What are some of the basic tenets of Ba'hai?

[vallendar]

I have recently encountered a co-worker who is a member of Ba’hai. I am wondering what some of their basic tenets are, and how to best counter them from a Catholic point of view. He mentioned an equal respect for all religions, but seemed unphased by the suggestion that most are opposed in a way that precludes mutual truth. Any suggestions?

 

[WhiteDove]

My impression of Ba’hai is that they are sort of like Muslim Unitarians/Universalists. They advocate world peace, unity among mankind, and kindness and love to one’s neighbor. It was started by some guy in Iran, Ba’hulla or some name like that. I’m not sure what his status is but maybe some sort of prophet. That’s all I know, but It seems to attract the same type of person as the Unitarians, open to lots of ideas and philosophies as long as they are politically correct, slightly out of the mainstream, into non-violence, most likely a Democrat, etc…

 

[stillsmallvoice]

Hi all!

Try bahai.org/article-1-2-0-1.html.

Be well!

ssv

 

[Sola]

WhiteDove:

My impression of Ba’hai is that they are sort of like Muslim Unitarians/Universalists. They advocate world peace, unity among mankind, and kindness and love to one’s neighbor. It was started by some guy in Iran, Ba’hulla or some name like that. I’m not sure what his status is but maybe some sort of prophet. That’s all I know, but It seems to attract the same type of person as the Unitarians, open to lots of ideas and philosophies as long as they are politically correct, slightly out of the mainstream, into non-violence, most likely a Democrat, etc…

Word. My thoughts are the same.

I’m not an expert at all, but I do know that they believe in divine revelation a number of times: that Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammed, and Bahu’alluha (or close) are all prophets of God revealing divine truths.

Morally, they seem to be relativistic, like the Unitarians. I don’t know if they have any sacred scriptures.

ETA:

Hmm, I just browsed the link ssv provided, and it turns out Bahais also want a one-world government to rule all the Earth, and to have limits on how poor and how rich a person can be!

 

[Jadesfire20]

I’m no expert on the Baha’i but they seem to see Jesus and Muhommed as just a few of a long series of prophets.

No offense to them but it sounds alot like somebody threw a whole bunch of religions in a blender and hit the mix button :whacky:

 

[chicago]

Whatever the case, they have a pretty grand temple.

 

[Fidelis]

A number of years ago Dennis Prager had a radio show in L.A. called “Religion On The Line.” It usually featured Dennis, a Protestant minister, a Catholic priest and a Rabbi, along with an occasional minister from a minority faith, including the Ba’hai. I believe the same woman always represented them on this show and the thing that stuck with me was not the teachings (which seemed to emphasize peace and brotherhood and all that) but that everything that came out her her mouth was prefaced by “Well, our prophet, Bahu’alluha, says…”

 

[Jim_ov_Cov]

“What are some of the basic tenets of Ba’hai?”

With due respect, who cares? Let us speak of Catholicism to the Ba’hai; to Muslims, Catholicism; to our protestant friends and neighbours, Catholicism. Job done.

One (apostate Catholic) Ba’hai I spoke to said that the founder of his religion, along with Jesus, Mohammed, buddha etc. all have elements of the divine in them. I replied by asking, "Did your founder die on a cross for you? Did he rise from the dead? To paraphrase Pascal, any man can do what the founder of the Ba’hai religion did; no man can do what Christ did.

 

[mhansen]

“What are some of the basic tenets of Ba’hai?”

With due respect, who cares? Let us speak of Catholicism to the Ba’hai; to Muslims, Catholicism; to our protestant friends and neighbours, Catholicism. Job done.

One (apostate Catholic) Ba’hai I spoke to said that the founder of his religion, along with Jesus, Mohammed, buddha etc. all have elements of the divine in them. I replied by asking, "Did your founder die on a cross for you? Did he rise from the dead? To paraphrase Pascal, any man can do what the founder of the Ba’hai religion did; no man can do what Christ did.

With due respect, I thought this was the Non-Catholic Religions forum. That would mean it’s OK to ask a question about a Non-Catholic Religion, hence the name.

 

[Fidelis]

“What are some of the basic tenets of Ba’hai?” With due respect, who cares? Let us speak of Catholicism to the Ba’hai; to Muslims, Catholicism; to our protestant friends and neighbours, Catholicism. Job done.

To effectively evangelize someone, it is very helpful to be familiar with what they already believe so that you can compare and contrast. You don’t have to be an expert, but it helps to be somewhat conversant (or at least not totally ignorant).

A good is example of this is St. Paul speaking to the Athenians in the Aeropagus and using their example of “The unknown god” to segue into introducing them to Christ.

Acts 17:19-31
19
They took him and led him to the Areopagus and said, “May we learn what this new teaching is that you speak of?
20
For you bring some strange notions to our ears; we should like to know what these things mean.”
21
Now all the Athenians as well as the foreigners residing there used their time for nothing else but telling or hearing something new.
22
Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious.
23
For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.
24
The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands,
25
nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.
26
He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,
27
so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us.
28
For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’ as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’
29
Since therefore we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.
30
God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that all people everywhere repent
31
because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world with justice’ through a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead.”

