Selected classes and invited talks

Most of these recordings are raw and unedited.

  • Mar. 2001, Haifa, Israel. “Cosmology and the Baha’i Faith” (part1 – intro to cosmology, part2 – cosmology and the Baha’i Writings).
  • May 2005, Jerusalem, Israel. “Canonical Translation in the Baha’i Faith”. Hebrew University symposium on Translations of sacred writings and their canonization.
  • Dec. 2005, Portland, OR, U.S.A. “Navigating the Ocean: The Writings of Baha’u’llah”.
  • Sept. 2007, Bosch Baha’i School. “The Tabernacle of Unity” (6 sessions).
  • Jan. 2008, U.K. National Baha’i Festival, University of Warwick. “Adversary or Ally? The New Atheism and the Baha’i Faith”.
  • Jan. 2008, The Guardian Science Weekly Podcast: “Evolution vs. Creation: A third way?” Interview with The Guardian
  • Feb. 2008, Haifa, Israel. “Systematic Study of the Baha’i Writings”.
  • Jan. 2009, Changing Times Conference, Verona, Italy. “Religion: Opium of the People?”
  • Jun. 2009, Irfan Colloquium, Acuto, Italy. “Beyond Athens and Jerusalem”.
  • Jul. 2009, Swedish Baha’i Summer School, Lundsbrunn, Sweden. “The Baha’i Faith and Atheism” (SoundCloud: part 1, part 2; YouTube: part 1, part 2)
  • Aug. 2010, Baha’i Summer School of Spain, Lliria, Spain. “Science and Religion in Baha’i Perspective” and “The Music of the Spheres: Art and Revelation”
  • Apr. 2011, Association for Baha’i Studies symposium on The Role of Religion in a Mature Society, 27 Rutland Gate, London, England. “Why Do We Need God?”, “Science and Religion”.
  • Jul. 2011, Norwegian Baha’i Summer School, Beitostølen, Norway. “Abdu’l-Baha’s Travels in the West” (4 parts)
  • Jul. 2011, Baha’i Summer School of Slovakia, “Science, Religion and Atheism”
  • Aug. 2011, Italian Baha’i Summer School, Acuto, Italy. ” Abdu’l-Baha’s Travels in the West” (4 parts)
  • Nov. 2013, Santa Monica, CA, U.S.A. “Science, Religion, and the Coming Spiritual Revolution” (SoundCloud, YouTube)
  • 2013, Wilsonville, OR, U.S.A. “Introduction to The Book of Certitude (the Kitab-i-Iqan)” (YouTube: part1, part2, part3, part4)
  • 2014, Wilsonville, OR, U.S.A. “Introduction to Abdu’l-Baha’s The Secret of Divine Civilization” (YouTube: part1, part2, part3, part4)
  • Apr. 2014, Santa Monica, CA, U.S.A. “Social Change and Spiritual Transformation” (YouTube)
  • Sept. 2014, Wilsonville, OR, U.S.A. “Introduction to Gems of Divine Mysteries” (YouTube, 14 parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14)
  • Dec. 2014, Persian Arts and Letters conference, London, England, “Global Perspective: The Viewpoint of Science”.
  • Mar. 2015, Wilsonville, OR, U.S.A. “Spiritual Transformation” (YouTube: part1 [start of talk is missing], part2, part3)
  • Dec. 2015, Acuto, Italy. “Science, Religion, and the Search for a New Narrative” (SoundCloud, 40 parts).
  • May 2016, Wilmette Institute (Zoom). “‘I am the Mystic Fane’: The Nature of the Manifestation in the Baha’i Writings” (YouTube)
  • Aug. 2016, “Baha’i Blogcast with Rainn Wilson – Episode 7: Steven Phelps” (SoundCloud, YouTube).
