Doctrine of Devils Session 13

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Doctrine of DevilsSession 13
Bahai
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Bahai
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Bahai Beliefs

• All religions derive from the same source,
  manifestations of God such as
• Moses
• Zoroaster
• Jesus
• Muhammed
• Krishna
• Buddha.
• Confucius
• The Bab
• and Baha'u'llah - the latest manifestation
• are all one and the same, sent to mankind by God
  for a given dispensation or historical period -
  each supercedes the previous one in revelation
  without negating his predecessors

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Bahai Beliefs

• In the oneness and unity of mankind
• equality of race
• Sex
• religion
• all of one God

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Bahai Beliefs

• That there is an eternal truth, but God is an
  unknowable essence he is knowable only in so far
  as he is revealed in the current dispensation,
  and as is consistent in history
• That revelation is ongoing and relative to a
  given dispensation - there is no complete, final
  word of God

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Bahai Beliefs

• That all religions are
• the same in areas of essential/relevant doctrine
• differences are only in areas of non-essentials.
• If areas of doctrine conflict, they are to be
  considered unimportant

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Bahai Beliefs

• All believe in a creator - God, First Cause, etc.
• All have a central figure - one lone man whose
  love has changed millions of people and whose
  words still live on to inspire
• All promise that when the hearts of men have
  grown cold, a Great One will appear to usher in
  the day of Universal Brotherhood
• That a manifestation's precepts and ordinances
  are to be obeyed as from God
• his teaching alone is sufficient for salvation
• he is the only way to God for his dispensation
• his work cannot fail nor can his mission not be
  accomplished

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Who was The Bab?
In Persia, May 23, 1844, a young merchant--the
Báb--announced that He was the Bearer of a long-
promised Divine Revelation destined to transform
the spiritual life of the human race. "O
peoples of the earth," the Báb declared, "Give
ear unto God's holy Voice...Verily the
resplendent Light of God hath appeared in your
midst, invested with this unerring Book, that ye
may be guided aright to the ways of peace...
The Báb's declaration that spiritual renewal and
social advancement rested on "love and
compassion" rather "than force and coercion,"
aroused hope and excitement among all classes,
and He quickly attracted thousands of followers.
The Shrine of the Báb, Haifa, Israel
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Who was The Bab?
Although the young merchant's given name was
Siyyid 'Ali-Muhammad, He took the name "Báb," a
title that means "Gate" or "Door" in Arabic.
His coming, the Báb explained, represented the
portal through which the universally anticipated
Revelation of God to all humanity would soon
appear. The central theme of His major
work--the Bayan--was the imminent appearance of a
second Messenger from God, one Who would be far
greater than the Báb, and Whose mission would be
to usher in the age of peace and justice promised
in Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and all the
other world religions.
The Shrine of the Báb, Haifa, Israel
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Who was The Bab?
In some respects, the Báb's role can be compared
to that of John the Baptist in the founding of
Christianity. The Báb was Bahá'u'lláh's herald
His principal mission was to prepare the way for
Bahá'u'lláh's coming. Accordingly, the founding
of the Bábi Faith is viewed by Bahá'ís as
synonymous with the founding of the Bahá'í
Faith--and its purpose was fulfilled when
Bahá'u'lláh announced in 1863 that He was the
Promised One foretold by the Báb. Bahá'u'lláh
later affirmed that the Báb was "the Herald of
His Name and the Harbinger of His Great
Revelation which hath caused...the splendour of
His light to shine forth above the horizon of the
world."
The Shrine of the Báb, Haifa, Israel
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AN EXAMINATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL VALIDITY OF
BAHA'I THOUGHT
1908 - Abdu'l-Baha said that the manifestations
of God were Abraham Moses Christ Muhamme
d The Bab and Baha'u'llah (his father)
Eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the
Bahá'í Faith
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AN EXAMINATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL VALIDITY OF
BAHA'I THOUGHT
1912 - Abdu'l-Baha changed the list to
Moses Jesus Zoroaster Krishna
Buddha Confucius Muhammed The Bab
and Baha'u'llah (his father)
Eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the
Bahá'í Faith
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AN EXAMINATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL VALIDITY OF
BAHA'I THOUGHT
the Bab actually included Adam as a
manifestation manifestations of God were
Adam Abraham Moses Christ Muhammed Th
e Bab (himself)
Shrine of the Báb in Haifa, Israel. Siyyid Alí
Mu?ammad Shírází (Persian) called the Báb meaning
"Gate. October 20, 1819 July 9, 1850 was the
founder of Bábism
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AN EXAMINATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL VALIDITY OF
BAHA'I THOUGHT
Baha'u'llah said the manifestations were
Noah Hud (prophet of Islam ) Saleh (prophet
of Islam) Abraham Moses Jesus Muhammed a
nd the Bab
Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith
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Bahai major criteria for distinguishing a true
manifestation from a false one