 

[PaulDupre]

Fidelis:

A number of years ago Dennis Prager had a radio show in L.A. called “Religion On The Line.”

Wow, a Dennis Prager fan! I have also been listening to Dennis since Religion on the Line. For those who are not familiar with Dennis Prager, give him a listen over the internet at krla870.com/listen I promise you will get hooked.

Each show is archived so you can listen live or play it back anytime you like, 24/7.

Paul

 

[FelixBlue]

WhiteDove:

My impression of Ba’hai is that they are sort of like Muslim Unitarians/Universalists. They advocate world peace, unity among mankind, and kindness and love to one’s neighbor. It was started by some guy in Iran, Ba’hulla or some name like that. I’m not sure what his status is but maybe some sort of prophet. That’s all I know, but It seems to attract the same type of person as the Unitarians, open to lots of ideas and philosophies as long as they are politically correct, slightly out of the mainstream, into non-violence, most likely a Democrat, etc…

Good description. I had some Ba’hai neighbors in college and we (what we called the Catholic Jihad) would (charitably!) argue with them all the time.

But, yeah, they are incredibly friendly types and kind of hippie like (though not like Reagan’s description of a hippie as dressing like Tarzan, having hair like Jane, and smelling like Cheetah).

 

[StubbleSpark]

I agree with everything I have heard on this thread about the Ba’hai so far. Very relativistic.

My little brother went from being a very poorly initiated Protestant to a Ba’hai. I think what drew him to the faith was its atmosphere of peacefulness and its dream of universal acceptance. In many ways, it reminds me of Unitarianism (as posted above) as well as Falun Gong (the Chinese Qigong Buddhist sect). Modern religions that focus on warm fuzzies tend to work really well in societies where people feel oppressed and put upon by what they see as undue interference by the more established religions (or Communism in the case of Falun Gong).

People in this group are just barely hanging on to the idea of religion. If they ever lose their faith, they tend to lean more towards being more spiritually ambivalent – but I have not heard of any losing faith in God entirely. Which is good, becomes sometimes when people lose faith, they tend to take a nose dive straight into No-God Land (in my experience, Catholics and Mormons alike seem to fall into this category).

The Ba’hai are also unique in that their worship is very free form (ie, I don’t think there is such a thing) but their religion is organized with a head prophet who is related by blood to the originator of the faith – all of their names begin with “Ba”.

When I look at these new trends in “non-denominational”, “unitarian”, “international”, and “interfaith” movements, I cannot help but feel sad. If they wanted to invoke the idea of universality, why not take lessons from the faith that started the whole idea of universal, international, multi-liturgical worship of the Abrahamic God?*

• “Catholic” means “universal” in case you haven’t heard it a million times by now. :bigyikes:

 

[arthra]

I found this thread through a search… and really thought I might have some points to add to it. I’m only here in the sense to provide a few “points of information” and Stubble Spark’s comments seemed a good place to start…

StubbleSpark:

I agree with everything I have heard on this thread about the Ba’hai so far. Very relativistic.

Comment:

Actually, we do have a principle that truth in this world is relative rather than being “absolute”:

The principle of the relativity of religious truth leads to a belief that any absolute knowledge of ultimate reality is impossible, so that man has no access to absolute truth. Baha’u’llah states of God: “Exalted, immeasurably exalted, art thou above the strivings of mortal man to unravel Thy mystery, to describe Thy glory, or even hint at the nature of Thine Essence” (Gleanings, p. 4).

Source:

bahai-library.com/encyclopedia/pluralism.html

Stubble wrote:

People in this group are just barely hanging on to the idea of religion. If they ever lose their faith, they tend to lean more towards being more spiritually ambivalent – but I have not heard of any losing faith in God entirely. Which is good, becomes sometimes when people lose faith, they tend to take a nose dive straight into No-God Land (in my experience, Catholics and Mormons alike seem to fall into this category).

Comment:

This to me would be a generalization… and to me not well documented or thought out…

Stubble wrote:

The Ba’hai are also unique in that their worship is very free form (ie, I don’t think there is such a thing) but their religion is organized with a head prophet who is related by blood to the originator of the faith – all of their names begin with “Ba”.

Comment:

Baha’u’llah which means in Arabic “Glory of God” was the Prophet Who founded the Baha’i Faith but His name was Mirza Husayn Ali and “Baha’u’llah” is a title of His. Baha’u’llah did reveal the Writings of the Baha’i dispensation. Abdul-Baha His eldest son succeeded Him and interpreted His Father’s Writings. Shoghi Effendi succeeded Abdul-Baha (his Grandfather) and further elaborated on the Writings and was largely repsonsible for building our Administrative Order which is now headed by an elected Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel.

Stubble:

When I look at these new trends in “non-denominational”, “unitarian”, “international”, and “interfaith” movements, I cannot help but feel sad. If they wanted to invoke the idea of universality, why not take lessons from the faith that started the whole idea of universal, international, multi-liturgical worship of the Abrahamic God?*

• “Catholic” means “universal” in case you haven’t heard it a million times by now.

