscander Micael Tinto, comp. Aspects of the Harmony of Science and Religion in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Talks (2010). Definitions of science and religion; relations between them as expounded in the discourses Abdu’l-Bahá's talks during His visits to Europe and America; concepts of intellect, mind and reason; responses to challenges from contemporary society.
  14. Boris Handal. Audio-Video Presentations: Mirza Mihdi; historia de la familia Khamsi; Varqá and Rúhu'lláh (2020). Links to five Youtube videos in English and Spanish, including "Mírzá Mihdí: The Purest Branch," "Mírzá Mihdí: La Rama Más Pura," "Historia de la Familia Khamsi, un Legado de Servicio," and "Life and Martyrdom of Varqá and Rúhu’lláh."
  15. Mary K. Radpour. Authenticity Project, The (2001-06). An effort to integrate Bahá’í ethical principles and the psychological dynamics of growth. In both presentation and long-form notes formats.
  16. Farnaz Ma'sumian, comp. Bahá'í Faith and Christianity, The (2008). Lecture notes compiled by Ma'sumian for teaching at a community college and a university, partly from other online sources.
  17. Christopher Buck. Baha'i Faith: The Basics: Presentation for Book Launch (2021-02-26). PowerPoint for live Zoom book launch of Bahá’í Faith: The Basics (Routledge, 2020), hosted by the Desert Rose Bahá’í Institute, on February 26, 2021; includes brief book excerpts.
  18. Hussein Ahdieh. Bahá'í History and Videos (2013-2022). Links to Zoom videos on a variety of topics: Kahlil Gibran, the life of Varqá, Bahá'í schools for girls and Tahirih's influence, martyrs in Nayriz, Abdu'l-Bahá in New York, and Harlem Prep School.
  19. Jonah Winters. Bahá'í Library Online at 25: Background, Functioning, and Future (2022-05). Notes written for the 25th anniversary of this website.
  20. Anne Gordon Perry. Behold!: A Program for the Bicentennial of the Birth of the Báb (2019). A fictionalized script of Bahá'í notables commenting on the 200th anniversary of the Bab's birth in 1819, based on passages from Robert Weinberg’s compilation The Primal Point: A selection of testimonials and tributes to the Báb and His followers.
  21. William S. Hatcher. Causality and Duality (2008).
  22. Robert Stockman. Cycles of Growth of the American Bahá'í Community (2010). PowerPoint presentation on the history of the American community, 1894-2009.
  23. Marco Oliveira. Giuseppe Castello, trans. Dei Verbum: Un punto di vista bahá'í della Costituzione Dogmatica Cattolica Romana sulla Rivelazione Divina (1999). Lo scopo di questa presentazione è quello di discutere alcune basilari credenze cristiane cattoliche sulla Rivelazione Divina e spiegare le sue differenze e somiglianze con la Fede bahá’í.
  24. Ahang Rabbani. Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh (2005). A course on Shoghi Effendi's book, a summary of its contents, and its historical context.
  25. Christopher Buck. Dynamic Bahá'í Principles - Expressed as Actions (2021-08-15). ‘Abdu’l-Bahá noted "special teachings of Bahá’u’lláh" as "new," "distinctive," and "not found in any of the sacred Books of the past" (1912). The book Bahá’í Faith: The Basics presents these as “dynamic Bahá’í principles, expressed as actions."
  26. William S. Hatcher. Elements of a Bahá'í-Inspired Natural Theology (2008).
  27. Violetta Zein. Extraordinary Life of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Slideshow / La vie extraordinaire de 'Abdu'l-Bahá diaporama (2021). This slideshow is a condensed version of the nine-part, 400-page, 900-photos & graphics online chronology, designed as an introduction to his life created for the centenary of his passing, entitled “The Extraordinary Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.”
  28. Shafigheh Fatheazam. Family Stories about Ismu'llahu'l-Asdaq and His Son Ibn-i-Asdaq (2020). Recollections from a descendant of Mulla Sadiq Muqaddas Ismu'llah as-Sadiq, the Hand of the Cause who was one of the earliest to become a Babi, from the time of the Bab to the time of Shoghi Effendi; includes many stories not recorded in written sources.