  • May-Aug. 2016, Stanford, CA, U.S.A. 4-part talk series on “The Nature of God” (YouTube), “The Nature of Spirit” (YouTube), “The Nature of Religion” (YouTube), “The Nature of Prophethood” (YouTube)
  • Nov. 2016, Wilsonville, OR, U.S.A. “Our Collective Spiritual Development” (YouTube)
  • May 2017, Association for Baha’i Studies Conference, Montreal, Canada. Plenary talk. “‘The Word that Shineth and Flasheth Amidst the Books of Men’: Text, Transformation, and the Nature of Reality” (YouTube)
  • Jul. 2017, Norwegian Baha’i Summer School, Beitostølen, Norway. “The Verge of the New” (SoundCloud: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8). Alternate link.
  • Sept. 2017, “Baha’u’llah’s Vision: A Bicentenary Celebration Scholarly Conference”, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A. “The Twin Manifestations and the Greater Enlightenment”
  • Oct. 2017, Firm Foundation Academy, Pike, CA, U.S.A. “Introduction to The Tabernacle of Unity” (YouTube: part 1, part 2)
  • Oct. 2017, Portland, OR, U.S.A. “Finding Common Ground: Religion and Emerging Consciousness” (YouTube).
  • Oct. 2017, Gladstone, OR, U.S.A. “Celebrating the Centenary of the Birth of Baha’u’llah”. Public talk. (YouTube)
  • Oct. 2017, Seaside, OR, U.S.A. “Celebrating Spirituality: A Gathering of Faith Traditions”. Public talk.
  • Nov. 2017, Firm Foundation Academy, Pike, CA, U.S.A. “Pragmatic Spirituality” (YouTube)
  • Dec. 2017, Wilsonville, OR, U.S.A. “Finding Common Ground: The principle of unity in the Baha’i Faith” (YouTube: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7)
  • Dec. 2017, Baha’i Winter School of Costa Rica, “Baha’u’llah and the Renewal of Religion: The Divine Philosophy of Abdu’l-Baha” (4 parts)
  • May 2018, Windstock youth retreat, Lyle, WA, U.S.A. “The Example of Abdu’l-Baha” (guided deepening)
  • Jul. 2018, Sheltering Branch Baha’i School, Camp Wooten, WA, U.S.A. “Religion Recast” (YouTube: part 1, part 2, part 3).
  • Aug. 2018, Santarem, Portugal. “The Forces of Love and Unity on the Verge of a New World” (5 parts).
  • Nov. 2018, Desert Rose Baha’i Institute, Eloy, Arizona. “The Verge of the New II” (YouTube: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4).
  • Feb. 2019, Lake Oswego, OR, U.S.A. “Introduction to The Call of the Divine Beloved”. (YouTube)
  • Apr. 2019, Oklahoma City, OK, U.S.A. “The Crisis of Meaning in the Modern World: The Baha’i Faith and the Renewal of Religion”.
  • May 2019, Windstock youth retreat, Lyle, WA, U.S.A. “Our Perception of Reality”.
  • Feb. – Jun. 2019, Lake Oswego, OR, U.S.A. “The Call of the Divine Beloved”. (YouTube: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10)
  • May 2019, New Thought Center, Lake Oswego, OR, U.S.A. “The Unity of Humanity and the Consciousness of the Divine”.
  • Jul. 2019, Chicago, IL, U.S.A. “Baha’i Blogcast with Rainn Wilson – Episode 37: Physics and Mysticism with Steven Phelps” (YouTube)
  • Jul. 2019, Sheltering Branch Baha’i School, Camp Wooten, WA, U.S.A. “Impelling the Development of Consciousness”. (YouTube: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5)
  • Aug. 2019, Wilmette Institute lecture (via Zoom). “Overview of the Writings of the Bab”. (YouTube)
  • Aug. 2019, Unity Museum, Seattle, WA, U.S.A. “From Tribalism to Unity: Science, Spirituality, and the Future of Humanity”.
  • Sep. 2019, College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita, CA, U.S.A. “From Chaos to Order: Science, Spirituality, and the Promise of the Generation to Come”.
