Baha'i Returns Thread: Ask Any of Many Baha'i

[SteveVH]

I think if you follow the news today Steve you’ll note that more and more people are coming around to accept the principles of Baha’u’llah … The equality of men and women…A represenattive world government …peace of earth… An international court of arbitration…abolishing prejudice…

so while there may be only seven million Baha’is and we’ve only been around for oh a hundred and seventy years there’s a lot of our teachings being adopted.

But hey the church has been around a lot longer and is far more numerous…!

Then you would agree that the statement “He has revolutionized the hearts and souls of ALL peoples” is false, yes?

Now, off to work.

 

[rinnie]

Thanks for your post Rinnie…and also for reading this thread!

Allow me to briefly summarize some of our beliefs:

Baha’is do accept a trinity consisting of God, His Spirit and the Manifestations… Jesus in our view was a Manifestation of God and His title was Son of God… God was perfectly reflected in Him.

Baha’u’llah is the Manifestation of God for this day and is the Return of Christ in our belief… Jesus promised He would return and we believe the appearance of Baha’u’llah fulfilled that promise!

But Jesus said when he comes again he will judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. Judgement day didn’t come yet.

 

[arthra]

But Jesus said when he comes again he will judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. Judgement day didn’t come yet.

Thanks for your response Rinnie!

In our belief… The Judgement Day is when people renounce or accept the new Manifestation of God.

So in the day of Jesus when the people rejected Him they were found wanting… and so it goes.

From Baha’i sources:

Issue forth from your habitations and bid the people enter the Kingdom of God, the Lord of the Day of Judgement. The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great majesty. Turn your faces towards Him, O concourse of the righteous!

~ Baha’u’llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 59

He hath laid down the foundations of the lofty Citadel, He hath inaugurated the Cycle of Glory, He hath brought forth a new creation on this day that is clearly Judgement Day – and still do the heedless stay fast in their drunken sleep.

~ Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 13

(A thousand posts is near at hand!)

 

[rinnie]

Thanks for your response Rinnie!

In our belief… The Judgement Day is when people renounce or accept the new Manifestation of God.

So in the day of Jesus when the people rejected Him they were found wanting… and so it goes.

From Baha’i sources:

Issue forth from your habitations and bid the people enter the Kingdom of God, the Lord of the Day of Judgement. The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great majesty. Turn your faces towards Him, O concourse of the righteous!

~ Baha’u’llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 59

He hath laid down the foundations of the lofty Citadel, He hath inaugurated the Cycle of Glory, He hath brought forth a new creation on this day that is clearly Judgement Day – and still do the heedless stay fast in their drunken sleep.

~ Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 13

(A thousand posts is near at hand!)

So then anotherwards as a Roman Catholic I have to deny the teachings of the Old Christ the Christ in the Trinity and accept him as the New Christ with a different name?

So then Christ who said not to believe anyone who claims to be me, you claim to be the same Christ with different truths?

So in the nut shell we have One God with different truths. How can this be?

 

[rinnie]

Thanks for your response Rinnie!

In our belief… The Judgement Day is when people renounce or accept the new Manifestation of God.

So in the day of Jesus when the people rejected Him they were found wanting… and so it goes.

From Baha’i sources:

Issue forth from your habitations and bid the people enter the Kingdom of God, the Lord of the Day of Judgement. The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great majesty. Turn your faces towards Him, O concourse of the righteous!

~ Baha’u’llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 59

He hath laid down the foundations of the lofty Citadel, He hath inaugurated the Cycle of Glory, He hath brought forth a new creation on this day that is clearly Judgement Day – and still do the heedless stay fast in their drunken sleep.

~ Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 13

(A thousand posts is near at hand!)

Another question if I may. What about the People who did not reject Jesus? The ones who took him at his word and at his promise that he would come down from the sky the same way he went up.

Did this Bahai have a human Mother? Human Father? Or did he claim rightly so as Christ that he was born of the Virgin Mary by the Power of the Holy Spirit?

Or did he just become God from a human sinful Mom and Dad like us?