  29. Christopher Buck. Fifty Bahá'í Principles of Unity: A Paradigm of Social Salvation (2014). World religions are systems of salvation, liberation, or harmony, in direct response to the perceived human predicament. To Baha’is, this predicament is profound estrangement and the solution is world unity, from family to international relations.
  30. Dergham Aqiqi, Todd Lawson. Haykal or "Star Tablet" Written in the Báb's Own Hand: Form, Content, and Provisional Translation (2021-11). Detailed analysis of the content and translation of an undated haykal; the relation between the Báb’s composition and the Qur'an; scriptural/verbal and figural/artistic modes of revelation; symbolism of the star shape; role of repetition; dominion.
  31. William F. McCants. Hiding in Plain Sight: The Case for the Authenticity of an Alternative Portrait of the Bab (2021-08). On the possibility that a painting reproduced in a book from 1909 could in fact be a portrait of the Báb.
  32. Steven Kolins, ed. History of the Baha'i Faith in North Carolina, 1845-1970: Presentations from the First Summer Seminar (2018-08). Presentations at the first Summer Seminar on the history of the Bahá'í Faith in North Carolina, organized by Steven Kolins, sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Orange County NC, Aug 3-5 2018, at the Efland Bahá'í Center.
  33. Christopher Buck, Nahzy Abadi Buck. Homosexuality in the Baha'i Faith and in World Religions (2004-08-01). Slides of two presentations: Christopher Buck's "Homosexuality in World Religions" and Nahzy Buck's "Homosexuality in the Bahá'í Faith."
  34. Julia Berger. Ideas, Religion, and Social Change (2021). Links to a book chapter and video presentation and presentation notes (offsite) presented for the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities, on meaning-making processes driving NGO behavior and the Bahá'í Faith's pursuit of social change.
  35. Christopher Buck, Kevin Locke. Indigenous Messengers of God (2021). PowerPoint for Zoom presentation “Divine Teachers of the Americas” by Kevin Locke, hosted by Green Acre Baha’i School, October 2021.
  36. Christopher Buck. Indigenous Messengers of God: In Honor of Kevin Locke (1954-2022) (2022-12). Biographies and photos of Kevin and Patricia Locke and tributes to them; themes of respect for spiritual traditions, prophecies, and the destiny of indigenous peoples.
  37. Graham Hassall, ed. International Conference on Bahá'í Libraries and Archives (2003-01). Conference convened at Landegg International University for people to share experiences, learn about best practices, and begin developing a structure for world interaction among those who handle and organize Bahá’í library and archival materials.
  38. Bahá'í Internet Agency. Internet Guidance (2004-2009). Links to a variety of guidelines for online media: responding to opposition online; how to do podcasting and blogging; netiquette; SEO and hosting websites; using social networking sites; compilation on Internet communications; PowerPoint presentations.
  39. Christopher Buck. Joseph in Religious History and the Bahá'í Writings (2022-08-27). Just as the story of Joseph is the "best of stories," the metaphor of Joseph is the "best of metaphors": it is the most comprehensive, pervasive symbol and allegory of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Bahá’í Writings.
  40. Christopher Buck. Kevin Locke and the Tablet to Amir Khan (2024-08-03). The late Kevin Locke believed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablet to Amír Khán establishes that Indigenous Messengers of God were sent to the Americas. This understanding of Progressive Revelation has implications for interactions with Indigenous people.
  41. William S. Hatcher. Le concept de valeur humaine (2003-05-15).
  42. Robert Stockman. Legacy of `Abdu'l-Bahá's Visit to America, 1912, The (2012). Overview of Abdu’l-Bahá’s trip to the U.S. and Canada, its impact, his social action and public discourse, and comparison with similar "travel-teaching" trips by Protap Chunder Mozoomdar and Swami Vivekanada (Hindus) and Anagarika Dharmapala (a Buddhist).
