Neither of my theses have been publically published, but, since they are more official and do include original research and material, I include them on their own page. Other publications will be posted as completed. Another major publication available elsewhere at this site is A Resource Guide for the Scholarly Study of the Bahá'í Faith, a joint effort between Robert Stockman and myself.

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Theses

1. Bachelor's thesis: Thinking in Buddhism: Nagarjuna's Middle Way, 1994, 183 pages. Madhyamika Buddhism, the philosophical foundation behind both Zen and Tibetan Buddhism and possibly behind Hinduism's Advaita Vedanta, is one of the most thoroughly apophatic religious philosophies in the history of religions. This thesis describes and analyzes the core text of Madhyamika, a third-century C.E. collection of mystical couplets called "Roots of the Middle Way." Both it and the thesis serve as introductory textbooks on this school of Buddhism.

2. Master's thesis: Dying for God: Martyrdom in the Shii and Babi Religions, 1997, 134 pages. Shi'ism has developed an ethos of suffering and martyrdom almost unparalleled in the history of religions. Both the Babi and Baha'i religions reflect this ethos of their parent religion, but in markedly differing ways: the Babis were zealous revolutionaries, teaching that Persian religious institutions of the day were highly corrupt and that the time for a new Prophet had come. While they rarely if ever fought on the offense, they were willing and at times eager to sacrifice their lives. Baha'u'llah, however, taught that He was the new prophet, and that the time for peace had come. While retaining the use of of martyrdom and suffering symbolisms, he transformed them into metaphors for peace and service. (This is parts one and two--Shiism and Babism--of the three-part continuing study: part three, on the Baha'i Faith, has not yet been written).

   Other publications

3. Review of Buddhism and the Baha'i Faith, by Moojan Momen (Oxford: George Ronald, 1995). Review published in the Journal of Baha'i Studies 6:4 (1994).

4. Reviews of Revisioning the Sacred: New Perspectives on a Bahá'í Theology (Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions, volume 8), ed. Jack McLean (Los Angeles: Kalimát Press, 1997) and Symbol and Secret: Qur'an Commentary in Baha'u'llah's Kitab-i-Iqan (SBBR, volume 7), by Christopher Buck (Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1995). Reviews published in Iranian Studies 32:1 (Winter 1999).

5. Review of Symbol and Secret: Qur'an Commentary in Baha'u'llah's Kitab-i-Iqan, by Christopher Buck (Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1995). Review published in the Journal of Baha'i Studies 9:3 (September 1999) 69-75.