 

[daler]

What you have said is very telling. The arrogance and elitism present in your statement are unmistakable; Catholics are a bunch of mindless dolts with no ability to think for themselves and the Baha’i are the enlightened ones. Have you any idea of the treasury of writings that belong to the Catholic Church, that have picked apart every detail of every doctrine we hold? Are you aware of the great Catholic councils who have had to defend the deposit of faith given to us by the Apostles against heresy, by explaining in great detail why we believe what we believe? Are you aware of the brilliant and scholarly minds that have explored every aspect of Christian theology? The last thing a Catholic does is mindlessly follow some man’s opinion. I participate in a study group every Friday evening, led by our priest, in which we explore Catholic doctrine in detail, and I mean we tear it apart. I believe through both faith and reason and the more I tear it apart, the greater my faith becomes.

Steve,
. You have taken offense to what I have said, but I did not intend you or any independently thinking people, Catholic or otherwise, by my statement. When people “tear apart” in detail the thoughts and conclusions as you do, that is a good thing. That is the exact opposite of what I was referring to, meaning those who do not do this, but rather passively go through the motions, agreeing with whatever their “leaders” tell them. I don’t think that applies to you or those with whom you associate.

. What I will say is this. That if the only new information people have is a couple of thousand years old, or nearly so, and the conclusions one has currently do not accept new ideas into their pool of understanding, then there tends to be stagnation. “You do not put new wine into old wineskins.”

. What Jesus brought was “new” 2000 years ago. He added new wine to a very stagnant body of ancient beliefs and traditions of Jewish orthodoxy. Would you agree with this statement?

. Similarly, what we have today is an abundance of new wine poured out from the Wellspring of the Fountain of Knowledge. Some prefer the limited pools of the past, and draw enough to satisfy their thirst. We are saying that there is more available in this day, much more, and that this is in keeping with what Christ promised:

. “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bare them now. Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth.”

. “The river Jordan is joined to the Most Great Ocean, and the Son, in the holy vale, crieth out: ‘Here am I, here am I O Lord, my God!’, whilst Sinai circleth round the House, and the Burning Bush calleth aloud: ‘He Who is the Desired One is come in His transcendent majesty.’ Say, Lo! The Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled! This is the Word which the Son concealed, when to those around Him He said: ‘Ye cannot bear it now.’ And when the appointed time was fulfilled and the Hour had struck, the Word shone forth above the horizon of the Will of God. Beware, O followers of the Son, that ye cast it not behind your backs. Take ye fast hold of it. Better is this for you than all that ye possess. Verily He is nigh unto them that do good. The Hour which We had concealed from the knowledge of the peoples of the earth and of the favoured angels hath come to pass. Say, verily, He hath testified of Me, and I do testify of Him. Indeed, He hath purposed no one other than Me. Unto this beareth witness every fair-minded and understanding soul.”

. The full text of the Tablet to the Christians is:

reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/TB/tb-3.html

 

[daler]

So then anotherwards as a Roman Catholic I have to deny the teachings of the Old Christ the Christ in the Trinity and accept him as the New Christ with a different name?

So then Christ who said not to believe anyone who claims to be me, you claim to be the same Christ with different truths?

So in the nut shell we have One God with different truths. How can this be?

Rinnie,
. No one is telling you to deny the Lordship of Christ. When you studied algebra in high school your teacher did not ask you to deny the mathematics you learned in grade school. One is built upon the same foundation as the other.
. Fractions are not about the pie, but the division of numbers. Algebra is not about letters, but what they symbolize.
. The Trinity as understood by many Christians multiplies God into 3 Gods: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
. Baha’is view it differently, and in complete keeping with Jesus’ own words, for He said:

. "The Father is greater than I.
. "These are not My words, but Him that sent Me.
. “Why callest thou Me good. There is none good but One, that is God.”

. So we see Him as He saw Himself, as a Messenger of God, bringing the words given to Him by God, Whom He says is greater than Himself. God cannot be greater than God and still be God.

 

[daler]

Another question if I may. What about the People who did not reject Jesus? The ones who took him at his word and at his promise that he would come down from the sky the same way he went up.

Did this Bahai have a human Mother? Human Father? Or did he claim rightly so as Christ that he was born of the Virgin Mary by the Power of the Holy Spirit?

Or did he just become God from a human sinful Mom and Dad like us?

Adam had neither a human father or mother. Does that make Him superior to Jesus?

Jesus was born to a mother, yet He said He came down from Heaven.

Baha’u’llah had a father and mother.

Baha’is do not believe that Jesus went physically up into outer space, but that He returned to the Heaven from which He came, which is not a physical place “up there”.

John 3:13

. “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

. So while He was physically on earth when He spoke these words, He said that He was in Heaven. While His body was born from the womb of Mary, He said that He came down from Heaven. When He states that He will ascend to heaven, He was not referring to His physical body going “up” somewhere. Do yo follow?

 

[daler]

He ascended into the dwelling place of God and he will return in the dwelling place of God to rule a new heaven and a new earth. His second coming will be nothing like his first.

Have you ever known a Christian theologian of any repute that would agree with the Baha’i interpretation that Christ’s second coming will be obscured and many will miss it?

Steve,
. As to Christian theologians, other than those who have become Baha’is, and there are many, this is like asking a Jewish theologian about the Messiah coming in conformity with Christian interpretation. Would they agree? If they did, they would probably have become Christian somewhere along the way. For those Christian theologians who really study the Baha’i Faith, the hundreds of prophecies fulfilled by the coming of the Bab and Baha’u’llah, which are very specific as to time and place, they tend to become Baha’is.

. Just to know your thoughts on what was posted on 892 and 894, which were in response to your questions, can you comment?

.

 

[rinnie]

Rinnie,
. No one is telling you to deny the Lordship of Christ. When you studied algebra in high school your teacher did not ask you to deny the mathematics you learned in grade school. One is built upon the same foundation as the other.
. Fractions are not about the pie, but the division of numbers. Algebra is not about letters, but what they symbolize.
. The Trinity as understood by many Christians multiplies God into 3 Gods: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
. Baha’is view it differently, and in complete keeping with Jesus’ own words, for He said:

. "The Father is greater than I.
. "These are not My words, but Him that sent Me.
. “Why callest thou Me good. There is none good but One, that is God.”

. So we see Him as He saw Himself, as a Messenger of God, bringing the words given to Him by God, Whom He says is greater than Himself. God cannot be greater than God and still be God.

Now see that’s wrong. Flat out wrong. At least according to the RCC. And I believe Christians also.

The Trinity being made up of 3 Gods was never ever a teaching of the CC or even Protestant from my knowledge. But they can correct me.

Jesus saw himself as a messeneger of God Say who? The Jews asked him point blank are you, God he said BEFORE Abraham I AM! Now certainly you know who I AM is do you not.

If not got read the O.T. and you will learn that it is indeed GOD himself.

Just for the sake of truth let me explain the Trinity.

ONE GOD made up of 3 persons. Not 3 Gods 3 Persons of One God. ALL EQUAL all fully God.

 

[rinnie]

Adam had neither a human father or mother. Does that make Him superior to Jesus?

Jesus was born to a mother, yet He said He came down from Heaven.

Baha’u’llah had a father and mother.

Baha’is do not believe that Jesus went physically up into outer space, but that He returned to the Heaven from which He came, which is not a physical place “up there”.

John 3:13

. “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

. So while He was physically on earth when He spoke these words, He said that He was in Heaven. While His body was born from the womb of Mary, He said that He came down from Heaven. When He states that He will ascend to heaven, He was not referring to His physical body going “up” somewhere. Do yo follow?

Nope not at all. When he went up to heaven he raised up BODY and SOUL. So did the Blessed Mother for that fact.

John 3: 3 by the way isn’t saying what you are trying to make it say by the way.

Here is what it says No one has gone UP to heaven EXCEPT ONE who has COME DOWN the SON OF MAN. Who is of course Jesus. You wanna try that scripture again

Anotherwards as Jesus was telling Nicodemus we won’t even believe in the earthly things he tells us how in the world is he going to get us to believe heavenly things.