  43. Luca Forconi. Lo sviluppo socio-economico della comunità bahá'í (2022). Panoramica sull’azione sociale baha’i con gran parte dei contenuti estratti e tradotti dal documento "For the Betterment of the World" (OSED / BIC, 2018), integrati da alcuni cenni alla letteratura in ambito economico.
  44. William S. Hatcher. Logical Proof of the Existence of God, A (2003).
  45. Steven Phelps, comp. Loom of Reality: A Partial Inventory of the Works of the Central Figures of the Bahá'í Faith (2020/2023). A website with thematic compilations of quotations from the Bahá’í Writings and beyond, and a catalog of almost 25,000 works attributed to the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, or Abdu’l-Bahá.
  46. Paula Bidwell. Many Messengers of God, A Native American Perspective: Deganawidah The Peacemaker (2011-07). Collection and analysis of proofs from the Bahá'í Writings about prophets from indigenous cultures. Includes illustrated slide-show presentation of the paper.
  47. Jack McLean. May Maxwell and the Maxwells of Montreal (2019-10). Presentation of Violette Nakhjavani's book The Maxwells of Montreal.
  48. Lil Osborn. Men and the Baha'i Faith: The role of indigenous men in the early Baha'i community in the British Isles (2016). Includes slide-show included when presenting the paper at the Bahá'í Studies Seminar, Kellogg College, Oxford (July 2016).
  49. Ahang Rabbani. Messianic Expectations in Nineteenth Century Christian and Islamic Communities (2006-02). The phenomenon of messianism and its manifestations in early-modern American Christianity and in Iranian Islam.
  50. William S. Hatcher. Minimalism (2008).
  51. Deborah Clark Vance. Naming Names: The Power to Control the Meaning of Media Symbols (2009-08-15).
  52. Patricia Locke. Native American and Other Indigenous Messengers of God (1993). God did not neglect the millions of indigenous peoples of the Western hemisphere; over the centuries, many messengers were sent to Indian nations to bring them divine theologies. Includes compilation of stories about Native prophets and prophecies.
  53. Paula Bidwell. Native American Vision and the Teachings of 'Abdu'l-Baha (2011). Presentation addressing issues of concern to Native Americans, cast in the light of statements of Abdu'l-Bahá from his 1912 visit to the United States.
  54. Jaine Toth. Now They Are Hanging Women (2018). Notes and script of a presentation on contemporary persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran; title taken from a newspaper headline for an article announcing the execution by hanging of ten Iranian Bahá’í women on June 18, 1983.
  55. Robert Stockman. Oceans of Light: The Major Works of Bahá'u'lláh (2010). PowerPoint presentation on the scope, style, and history of the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh.
  56. Ahang Rabbani. Pilgrimage in Baha'u'llah's Writings (2010-01). On pilgrimage to the Twin Shrines in the Holy Land and their Tablets of Visitation, to the House of the Bab in Shiraz, and to the House of Baha’u’llah in Baghdad. Includes provisional translations of several Tablets of Visitation.
  57. Duane Troxel. Powerpoints for Deepening (2004-2014). 26 presentations in Powerpoint format, on a variety of topics covering Bahá'í history, Central Figures, teachings, and relationship with Islam.
  58. Mehdi Wolf. Progressive Revelation: A Brief Circumstantial/Historical Contextualization (2022-05-16). Progressive revelation must be understood in the context of the twin purposes of a divine Manifestation, as well as the prevailing historical circumstances. The varying attitudes to law and science are used as test cases.
  59. Christopher Buck. Public Discourse on Race: Abdu'l-Bahá's 1912 Howard University Speech (2012-02-10). Presentation at Louhelen Bahá’í School on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the black intelligentsia, his views of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, and his message to African Americans and the "Whites."
  60. Graham Hassall, ed. Reference Desk, The: Projects that Support Bahá'í Scholarship in the Digital Age (2022). 13 presentations on how digital technologies are supporting Bahá’í scholarship. Webmasters, bibliographers, genealogists, and archivists speak about their journey in reference projects: origins, progress, and insights into how their projects are used.