• his truth is self-validating - his life is proof
• he fulfills prophecy and foretells his successor
• each manifestation is a different person
• there is an appointed time period for him to turn
  over the reins to his successor
• he is simple, gentle, has no personal ambition,
  is often of low estate, obscure and impecunious.
  He is always a man of little human learning
• he is sinless
• he manifests extraordinary ethical attributes
  beyond the common man
• he brings a new name and a new attribute of God
  to human consciousness
• he brings harmony among conflicting peoples
• he changes men's hearts without the exhibition of
  external power

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith
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Nine revealed religions
Baha'i today includes the following as the list
of the nine revealed religions

• Hinduism
• Islam
• Judaism
• Zoroastrianism
• Buddhism
• Confucianism
• Taoism
• Christianity
• Baha'i

Bahá'í temple in U.S.
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Bahai major criteria for distinguishing a true
manifestation from a false one

• The High-Prophet himself, though he ENDORSES all
  the spiritual teachings of the last Revelation,
  does not hesitate to modify or repeal.
• We gladly note that Jesus, Confucius, Buddha,
  Zoroaster and Krishna fail this test. None of
  them ever referred to their predecessor or his
  works.
• Thus, no endorsement has ever taken place, no
  modification, nor any repeal as a direct
  referenced act.

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith
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Bahai major criteria for distinguishing a true
manifestation from a false one

• "as a man, he is marked by his simplicity and
  gentleness and lack of personal ambition...He is
  ALWAYS a man of little human learning".
• We gladly note that Moses was well equipped to
  write the Pentateuch. He was educated in the
  royal court of Egypt, which was highly advanced
  academically .
• Confucius said of himself that "at the age of 15
  I had my mind bent on learning". He was a
  successful teacher and started a private school
  with an enrollment of about 3000 students.

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith
clearly, neither of these manifestations meet
this criteria fully either
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Bahai major criteria for distinguishing a true
manifestation from a false one

• Abdu'l-Baha states "For these Holy Souls are
  PURE FROM EVERY SIN, and sanctified from faults."
  
• Adam disobeyed the specific command of God and
  ate from the tree of knowledge
• Moses murdered an Egyptian and disobeyed the
  command of God in striking the rock
• Noah became drunk with wine and lay about naked
  to his shame

Eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the
Bahá'í Faith
clearly, neither of these manifestations meet
this criteria fully either
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Bahai major criteria for distinguishing a true
manifestation from a false one

• Confucius confessed moral shortcomings (Analects
  73) he hoped he would improve (716)
• "In letters I am perhaps equal to other men. But
  the character of the superior man, carrying out
  in his conduct what he professes, is what I have
  not yet attained to" (732)
• he also admitted to being unable to "not be
  overcome with wine" and to being defective in
  four duties. (915)

Kong Fuzi "Master Kong"
Clearly none of these manifestations have met the
sinless criteria either
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Bahai major criteria for distinguishing a true
manifestation from a false one

• Muhammed (Qur'an (481-2)) "Lo! We have given
  thee (O Muhammed) a signal victory, that Allah
  may forgive thee of thy sin which is past and
  that which is to come, and may perfect His favour
  unto thee, and may guide thee on a right path."
• Clearly none of these manifestations have met the
  sinless criteria either. It is no good to explain
  it away as Abdu'l-Baha has tried to do by saying
  that these men in confessing their sins were
  really sinless but were just trying to set an
  example for mankind. He that says he has sin when
  he has not is just as big a liar as he who says
  he sins not but does. In neither case is there
  truth, and the lie abounds.

Prophet Muhammad at the Ka'ba
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Bahai major criteria for distinguishing a true
manifestation from a false one

• the manifestation "changes the hearts of men...
  by quickening the process of growth rather than
  by external display of power
• Christ fails this test as well, for his ministry
  was filled with the miraculous - and no you can't
  spiritualize or treat as symbolical all the
  healings, restoration to life, loaves and fishes
  etc. without throwing out all the context of the
  revealed scripture and abandoning all hermeneutic
  principles, but more on this later.
• Christ's single greatest miracle was His own
  resurrection in which He overcame death once and
  for all time. (the wages of sin is death - He as
  the embodiment of perfection, paid the eternal
  penalty for sin for all time for those who will
  believe on Him)

Christ the Saviour
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Bahai major criteria for distinguishing a true
manifestation from a false one

• a manifestation foretells his successor
• the Bab foretold that Subh-i-Azal would be his
  successor in the book NUQ tatu 'L-kaf by Mizra
  Jani written in 1851. However, Baha decided he
  should be the next manifestation, in spite of the
  fact that the Bab predicted 1500 years had to
  pass before the next manifestation could appear.
• In fact, only 22 years passed by. Baha'u'llah
  clearly recognized the liberty he had taken and
  set down his own prophecy that no new
  manifestation would come for a millenium

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Bahai major criteria for distinguishing a true
manifestation from a false one

• "Whosoever claims Command before completion of a
  thousand years is a false liar... Whoever
  explains this verse or interprets it in any other
  way than that plainly set down, he will be
  deprived of the Spirit and Mercy of God."
• Abdu'l-Baha in turn ignored Baha'u'llah's
  provision that Abdu'l's brother - Mizra Muhammad
  Ali should succeed him when he appointed his
  grandson Shoghi Effendi instead. Shoghi Effendi
  failed to actualize the edicts of his
  predecessors and did not appoint a successor nor
  write a will.
• Since appointments and wills were supposedly
  inspired by God, Baha'i history is filled with
  "inspired" violations of "inspired" injunctions.

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The revealed knowledge of God

• Let us look at the revealed knowledge of God as
  distilled from the manifestations that is "what
  is the nature of God?", based on a consensus of
  revelation.
• Moses
• God is
• personal
• strict
• uncompromising
• monotheism

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The revealed knowledge of God

• more of the revealed knowledge of God
• Krishna
• God is
• Impersonal
• Polytheistic
• but ultimately Pantheistic (everything is god)

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The revealed knowledge of God

• more of the revealed knowledge of God
• Zoroaster
• God is
• Dualistic
• two supreme beings
• a good God
• and a bad God
• (what do you call the standard that distinguishes
  between them?)

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The revealed knowledge of God

• more of the revealed knowledge of God
• Buddha
• God is
• NOT relevant
• Basically agnostic

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The revealed knowledge of God

• more of the revealed knowledge of God
• Confucius
• God is
• Polytheistic
• or there are many gods

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The revealed knowledge of God

• more of the revealed knowledge of God
• Jesus Christ
• God is
• Personal
• Able to beget a son
• Strict
• Uncompromising
• Monotheism

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The revealed knowledge of God

• more of the revealed knowledge of God
• Muhammmed
• God is
• Personal
• Unable to beget a son
• Strict
• Uncompromising
• Monotheism

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The revealed knowledge of God

• So there you have it.
• God is
• impersonal
• yet personal
• God is
• Dualistic
• Polytheistic
• Pantheistic
• yet strictly monotheistic
• God is
• Able to beget a son
• yet not able to beget a son
• God is
• Extremely relevant
• yet totally irrelevant
• God is
• all these at the same time.

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VALIDATING A BAHA'I PROPHET/MANIFESTATION BY HIS
WORKS

• Bahai says

• Bible says

• You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when
  a message has NOT been spoken by the Lord?"
• If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the
  Lord DOES NOT TAKE PLACE OR COME TRUE, that is a
  message the LORD HAS NOT SPOKEN!..." In other
  words this is the mark of the false prophet.
• (Deuteronomy 1821-22 )

• a prophet must be without sin, if he is for real.

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VALIDATING A BAHA'I PROPHET/MANIFESTATION BY HIS
WORKS

• Bahai says

• Now let us examine one of Abdu'l-Baha's most
  important prophecies and see if it came true.
• In the 1923 edition of "Baha'u'llah and the New
  Era", J.E. Esslemont wrote
• Both Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha predict in most
  confident terms the speedy triumph of
  spirituality over materiality and the consequent
  establishment of the Most Great Peace.

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VALIDATING A BAHA'I PROPHET/MANIFESTATION BY HIS
WORKS

• -referring to Abdu'l-Baha, Esslemont
  continues.......

• He declares that this consummation is near to
  hand and will come about during the present
  century. In an address to Theosophists in
  February 1913, he said "This Century is the
  Century of the Sun of Trust.
• This Century is the Century of the establishment
  of the Kingdom of God upon the earth."- Star of
  the West, vol.ix, p. 7.
• In the last two verses of the Book of Daniel
  occur the cryptic words" - "Blessed is he that
  waiteth and cometh to the thousand, three hundred
  and thirty-five days. But go thy way till the end
  can be for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot
  at the end of the days."
• Abdu'l-Baha said- "These 1335 days mean 1335
  solar years from Hijrat (Flight of Muhammad from
  Mecca to Medina, marking the beginning of the
  Muhammaden era.) As the Hijrat occurred in 622
  A.D. the date referred to is therefore, 1957 (ie.
  622 1335) A.D.
• He was asked "What shall we see at the end of
  the 1335 days?"
• He replied "Universal Peace will be firmly
  establised, a Universal language promoted.
  Misunderstandings will pass away. The Baha'i
  Cause will be promulgated in all parts and the
  oneness of mankind established!"

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VALIDATING A BAHA'I PROPHET/MANIFESTATION BY HIS
WORKS

• Clearly this prophecy has not come to pass. It is
  therefore a false prophecy as is the prophet that
  uttered it.
• As if to confirm the fact, in the 1970 edition
  (3rd revision of the book after the author's
  death) the false prophecy has been deleted and
  the subsequent text altered by about 60 of its
  content. Apparently Abdu'l-Baha changed his mind
  after his death?
• This is a case of blatant deception, and violates
  the Baha'i principle of the "free investigation
  of the truth".
• The Baha'i organization has altered the written
  testimony of their own man who was there in
  person as a witness to document the event. How
  embarrassing a lie can be - the old saying,
• "if you tell one lie, you will have to tell
  another to cover up the first one"

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Prophetic claims made by BAHA'I

• Christianity says

• Bible scripture says

• Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another
  holy one said to him, "How long will it take for
  the vision to be fulfilled-- the vision
  concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion
  that causes desolation, and the surrender of the
  sanctuary and of the host that will be trampled
  underfoot?"
• He said to me, "It will take 2,300 evenings and
  mornings then the sanctuary will be
  reconsecrated."
• While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and
  trying to understand it, there before me stood
  one who looked like a man.
• And I heard a man's voice from the Ulai calling,
  "Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the
  vision."
• As he came near the place where I was standing, I
  was terrified and fell prostrate. "Son of man,"
  he said to me, "understand that the vision
  concerns the time of the end."

• of Daniel 813-17
• The true meaning of the 2300 days and evenings is
  found in the fact that this was the time of the
  desolation of the temple. Antiochus began his
  oppression of the Jews in 171 B.C. and it was
  2300 days later, in Dec. of 165 B.C. that it
  ended with the cleansing of the temple by Judas
  Maccabaeus.

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Prophetic claims made by BAHA'I

• Bahai says

• Bible scripture says

• of Isaiah 111-10
• While Abdu'l-Baha makes the concession that the
  root of Jesse is Jesus Christ, he fails to
  consider the context of the passage, and the
  two-fold nature of Christ's mission on earth.
• The first time He came as Priest to offer the
  perfect sacrifice to make it possible for men to
  be reconciled to (or to be at peace with) God,
  the second time He will come as King to rule over
  His Kingdom.

• A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse
  from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The
  Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit
  of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of
  counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and
  of the fear of the LORD--
• and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He
  will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or
  decide by what he hears with his ears but with
  righteousness he will judge the needy, with
  justice he will give decisions for the poor of
  the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod
  of his mouth with the breath of his lips he will
  slay the wicked.

• Christianity says

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Prophetic claims made by BAHA'I

• Bahai says

• Bible scripture says

• of Isaiah 111-10
• Thus Abdu'l claims the prophecy for Baha'u'llah
  who "had a plan for peace on earth".

• Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness
  the sash around his waist.
• The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard
  will lie down with the goat, the calf and the
  lion and the yearling together and a little
  child will lead them.
• The cow will feed with the bear, their young will
  lie down together, and the lion will eat straw
  like the ox.
• The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
  and the young child put his hand into the viper's
  nest.

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Prophetic claims made by BAHA'I

• Bible scripture says

• The more obvious reason that it cannot stand, is
  that the Baha'u'llah is not a descendant of Jesse
  by any geneological stretch of the imagination,
  and this is an obvious requirement of the passage.

• They will neither harm nor destroy on all my
  holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the
  knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the
  sea.
• In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a
  banner for the peoples the nations will rally to
  him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

• Christianity says

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THE BAHA'I VIEW OF CHRIST

• Bahai says

• Bible scripture says

• That the incarnation is taught throughout
  scripture is seen by examination of the following
  partial list
•  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the
  Godhead bodily.
• Col 29

• God CANNOT incarnate Himself
• Yet the Baha'i declare God to be all-powerful.
• Again we have a contradiction - God is
  all-powerful but cannot.....

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THE BAHA'I VIEW OF CHRIST

• Bahai says

• Bible scripture says

• The incarnation is taught throughout scripture
•  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
  (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
  only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
  truth.
• John 11,14

• God CANNOT incarnate Himself
• Yet the Baha'i declare God to be all-powerful.
• Again we have a contradiction - God is
  all-powerful but cannot.....

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THE BAHA'I VIEW OF CHRIST

• Bahai says

• Christianity says

•  And when he had spoken these things, while they
  beheld, he was taken up and a cloud received him
  out of their sight.
•  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven
  as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in
  white apparel
•  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye
  gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is
  taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in
  like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
• (Acts 19-11)

• Jesus will NOT return in BODILY form

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THE BAHA'I VIEW OF CHRIST

• Bahai says

• Christianity says

• Abdu'l-Baha has written that Christ's return will
  be as an infant .
• Again, all of the scriptural record therefore is
  wrong and Abdu'l is right. He has to make the
  denial of these passages as literal so that he
  may claim to be the manifestation of God.
• In reality Abdu'l-Baha fails to claim the one
  scriptural passage that does apply to him - Matt
  245, 23

• The second coming will be a cataclysmic event
  SEEN LITERALLY by the whole human race.
• For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am
  the Christ,' and will deceive many. At that time
  if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the
  Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it.
  (Matt 245, 23)

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Christ's RESURRECTION

• Bahai says

• Christianity says

• Christ's RESURRECTION was merely SYMBOLIC not
  literal.
• For that matter, everything miraculous in the
  Bible is to be treated as symbolic.
• What a limited God the Baha'i God is. He is
  all-powerful, but not only can He not incarnate
  Himself, He cannot perform miracles.

• In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah
  "'You will be ever hearing but never
  understanding you will be ever seeing but never
  perceiving.
• (Matt. 1314)
• Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but
  fail to hear? And don't you remember?
• (Mar 818 )

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Jesus Christ, the only SAVIOR?

• Bahai says

• Christianity says

• Jesus Christ, is NOT the only SAVIOR for ALL
  ETERNITY
• The Baha'i claim that Christ was the savior only
  for His dispensation which ended with the coming
  of Muhammed. Again this is at direct odds with
  the text of the Bible.

John 146 says Jesus answered, "I am the way,
the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father but through Me. Acts 412 quotes Peter
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is
no other name under heaven by which we must be
saved. Matt. 2819-20 Jesus teaches that His
teachings are to be taught until the END OF THE
WORLD.
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Jesus Christ, the only SAVIOR?

• Bahai says

• Christianity says

Some Baha'i try to define the end of the age as
meaning only Christ's dispensation. If one
reads Matt. 24, it is inescapable that the
passage refers to Christ Himself returning and
not Baha'u'llah - who has already failed to meet
the criteria for the second coming on many counts
as previously shown.
Mat 2820 and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age. Mat 2430
At that time the sign of the Son of Man will
appear in the sky, and all the nations of the
earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and
great glory.
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THEOLOGICAL PROBLEMS WITH BAHA'I BELIEF

• Baha'is deny that through Adam, man fell from
  his originally perfect spiritual and moral state.
  
• They affirm that no one is "essentially" bad or
  evil, but merely imperfect.
• Sins are characteristics of the lower, baser
  plane of nature, and education brings deliverance
  from them.
• This is the basic philosophy of all non-Christian
  religions and can be simply summed up as
  spiritual evolution through the acquisition of
  esoteric knowledge mediated to the masses.
• And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not
  surely die  For God doth know that in the day ye
  eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and
  ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
• 
  Gen. 34-5

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THEOLOGICAL PROBLEMS WITH BAHA'I BELIEF

• Concerning salvation, Baha'u'llah said,
• "Whoso keepeth the commandments of God shall
  attain everlasting felicity."
• Abdul Baha stated that
• there is no sin-atoning value in Christ's
  sacrificial death on the cross.
• So inadequate was his concept of redemption that
  Baha'u'llah was able to say of himself
• "Fix your gaze upon Him who is the Temple of God
  amongst men. He, in truth, hath offered up his
  life as a ransom for the redemption of the
  world."
• Baha'u'llah falls far short of perfection.
• The law of God is satisfied only if perfection
  pays for imperfection. The death of an imperfect
  man can pay only for his own sin, not that of the
  rest of the human race.

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The Manifestations and the Nature of God

• Bahaullahs mysticism led to declarations about
  the prophet that did not always clarify matters.
  On the one hand, he asserted they are not
  incarnations of God
• Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in
  no wise incarnate His Essence and reveal it unto
  men.

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith
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The Manifestations and the Nature of God

• Bahaullah spoke more forcefully in terms of
  their divine nature. Apparently referring to
  himself
• Unto this subtle, this mysterious and ethereal
  Being Bahaullah He God hath assigned a
  twofold nature
• the physical, pertaining to the world of matter,
• and the spiritual, which is born of the substance
  of God Himself...
• Manifold and mysterious is My relationship with
  God. I am He, Himself and He is I, Myself
  except that I am that I am, and He is that He
  is.

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith
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The Manifestations and the Nature of God

• Bahaullah alleges that the Bab declared of him,
  There is none other God but Him.
• Bahaullah also says unashamedly, When I
  contemplate, O My God, the relationship that
  bindeth me to Thee... I am moved to proclaim to
  all created things, verily I am God! and when
  I consider my own self, lo, I find it coarser
  than clay.
• Nevertheless, the rationalistic influence in
  modern Bahai theology, as well as its Islamic
  roots, dictate that the prophet cannot be deity,
  and this is the official teaching.

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith
53
Manifestations and the Nature of God

• Bahaullah attempted to distinguish between the
  prophets station (rank) and mission.
• As to their station, the prophets are all equal
  in an absolute sense.
• No distinction do We make between any of His
  Messengers they are regarded as one soul and
  the same person.
• They all have the same value, even though the
  most recent Manifestation supersedes the others
  in importance by means of progressive or superior
  revelation.
• As to the prophets mission, however, the words
  and utterances ... appear to diverge and differ
  still all their utterances are, in reality, but
  the expressions of one Truth.

