trying to understand my friend's faith

[ISFP]

hey all-

i have some questions related to a personal situation a friend is facing, and would appreciate your ideas!

i good friend of mine has just converted to the Baha'i Faith from Catholicism. not only was he a devout Catholic, but was seriously considering entering the preisthood as his life's vocation. he has now read through the Baha'i religious works, and is personally convinced that Bahaullah is the second coming of Christ.

i'd like to understand what the Baha'i Faith says about Christianity, and what Baha'is believe in general about how Bahaullah's message relates to the messages of other religions. is the Baha'i message seen as fulfilling or completing other religion's messages? how so? this is a big change for my friend, obviously, and i'd like to better understand what has lead him to the Baha'i Faith from Christianity.

thank you!

 

[Postmaster]

Imagine that

i good friend of mine has just converted to the Baha'i Faith from Catholicism. not only was he a devout Catholic, but was seriously considering entering the preisthood as his life's vocation. he has now read through the Baha'i religious works, and is personally convinced that Bahaullah is the second coming of Christ.

I don't feel so insane now

They believe that there is a devine plan by God to change the people and he sent messengers in the form of, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, Muhammad ect ect.

I'ts actually an amazing faith once you deeply understand the principles.

I might in the future convert but I plan on staying with my religion and just following the teachings. I'd cause a big fuss and problem if I was to fully convert. Being Greek Orthodox and all. Hopefully in the future devote myself more to it, hopefully fully.

 

[didymus]

I just read through the description of Bah'ai and must say it was very intriguing. I never believed that there was one true religion and still don't. My roots are in Christianity but I find alot of Jewish mysicism, Gnosticism and ideas in the Quran very truthful and enlightening. In fact I dreamed of a day that all people across the globe would join hands in prayer at a designated time and pray to the One true God. This would be beautiful in His eyes. I will definitely read more of this faith.

 

[Postmaster]

It's up to us to make that day come And eventually it will come

 

[Isaac Freeman]

i'd like to understand what the Baha'i Faith says about Christianity, and what Baha'is believe in general about how Bahaullah's message relates to the messages of other religions.

The Baha'i view of Jesus Christ agrees generally with that of mainstream churches, although the different terminology we use is sometimes a source of confusion. We believe that Jesus was both human and divine, that in his teachings and in his person he was God made manifest on Earth. We believe his teachings are the word of God, and that his death was a sacrifice for all humanity.

Where we differ from most Christians is in believing that the Jesus Christ born in 1AD was not the first or the last such Manifestation of God. We believe God's message has been brought to humanity many times throughout history, presented in different forms according to the needs of different cultures and eras, but constituting a single eternal religion. We believe Baha'u'llah was the most recent such Manifestation, and may be considered the return of Christ, in a spiritual rather than a physical sense.

is the Baha'i message seen as fulfilling or completing other religion's messages?

We believe Baha'u'llah fulfills Christianity in that he is the promised return of Christ, just as Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled the Jewish prophecies of a Messiah. Baha'u'llah is not, however, the final Manifestation of God, and himself promised that there would be further revelations in the future.

There is another sense of fulfillment in the Baha'i Faith, because Baha'u'llah taught that in the current age humanity is ready spiritually and politically for a level of global unity not seen in past ages. We believe this imminent stage in human development will realise the prophecies in many religions concerning a future golden age.

this is a big change for my friend, obviously, and i'd like to better understand what has lead him to the Baha'i Faith from Christianity.

It's great that you care so much for your friend. As a Baha'i, I would say that the most important thing about such a change is that it is not in any way a repudiation of Christ or the Christian message.

 

[arthra]

Baha'i views on Jesus and other topics:

hey all-

i have some questions related to a personal situation a friend is facing, and would appreciate your ideas!

i good friend of mine has just converted to the Baha'i Faith from Catholicism. not only was he a devout Catholic, but was seriously considering entering the preisthood as his life's vocation. he has now read through the Baha'i religious works, and is personally convinced that Bahaullah is the second coming of Christ.

i'd like to understand what the Baha'i Faith says about Christianity, and what Baha'is believe in general about how Bahaullah's message relates to the messages of other religions. is the Baha'i message seen as fulfilling or completing other religion's messages? how so? this is a big change for my friend, obviously, and i'd like to better understand what has lead him to the Baha'i Faith from Christianity.

thank you!

Thanks for your questions!

Baha'is see all the major religions of the world as chapters in one sacred book ...each chapter dealing with the needs of humanity at a stage in it's developement. So we see the religions as having a common Divine Source. See the following essay:

http://bahai-library.com/encyclopedia/pluralism.html

Baha'u'llah has abrogated priesthood as an institution for Baha'is so we have no priests and do not accept ecclesiastical hierarchies as authoritative for us. So we don't confess our sins as in confession to a priest...or take sacraments like baptism or communion. We don't kiss rings or use high podiums for sermons... All of our administrative institutions are elective from the local to the international level so we have no professional priesthood.

You also might like to read this essay on the Baha'i view of Jesus:

http://bahai-library.com/articles/stockman.jesus.html

 

[ISFP]

thank you, arthra!

that's helpful, thank you. there was a book my friend mentioned about a christian man who came to the Bahai faith after reading Bahai texts. i forget what it was called, but this book was the one that convinced my friend.

i'm less shocked now than i was, and now i'm just happy he's found a faith where he feels at home! and he does seem happier than he's been in months.

 

[BruceDLimber]

Hi, QQ; welcome to the neighborhood!

I'm glad you've gotten at least some of your questions answered, and I'll see if I can provide you a bit more information....

QQ>i'd like to understand what the Baha'i Faith says about Christianity, and what Baha'is believe in general about how Bahaullah's message relates to the messages of other religions. is the Baha'i message seen as fulfilling or completing other religion's messages? how so? this is a big change for my friend, obviously, and i'd like to better understand what has lead him to the Baha'i Faith from Christianity.

We Baha'is regard Christianity, like the other great religions, as a legitimate, God-sent stage in the ever-evolving one faith, the Faith of God!

As to specifics, this is from an official Baha'i statement:

"As to the position of Christianity, let it be stated without any hesitation or equivocation that its divine origin is unconditionally acknowledged, that [in the Baha'i Faith] the Sonship and Divinity of Jesus Christ are fearlessly asserted, that the divine inspiration of the Gospel is fully recognized, that the reality of the mystery of the Immaculacy of the Virgin Mary is confessed, and the primacy of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, is upheld and defended. The Founder of the Christian Faith is designated by Baha'u'llah as the 'Spirit of God,' is proclaimed as the One Who 'appeared out of the breath of the Holy Ghost,' and is even extolled as the 'Essence of the Spirit.' His mother is described as 'that veiled and immortal, that most beauteous, countenance,' and the station of her Son eulogized as a 'station which hath been exalted above the imaginings of all that dwell on earth,' whilst Peter is recognized as one whom God has caused 'the mysteries of wisdom and of utterance to flow out of his mouth.'"

(The Promised Day is Come, pages 109-110)

We see the Baha'i Faith as the latest--but not the last--stage in God's religion. (There will never be a "last religion" or "last Divine Messenger.")

And there are many, many prophcies of the coming of Baha'u'llah (our Founder) and the Baha'i Faith--hundreds in the Bible alone! You can see some of the details of these at:
http://bci.org/prophecy-fulfilled

And since your friend's apparently from a Catholic background, if you like, I'll be most happy to email you a copy of a pamphlet about the Baha'i Faith that the Roman Catholic Church published a while back. Just email me at: brucedlimber@aol.com so I have your email address.

If you have any more questions we can answer for you, please feel free to ask!

(BTW, another Baha'i forum you might find very helpful is at www.planetbahai.org Its live chat isn't used much, but it has excellent batch threads with quesitons and answers, and a great bunch of folks participating--both Baha'i and other!)

I wish you good hunting!

Bruce

 

[ISFP]

thank you, Bruce!

it's true, my friend does find more meaning in the Gospels now that he's reading them through a Baha'i lens. he still accepts Jesus, but he also accepts Bahaullah as the latest messenger. i'm glad to be here with him as he makes this transition in faith! and also glad that he no longer feels conflicted or spiritually empty.