Ask me anything about the Baha'i Faith

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as i have written before, any religion that began after Pentecost Sunday is proclaiming that our Lord Jesus Christ did not give us human beings everything, including the information, we need to gain Eternal Life.

ask yourselves, what is the lacking from the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

ask yourselves, what do i need besides than the gift of Eternal Life?
 
RK… Thanks for your questions! I have attempted to be somewhat brief as there is a limit to the words in my post here and I want to conform to the rules.

You are correct Baha’is do place importance on Progressive Revelation and Manifestations of God. We believe God manifests Himself through His Prophets and Messengers.

When the Buddha appeared there were many “theophanies” present in Hinduism and His approach was “via negative” in Sanskrit “Net Neti” (not this not this). The Buddha opposed the caste system and the prerogatives of the Brahmin caste much as Jesus did with the Pharisees. The Buddha was not atheist as there was already a materialist school at the time.

If you are interested I’ll share a recent essay on the subject of the similarities of the canonical scriptures:


Baha’is do not accept the doctrine of “reincarnation”.
  • Art
 
undead_rat said:
Bahá'í Reference Library - Some Answered Questions, Pages 103-105

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/SAQ/saq-22.html
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I have mentioned these essays by Abdul’baha previously. They are contrary to what is written in the Christian Gospels which say that Jesus’ corpse vanished from His tomb, and that He soon reappeared in a physical body that His disciples could touch, and that He took food and drink. The essays also contradict the Gospel’s accounts of the miracles that Jesus worked, calling them spiritual allegories.

It is my belief that these essays are entirely the inventions of Abdul’baha and are not supported by anything that his father, Baha’u’llah ever said or wrote. So my question is this: where in all of his many writtings does Baha’u’llah offer support for the ideas expressed in these essays by his son?
(And please don’t answer me by saying that Baha’u’llah appointed his son as successor. I already know that. I’m looking for an idea or writing by him that would express an thought similar to what his son wrote.)
 
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Thanks for your post “undead rat”!

“Some answered Questions” were not essays by Abdul-Baha. They were questions posed to Him by Western pilgrims who were largely from a Christian background.
. As Wikipedia has it

“Some Answered Questions is a book that was first published in 1908. It contains questions related to religion, philosophy and science, asked to Abdu'l-Bahá by Laura Clifford Barney, during several of her visits to Haifa between 1904 and 1906, and Abdu’l-Bahá’s answers to these questions.”


I recognize that there are certain doctrines of the Church that contradict our views on the subject of the resurrection and there’s not much I can do about that so it is of little use to argue with you. You accept what the Church teaches about a “literal” physical resurrection of Jesus while we differ with you on that.

Shoghi Effendi the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith stated: "The churches teach doctrines – various ones in various creeds – which we as Bahá’ís do not accept; such as the bodily Resurrection, confession, or in some creeds, the denial of the Immaculate Conception.
Code: 
(Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 158)
As our posts on this forum are limited I may require more than one post:

The resurrection is presented in the Baha’i Writings and I’ll present here some citations:

Say: ‘The stunning trumpet blast hath been loudly raised, and the Day is God’s, the One, the Unconstrained.’ ‘Hath the Catastrophe come to pass?’ Say: ‘Yea, by the Lord of Lords!’ ‘Is the Resurrection come?’ 'Nay, more; He Who is the Self-Subsisting hath appeared with the Kingdom of His signs.
Code: 
(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 132)
Erelong shall the faithful behold, in the day of the latter Resurrection, Him Whom God shall make manifest descending with this city from the heaven of the Unseen, together with a company of His exalted and favoured angels.
Code: 
(Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 65)
"In every age and century, the purpose of the Prophets of God and their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual significance of the terms “life,” “resurrection,” and “judgment.”
Code: 
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 119)
Continued…
 
"… Concerning the meaning of 'Resurrection: although this term is often used by Bahá’u’lláh in His Writings, as in the passage quoted in your letter, its meaning is figurative. The tomb mentioned is also allegorical, i.e. the tomb of unbelief. The Day of Resurrection is according to Bahá’í interpretation, is the judgement Day, the Day when unbelievers will be called upon to give account of their actions, and whether the world has prevented them from acknowledging the new Revelation."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, Dawn of a New Day, p. 79)
Code: 
(Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 481)
CHRIST – RESURRECTION