  • Feb. 2020, Wilmette Institute lecture (via Zoom). “Overview of the Writings of Baha’u’llah”. (YouTube)
  • Jul. 2020, Sheltering Branch Baha’i School (via Zoom). “Exercising our Sociological Imaginations” (YouTube)
  • Aug. 2020, Danish Baha’i Summer School (via Zoom). “Impelling the Development of Consciousness for the Betterment of the World”. (YouTube: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5)
  • Sep. 2020, Baha’i Faith Modern Perspectives (via Zoom). “Can Science and Religion Ever Agree?” (YouTube)
  • Oct. 2020, Baha’i Faith Modern Perspectives (via Zoom). “When Spirituality and Religion Meet Science”. (YouTube)
  • Feb. 2021, Baha’is of Austin fireside (via Zoom). “The Cosmic Dance: The Unfolding of Consciousness in History” (YouTube)
  • Jul. 2021, Swedish Baha’i Summer School (via Zoom). “Some Thoughts on the Legacy of Abdu’l-Baha” (4 parts).
  • Jul. 2021, New York, NY, U.S.A. “Abdu’l-Baha the Divine Philosopher” (YouTube)
  • Jul. 2021, New York, NY, U.S.A. “Abdu’l-Baha the Mystic” (YouTube)
  • Aug. 2021, Institute of Noetic Sciences, Vancouver, WA, U.S.A. (via Zoom). “Some Thoughts on Consciousness”. (YouTube)
  • Dec. 2021, Baha’is of Austin fireside (via Zoom). “What is Real?” (YouTube)
  • Feb. 2022, Baha’i Faith Modern Perspectives (via Zoom). “The Search for Meaning and Purpose in the Universe”. (YouTube)
  • Apr. 2022, The Reference Desk Series (via Zoom). “Cataloguing and Indexing the Baha’i Writings at loomofreality.org”. (YouTube)
  • Apr.-Jul. 2022, class held on Zoom. “Mysticism and the Baha’i Faith” (YouTube: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7).
  • Jul. 2022, Finnish Baha’i Summer School, Korpilahti, Finland. “The Forces of History: A Twofold Process” (YouTube: part 1 “The Crisis of Meaning”, part 2 “The Cosmic Context”, part 3 “Completing the Narrative”, part 4 “The Mystic Path”, part 5 “The Divine Plan”).
  • Aug. 2022, Unity Museum, Seattle, WA, U.S.A. “Science, Spirituality, and the Circle of Existence” (YouTube: part 1, part 2, part 3)
  • Jan. 2023, Oxford Baha’i Seminar (via Zoom). “In search of a Baha’i cosmology: Consciousness, the multiverse, and the circle of existence”
  • Feb. 2023, Baha’i Chronicles Zoom. “Across the Universe and Within the Soul: Cosmos and Consciousness in the Baha’i Writings”. (YouTube)
  • Feb. 2023, Château du Feÿ, Villecien, France. “Science and Spirituality: Cosmos, Mythos, and the Search for a New Cosmology” (YouTube)
  • May 2023, Oakville Baha’is Zoom. “The Baha’i Faith and the Enlightenment” (YouTube)
  • Jul. 2023, Sheltering Branch Baha’i School, Camp Wooten, WA, U.S.A. “Thinking Differently about Religion: Catalyzing a Shift of Mind” (5 parts).
  • Jul. 2023, Baha’is of Austin Zoom. “Are We One, or Many?” (YouTube)
  • Jul. 2023, The Global Governance Podcast with Augusto Lopez Claros. “The Interconnectedness of Science and Religion”. (Spotify) A summary of this podcast conversation was published here.
  • Oct. 2023, Westside Interfaith Neighbors at Jaya Hanuman Hindu Temple. “The World is One Family – with two Faith Communities”
  • Nov. 2023, “Evolution and the Baha’i Faith” (via Zoom). (YouTube)
  • Dec. 2023, Oakville Baha’is Zoom. “Uniting the World: A new grand narrative?” (YouTube)
  • Feb. – Apr. 2024 , “The Book of Certitude” (YouTube: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8)
  • Jan. 2024 – present, “The Athens and Jerusalem Podcast”, with Profs. Kamran Namdar and Knut Ove Æsøy. (YouTube, Apple Podcasts)

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