All things aside Jesus was showing how we have to be born again. Nick could not understand to be born again it to be baptised into the body of Christ with Baptism.

 

[rinnie]

Thanks for your post Rinnie…and also for reading this thread!

Allow me to briefly summarize some of our beliefs:

Baha’is do accept a trinity consisting of God, His Spirit and the Manifestations… Jesus in our view was a Manifestation of God and His title was Son of God… God was perfectly reflected in Him.

Baha’u’llah is the Manifestation of God for this day and is the Return of Christ in our belief… Jesus promised He would return and we believe the appearance of Baha’u’llah fulfilled that promise!

How could God be perfectly reflected in anyone except God. God is the only one that is perfect so God is the only one who can be perfectly reflected in himself as God the Son.

You seem to be saying on one hand Jesus is God and Baha’i is Jesus. But we missed him this round.

The poor Jews missed him twice, but we only missed him the second time?

This teaching is not adding up at all.

Jesus is God the Son. Yes we refer to him as the SON of God. But truly God. ONE WITH the Father. God from God Light from Light TRUE GOD FROM True God.

So what I am seeing here is a totally misunderstanding on your part of WHO Jesus truly is.

 

[daler]

Now see that’s wrong. Flat out wrong. At least according to the RCC. And I believe Christians also.

The Trinity being made up of 3 Gods was never ever a teaching of the CC or even Protestant from my knowledge. But they can correct me.

Jesus saw himself as a messeneger of God Say who? The Jews asked him point blank are you God he said BEFORE Abraham I AM! Now certainly you know who I AM is do you not.

If not got read the O.T. and you will learn that it is indeed GOD himself.

Just for the sake of truth let me explain the Trinity.

ONE GOD made up of 3 persons. Not 3 Gods 3 Persons of One God. ALL EQUAL all fully God.

Rinne,
. I grew up with the understanding of the Trinity, singing “God in three persons”, etc…
I fully understand the principal, but as a Baha’i I see it differently. Let me explain.

. Baha’u’llah says that God, in His Essence, is beyond all human conception, Unknowable except through His Messengers, who are like perfect Mirrors reflecting His attributes to men. These Messengers, or “Manifestations”, are the means God communicates with us.

. An analogy is the sun in the sky which does not come down to earth. Then consider a perfect mirror which reflects the light of the sun. The mirror is not the sun, but when we look at the mirror, we do see the sun.

. “He who hath seen Me hath seen the Father.”

So we see Jesus that way, seeing the Father reflected in Him, while also understanding His words that “The Father is greater than I”, even as the sun is greater than the mirror.

. Then we see the rays of the sun coming from the sun to the mirror, which can be likened to the Holy Spirit, coming from God, originating with Him, but coming to us through His Manifestation.

. So we do not say, for example, that God was 5 foot 6, weighed a hundred and forty five pounds or whatever Jesus physical body would have measured. That is describing the physical body of Jesus as a Messenger of God, Who said, “These are not My words, but Him that sent Me.”

. Do you see the distinction? You don’t have to agree with it. But do you see what we mean by viewing it this way?

. Now when God Himself says to us, “I AM”, that is Him talking to us, through the Mouth of His Messengers, His own Words, “I AM” This is like looking into that mirror and seeing the sun which, if it could talk, would say, “I am the sun”. But what we are looking into is the mirror. The sun is still 93 million miles away.

. Do you follow the logic? I know it is different than the way it was explained to me as a child about the trinity. That, to me as I look at it now, was sufficient at the time. It takes nothing away from the mirror to understand that it is not the sun. It takes nothing away from Jesus to understand that He is not God, but sent by Him to reveal His Words to us. That is how I see it.

Thank you for your courtesy.

 

[rinnie]

Adam had neither a human father or mother. Does that make Him superior to Jesus?

Jesus was born to a mother, yet He said He came down from Heaven.

Baha’u’llah had a father and mother.

Baha’is do not believe that Jesus went physically up into outer space, but that He returned to the Heaven from which He came, which is not a physical place “up there”.