“We do not believe that there was a bodily resurrection after the crucifixion of Christ, but that there was a time after His ascension when His disciples perceived spiritually His true greatness and realized He was eternal in being. This is what has been reported symbolically in the New Testament and been misunderstood. His eating with His disciples after resurrection is the same thing.”
Code: 
(Shoghi Effendi, High Endeavours -  Messages to Alaska, p. 69)
So in conclusion as can well be noted Baha’is do not accept the literal physical resurrection of Jesus Christ.

My hope is that you are well and best wishes to your family.
  • Art
 
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Thanks for the long reply. I did not see a direct answer to my question, but I infer that the answer is negative: absolutely nothing in the writings of Baha’u’llah supports the ideas expressed by Abdul’baha which contradict the Christian Gospels concerning Jesus’ miracles and resurrection.
 
Well “undead rat” you are certainly free to have your views.

For anyone interested I’m also offering an essay that can be read online at


Resurrection: A Bahá’í Perspective
by Mark A. Foster

Best wishes,

Art
 
arthra said:
Well “undead rat” you are certainly free to have your views.
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Are you saying that my “view” that nothing in the writings of Baha’u’llah supports Abdul’baha’s contentions that Jesus did not reappear to the world in a physical body is not correct?
 
The Baha’i view is that Jesus resurrection was spiritual not literally physical as some believe. The essay attached also explains.
 
arthra said:
The Baha’i view is that Jesus resurrection was spiritual not literally physical as some believe. The essay attached also explains.
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That is not the question. The question is that: Is the Baha’i view of Jesus’ resurrection based entirely on the letters written by Abdul’baha and not on any writings of his father?
I believe that it is and have asked for evidence to the contrary. None seems to be forthcoming.
 
PrisonerOfChrist said:
On what basis do you except this to be true?
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http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/SAQ/saq-23.html
Here is that basis. It is a letter written by the founder’s son, Abdul’baha, for the purpose of making the Baha’i Faith appealing to the rationalist elements of European society. This ruse seems to have worked and the Faith gained membership and financial support. The problem now is that the Faith seems to be stuck with these incorrect ideas. The new science of sindonology is proving them erroneous. Baha’is say that they look to science, but they never seem to want to discuss the miraculous Image on Jesus’ burial Shroud that proves His resurrection.
 
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Sorry my friend … the burial shroud is not an issue for us as it is for you.

“Some Answered Questions” were not letters written by Abdul-Baha. In 1907 Western pilgrims of Christian backgrounds were on pilgrimages to the Holy Land and had questions for Abdul-Baha. There was a translator present. Abdul-Baha spoke Farsi.

Imputing some kind of motive that Abdul-Baha was misrepresenting His Father’s teachings is unfounded in our view.
 
arthra said:
Sorry my friend … the burial Shroud is not an issue for us as it is for you.
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Well, if you respect science, as the Baha’i Faith claims to do, it ought to be, especially in light Abdul’baha’s erroneous statements about Jesus’ miracles and resurrection.
 
arthra said:
Imputing some kind of motive that Abdul-Baha was misrepresenting His Father’s teachings is unfounded in our view.
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The problem here is not that Abdul-Baha was misrepresenting his father. Rather he was inventing an entirely new theology that had no basis in anything that his father ever wrote. That act falls outside of his given role as interpreter of his father’s holy teachings.
 
Just a minor quibble. The word “baha’i” is Arabic. Much Baha’i scripture is in Arabic, though it is clearly the Arabic of fluent non-native users of the language. It is, compared to native Arabic, fairly easy to read. The major figures of the Baha’i Faith were Persians from one family.
 
I should tell you I am a former Baha’i, a former pioneer and auxiliary board member. I have a good grasp of Baha’i history. I am not up on the most recent Baha’i literature, but I have read the well known histories and narratives.
 
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