  61. Christopher Buck. Religious Myths and Visions of America: How Minority Faiths Redefined America's World Role (2010/2012). Survey and comparison of ten religions that feature collective religious beliefs about America's mission and destiny, particularly in terms of its world role.
  62. Rhonda Palmer, Anne Gordon Perry. Remembering The Master (2012). Variations on a script for 1-3 voices, with both monologue and presentation versions, consisting of fictionalized retelling of stories about Abdu'l-Bahá visiting America.
  63. Badi Shams. Removing Poverty Through Virtues (2021-09). If humanity has more than enough food and resources for everyone, why do so many live in poverty? Humanity's materialistic rulers have failed to solve this issue. The solutions to extremes of wealth and poverty go beyond economic theories and norms.
  64. Deborah Clark Vance. Rethinking Women's Nature (2010-08-13).
  65. Christopher Buck. "Seal of the Prophets" and "Divine Presence": Why These Two Key Verses Should Be Read Together (2022-06). On two verses from the Qur'án on Muhammad as the "Seal of the Prophets" and the meaning of "attainment unto the divine Presence"; Shoghi Effendi as translator; comments by Nader Saiedi and Dergham Aqiqi; explanations from Kamalu'd-Din Bakhtavar.
  66. Fariba Moghadam. Secret of Divine Civilization, The (2021-05). Overview of the history Abdu'l-Bahá's treatise, and its themes presented through a compilation of quotations. Prepared for the Wilmette Institute.
  67. Marco Oliveira. Some Answered Questions: An Introduction to Bahá'í Teachings (2020). Background of this book and Laura Clifford Barney, and overview of its themes.
  68. Marco Oliveira. Study Guide of the Tablet of Maqsúd (2009). The Tablet of Maqsúd is a good presentation of the principles and teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. Its structure is suitable for a first contact with the Bahá'í Writings.
  69. Christopher Buck, Nahzy Abadi Buck. Tablet of Glad-Tidings: A Proclamation to Scholars and Statesmen (2012-12-24). The Lawh-i-Bishárát as a Proclamatory Aqdas and public announcement of principles from 'The Most Holy Book'; a proclamation to scholars and statesmen; Cambridge manuscripts from the E.G. Browne Collection; response to modernity; Persian original.
  70. David F. Young. Teaching Christians More Effectively: Handbook and Seminar (1999). Bahá'í views of Christianity; questions Christians might ask; interpretation of the Bible; theology of miracles, baptism, sin, Armageddon, and heaven and hell; social issues.
  71. Marco Oliveira. Ten Commandments, The: A Baha'i Perspective (2019). Overview of the history and theology of the Ten Commandments. Like Christianity and Islam, the Bahá’í Faith inherited and expanded the moral values exposed in the Ten Commandments.
  72. John S. Hatcher. Unveiling the Huri of Love (2005). Three versions of this paper: Powerpoint presentation, audio file, and published article.
  73. Steven Phelps. Verge of the New, The: A Series of Talks (2017-09-18). Introducing a way of looking at the past and future of religion in the context of the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment. Includes compilation of Writings on spiritual dislocation, science, language, spiritual evolution, nature, and revelation.
  74. Filip Boicu. What Is Bahá'í Education? (2022-08). different current expectations about what should fall under the topic of "Bahá’í education"; three types of curricula (FUNDAEC, Anisa, BIHE) and their theoretical sources; these must be drawn together into a field of study; the importance of universities.
  75. Wilmette Institute Presentations on Youtube.com (2011-2021). Link to Youtube channel with dozens of educational presentations and videos, listed here for keyword searching and tagging.
  76. Darius Shahrokh. Grace Shahrokh, comp. Windows to the Past (1992). Deepening talks on 25 topics about Bahá'í history and teachings, downloadable in MP3 audio format and PDF transcripts.
  77. Robert Stockman. Writings of the Bab, The: A Survey Based on English Language Sources (2010). PowerPoint presentation on the scope, style, and history of the Writings of The Báb.
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