Comment:

Baha’is do look back to previous religions and accept that they have a common Divine Origin; that there is one God; that mankind is one.

Over a hundred years ago Baha’u’llah taught that there should be a world parliament with a world court; a universal auxiliary language should be adopted; that the extremes of wealth and poverty should be eliminated; that men and women should be equal; universal education for the planet, etc.

If anyone has any questions I’d be most honored to respond!

• Art
  

 

[flameburns623]

The Bahai are also unique in that their worship is very free form (ie, I don’t think there is such a thing) . . .

Baha’is have a very structured prayer life and set of worship ceremonies, I believe.

. . . .but their religion is organized with a head prophet who is related by blood to the originator of the faith . . . .

That is not quite true. The modern Baha’i Faith is governed by the Universal House of Justice. The first three leaders were related by blood however.

. . . all of their names begin with “Ba” . . . .

Baha’u’llah and Abdul Baha’ were two of the more important early leaders, but the third leader of the Baha’i Faith was named Shoghi Effendi.

 

[kashef_0909]

This feeling that some people have, that they must say ‘NO’ without even knowing what The One who makes such a Great Claim … is not new. This feeling is the same that were in the time of Christ Jesus. We know that when we read Matthew Chapter 23, 24 and bacisally the entire Gospels.

If you really want to know, then prepare yourself to know. Just saying "yeah i love you Christ’ doesnt mean anything if He comes and you fail to recognise him. By saying this I am not trying to start an argumant, but just to raise the mind to wakefullness.

How can a soul be saved, if He does not recognise Christ? And now that His new name, His Kingdom is here, people who move away … how can they relate themselves with Christ Jesus?

We once had a discussion here in the Non Catholic place. After supplying loads of information, either they were read an repelled, or blamed that the informations were from Baha’i teachings and I kept using Old and New Testament quotes… or just some people moved away without making further comment. Very unfortunate excuses… yet very common ones.

Imagine yourself at the time when Jesus made Declared His mission among the Jews. How many of you would move towards him is a question which has again been raised… in this Era of Judgement.

Even in this very forum, there is the link with references to Prophecies. Only a clear heart, a fertile mind, and a true lover will find His Love.

Love only meets the Lover… not every heart Loves…even though…all are capable. The margin of different is so small… as small as the different between belief and disbelief…true and false… light and darkness.

Have a nice day.

 

[Uranage]

I have recently encountered a co-worker who is a member of Ba’hai. I am wondering what some of their basic tenets are, and how to best counter them from a Catholic point of view. He mentioned an equal respect for all religions, but seemed unphased by the suggestion that most are opposed in a way that precludes mutual truth. Any suggestions?

Here are two clips of a discussion between Christian apologist Greg Koukl and a Ba’hai apologist: leestrobel.com/videoserver/video.php?clip=strobelT1010 and

leestrobel.com/videoserver/video.php?clip=strobelT1018

Hope this helps.

 

[arthra]

Here are two clips of a discussion between Christian apologist Greg Koukl and a Ba’hai apologist: leestrobel.com/videoserver/video.php?clip=strobelT1010 and

leestrobel.com/videoserver/video.php?clip=strobelT1018

Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing the videos…

There was no Baha’i response on the videos you cited…no Baha’i apologist present as you implied.

I watched the first one about “all roads lead to God”… this actually is not a Baha’i concept. We don’t say that “all roads lead to God”… What we say is that God manifests Himself from age to age through the various Teachers and Prophets…but not all Their teachings have been preserved and many have been lost… That’s why God manifests Himself in a new Manifestation to restore the spiritual teachings and to provide the principles man needs in each age.

The second video deals with the issue of prophecy and Jesus return.

Baha’is believe the Return will not be one where Jesus descends from the literal heavens…

We believe the words need to be understood in spiritual terms…

Abdul-Baha expalins:

*But I have something further to say upon this subject. At His first coming Christ also came from heaven, as it is explicitly stated in the Gospel. Christ Himself says: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” [John 3:13.] *
It is clear to all that Christ came from heaven, although apparently He came from the womb of Mary. At the first coming He came from heaven, though apparently from the womb; in the same way, also, at His second coming He will come from heaven, though apparently from the womb. The conditions that are indicated in the Gospel for the second coming of Christ are the same as those that were mentioned for the first coming, as we said before.

 

[arthra]

I have recently encountered a co-worker who is a member of Ba’hai. I am wondering what some of their basic tenets are, and how to best counter them from a Catholic point of view. He mentioned an equal respect for all religions, but seemed unphased by the suggestion that most are opposed in a way that precludes mutual truth. Any suggestions?

What are some Baha’i tenets?

Baha’is believe that God is One… Mankind is One and that the religions have a common Source… this last part is important …It doesn’t mean we accept all the beliefs of other religions. We don’t believe in reincarnation and we don’t believe God incarnates Himself physically as many Christians do…

The oneness of mankind is a fundamental principle and the basis for our principles that there should be a representative world government, an international coiurt of arbitration, elimination of racial prejudice, reduction of the extremes of wealth and poverty, equality of men and women, universal education and so on.

• Art:thumbsup: