Curiosity regarding Bahaism

A recent incident moves me to ask: Is anyone in Biologos knowledgeable about Bahaism, a.k.a. the Baha’i faith?

I can’t say I am familiar as such, but it seems to be an attempt to unify religions and get the best of all worlds. I find it interesting that it came out of Iran where Islam is so dominant.

I can see the appeal but would need to delve further to make a clear “judgement”. (if such a thing should be attempted) On the surface it looks Ok but there may be undercurrents and hidden obligations that are not obvious in its teachings.

Richard

I have been to a Bahai meeting to hear what they had to say. I didn’t find it very interesting. Mostly focused on the messianic claims for their founder. It was all too Islamic flavored for my taste.

So I guess I would recommend Bahai to people with an affinity for Islam but wanting something more inclusive of other religions and their ideas. I would compare it to the moonies which is a bit more Christian flavored (though not actually Christian because of their adoptionist Christology – supporting their own messianic claims). One might be tempted to also compare the Bahai to the Hari Krishna saying they are the Hindu flavored group trying to unite all religions. But the truth is that the Hari Krishna is pretty much Hinduism because Hinduism is already inclusive. And yes I have gone to a Hari Krishna meeting also. I particularly recommend them if you are interested in being vegetarian. They are masters of the vegetarian cuisine.

And there is another even newer religion some of my cousins are involved in with this unification of all religions theme and its flavor is the new age positive thinking. Trying to find the name of that one…

I’ll wait several days to count heads.

Couldn’t find it. I have been out of touch with my cousins. I wonder if this religion disappeared.

A while ago I watched a movie about the Bahai Faith. You can watch it for free here:
The Gate: Dawn of the Bahai Faith

Keep in mind that it was produced by the Bahai faithful. You’ll discover that soon enough from watching it. They badly distort history to make their case. The Bahai faith seems to be similar to Islam but it seeks to unify all faiths. Their first prophet, the Bab, was supposed to supersede Mohamad. This ticked off the Muslims back in the day, who persecuted the Bahai, since Mohamad was supposed to be the last prophet. I think the Bab was himself replaced by a newer prophet. Can’t remember his name.

The game of religious leap-frog happens a lot: Islam and its Qur’an was supposed to supersede an inferior Christianity and the Bible. And hundreds of years later, along came Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, which was also supposed to supersede/restore Christianity with a purer faith and holy book. And every president of the Mormon Church is considered a “prophet/seer/revelator” of the true church. So they always have one living prophet around.

As for unifying faiths, the Unification Church of the Reverend Moon was supposed to unify all Christians because Christ had failed on his mission, and you see how far he got.

Well, whatever floats your boat. I think I’ll stick with Christianity and the Bible.

The Báb executed in 1850. The chief founder however is one of his followers, Baháʼu’lláh (died 1892). The next leader was his son ʻAbdu’l-Bahá (died 1921). Next, ʻAbdu’l-Bahá’s grandson Shoghi Effendi, was considered at a lower level (guardian) and when he died in 1957 there was no one left in the religion descended from Baháʼu’lláh (partly because Shoghi Effendi had labeled most of his relatives ‘covenant-breakers’ and kicked them out). Government was given to the nine member “Universal House of Justice” (the members who must be men are elected every five years). Other than the Universal House of Justice all other positions are suppose to be open to both men and women.
Like all reasonably sized groups it has its mix of good and bad.

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