John 3:13

. “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

. So while He was physically on earth when He spoke these words, He said that He was in Heaven. While His body was born from the womb of Mary, He said that He came down from Heaven. When He states that He will ascend to heaven, He was not referring to His physical body going “up” somewhere. Do yo follow?

You are saying Baha’s had a Mother and Father. That would mean human Mother and Father Correct? Then he was conceived into sin. Jesus was not. Sin never touched Jesus.

So how can you compare a sinner as all men are to a non-sinner as Jesus was. Who was God pure God.

 

[daler]

How could God be perfectly reflected in anyone except God. God is the only one that is perfect so God is the only one who can be perfectly reflected in himself as God the Son.

You seem to be saying on one hand Jesus is God and Baha’i is Jesus. But we missed him this round.

The poor Jews missed him twice, but we only missed him the second time?

This teaching is not adding up at all.

Jesus is God the Son. Yes we refer to him as the SON of God. But truly God. ONE WITH the Father. God from God Light from Light TRUE GOD FROM True God.

So what I am seeing here is a totally misunderstanding on your part of WHO Jesus truly is.

Rinnie,
I think we are getting a little closer here, but in understanding the Baha’i view of God, the Creator of the Universe will all its billions of galaxies, with billions of stars each, we are talking about something really, really big, right? i.e., “My Father is greater than I”

. What I mean by this is that when people think of Jesus, they look at a physical man, but also see more than that. God is not, and cannot (in the Baha’i view) be reduced to any physical frame, human or otherwise. This eternal Essence which is behind the whole universe does, however, communicate with us. He does this through His divine Messengers Who come to us and say “I came not to do My will, but of the Father Who sent Me.”

. So there is a distinction between God and His Messengers, Those Who come to do His will and reveal to us “His” (God’s) Words. “These are not “My” words, but Him that sent Me.” Do you follow the logic? You don’t have to agree with it, but just can you understand it in this way.

. “These sanctified Mirrors… are, one and all, the Exponents on earth of Him Who is the central Orb of the universe, its Essence and ultimate Purpose. From Him proceed their knowledge and power; from Him is derived their sovereignty. The beauty of their countenance is but a reflection of His image, and their revelation a sign of His deathless glory.” Baha’u’llah

 

[daler]

You are saying Baha’s had a Mother and Father. That would mean human Mother and Father Correct? Then he was conceived into sin. Jesus was not. Sin never touched Jesus.

So how can you compare a sinner as all men are to a non-sinner as Jesus was. Who was God pure God.

This teaching that married people who conceive children as sin is not accepted in the teachings of the Baha’i Faith. God created Adam with neither father nor mother.
That Jesus was without sin means that He committed no sin. Neither was He conceived in sin. Baha’u’llah had an earthly father and mother, but their conception of Him was not sin. They were married.

 

[rinnie]

Rinne,
. I grew up with the understanding of the Trinity, singing “God in three persons”, etc…
I fully understand the principal, but as a Baha’i I see it differently. Let me explain.

. Baha’u’llah says that God, in His Essence, is beyond all human conception, Unknowable except through His Messengers, who are like perfect Mirrors reflecting His attributes to men. These Messengers, or “Manifestations”, are the means God communicates with us.

. An analogy is the sun in the sky which does not come down to earth. Then consider a perfect mirror which reflects the light of the sun. The mirror is not the sun, but when we look at the mirror, we do see the sun.

. “He who hath seen Me hath seen the Father.”

So we see Jesus that way, seeing the Father reflected in Him, while also understanding His words that “The Father is greater than I”, even as the sun is greater than the mirror.

. Then we see the rays of the sun coming from the sun to the mirror, which can be likened to the Holy Spirit, coming from God, originating with Him, but coming to us through His Manifestation.

. So we do not say, for example, that God was 5 foot 6, weighed a hundred and forty five pounds or whatever Jesus physical body would have measured. That is describing the physical body of Jesus as a Messenger of God, Who said, “These are not My words, but Him that sent Me.”

. Do you see the distinction? You don’t have to agree with it. But do you see what we mean by viewing it this way?

. Now when God Himself says to us, “I AM”, that is Him talking to us, through the Mouth of His Messengers, His own Words, “I AM” This is like looking into that mirror and seeing the sun which, if it could talk, would say, “I am the sun”. But what we are looking into is the mirror. The sun is still 93 million miles away.

. Do you follow the logic? I know it is different than the way it was explained to me as a child about the trinity. That, to me as I look at it now, was sufficient at the time. It takes nothing away from the mirror to understand that it is not the sun. It takes nothing away from Jesus to understand that He is not God, but sent by Him to reveal His Words to us. That is how I see it.

Thank you for your courtesy.

No sweetie thats not how it went. Go back to the beginning and read the word of God. Abraham asks God who do I say sent me. And God says tell them I AM I AM is who sent me. I AM is what the Jews knew to be the true name of God.

Now think what I am saying and then go back and read the N.T. The Jews say Who are you and Jesus said I AM. The Jews knew perfectly well what Jesus said.

Jesus said BEFORE ABRAHAM I AM. The Jews were like what are you talking about you aren’t even 30 years old and you are saying before Abraham I AM. That is when the Jews began to plan the death of Jesus. Because he was claiming to be God.

At the trial He was asked are you the SON OF GOD. Jesus says you say that I AM. They said in 22:70 he just confirmed with his own mouth what further need for testimony.

Jesus wasn’t saying NO I am not when he said you say I AM. He was saying in our language you said it buddy. I AM.

He is seated at the RIGHT hand of the Father. Does that not give you a hint. Jesus said he will come AGAIN IN GLORY. Who comes in Glory to judge the livng and the dead but GOD. Jesus is GOD.

 

[rinnie]

This teaching that married people who conceive children as sin is not accepted in the teachings of the Baha’i Faith. God created Adam with neither father nor mother.
That Jesus was without sin means that He committed no sin. Neither was He conceived in sin. Baha’u’llah had an earthly father and mother, but their conception of Him was not sin. They were married.

Which no offense go against the entire teaching of God. And makes the death of Jesus pretty useless.

 

[daler]

You seem to be saying on one hand Jesus is God and Baha’i is Jesus. But we missed him this round.

The poor Jews missed him twice, but we only missed him the second time?

. To clarify, Jesus and Baha’u’llah are two different people, born 1800 years apart. Now consider John the Baptist when he was asked if he was Elijah. He said “No, I am not him.” Then they asked, “Art thou that prophet?” Again, he said, “No, I am not”
. Yet when Jesus was asked, He said that John the Baptist was Elijah. How is this reconciled?
. John was not Elijah. They were born many centuries apart, had their own DNA, etc.
But the spiritual essence and station was the same spirit and essence which returned in John the Baptist.
. The example is given of the rose which returns each spring. We could ask the rose, “Are you the rose of last spring?” It would say, “No, I am not”. and it would be speaking the truth. Yet we could also say that the rose has returned, for it brings the fragrance and beauty of last year’s rose back to us again. And what is the purpose of the rose but to give us fragrance and beauty. Hence, this year’s rose is the return of last year’s rose.

. So when we apply this to Jesus and Baha’u’llah, we see two different Roses. Yet, as each is the barer of God’s Message, the fragrance and beauty of the Divine Attributes of God came before and has again returned. That is what is meant.

. The Jews rejected Jesus partly because their Holy Book said that Elijah must come first, from heaven, for he was taken up to heaven. As John did not come down from the physical heaven, they rejected both him and Jesus.
. but as Jesus said that John was Elijah, “If ye will accept it”, the prophecy had in deed been fulfilled. Just not in the literal way expected by the Jews.

. “I testify before God that each one of these Manifestations hath been sent down through the operation of the Divine Will and Purpose, that each one hath been the bearer of a specific Message, that each hath been entrusted with a divinely revealed Book.” Baha’u’llah

 

[daler]

Which no offense go against the entire teaching of God. And makes the death of Jesus pretty useless.

No, it doesn’t go against the entire teaching of God, any more than Jesus did. He explained things in a non-traditional way to the Jews, who held to their traditional understanding, for their hearts were hardened, and Jesus explanations could not penetrate those whose hearts had been hardened.