54
Manifestations and the Nature of God

• Even though their teachings appear as
  contradictory, they really arent because all
  the prophets are regarded as one soul and the
  same person giving revelation from the one and
  same God.
• Supposedly then, in the end, Krishna, a
  polytheist, and Jesus, a monotheist, are One,
  despite their vast theological differences, not
  to mention natures.
• Buddha and Muhammad are One, despite Buddhas
  practical atheism and Muhammads zealous theism.

55
Basic doctrines of world religions

• The Bahai faith is wrong to declare that the
  real differences among religions are in outer
  form and ritual and not in fundamental doctrine.
  In fact, almost all religions, more or less, are
  similar in outer form and ritual but distinct in
  doctrine.
• No orthodox Christian, Muslim or Jew, for
  example, would accept Krishna or Buddha as
  prophets of God.
• No orthodox Buddhist or Muslim could ever accept
  Jesus as the atoning Savior and Son of God.
• Only if Bahai can presuppose religious unity by
  discarding the teachings of the prophets can it
  find a way to harmonize fundamentally contrary
  faiths.

56
The Manifestations and the Nature of God

• Bahaullah declares of the Manifestations what
  any first year comparative religion major would
  know is false
• If thou wilt observe with discriminating eyes,
  thou wilt behold them all abiding in the same
  tabernacle, soaring in the same heaven, seated
  upon the same throne, uttering the same speech,
  and proclaiming the same Faith....
• Who so maketh the slightest possible difference
  between their persons, their words, their
  messages, their acts and manners, hath indeed
  disbelieved in God, hath repudiated His signs,
  and betrayed the Cause of His Messengers.

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith
57
Bahai has rejected the major teachings

• How could the Buddha establish the Oneness of
  God when he didnt even believe in God?
• Buddhism actually nullified Hinduism (there is no
  absolute deity)
• Islam nullified Christianity (God has no
  Son)
• Bahai nullified Islam (Muhammad is not the final
  prophet).
• How then can the prophets be prophets of the same
  God?

58
Bahai denounces Christianity in four major areas

• The Authority of the Bible
• The Trinity
• Christology (from the Virgin Birth to Christs
  unique Deity and mediatorial atonement
• Salvation by grace through faith alone

59
Bahais may sound Christian

• Bahai says

• Bahaullah is the promised Messiah of the Bible
  and other holy scriptures, and that Bahaullahs
  teachings supersede all others.
• Bahaullah was none other than Jesus Christ
  returned,
• and it is to him, not Jesus, that Christians and
  others must look.
• Why then are orthodox Christians still looking
  for Jesus return?
• Because Christs erring disciples falsely
  interpreted Jesus teachings.

• Bahais believe in Jesus Christ.
• Bahais say that
• Christ was the son of God
• born of the Virgin Mary
• Christ came to bring salvation to mankind....
• A person cannot be a Bahai unless he believes in
  Christ.

60
Out of the mouth of Bahai leaders

• Mason Bemey The Bahai Faith is not a renewal of
  Christianity. It is an entirely New Religion that
  is going to supersede Christianity.
• Udo Schaefer (Chairman National Spiritual
  Assembly of Bahais of Germany) Measured by the
  standard of Bahaullahs revelation, the Pauline
  doctrine of Justification, the doctrine of
  Original Sin, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity...
  the whole Church plan of salvation ... These are
  a deformation of Jesuss teaching.

61
Bahaullah on Christianity

• As the adherents of Jesus have never understood
  the hidden meaning of these words
• they therefore refused to acknowledge, even until
  now, the truth of those Manifestations of
  Holiness that have since the days of Jesus been
  made manifest.
• They have thus deprived themselves of the
  outpourings of Gods holy grace, and of the
  wonders of His divine utterance.
• Such is their low estate in this, the Day of
  Resurrection!

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith
62
Abdul-Baha on Christianity

• The clergy have neither understood the meaning of
  the Gospels nor comprehended the symbols
• Bahais tell Christian clergy that they do not
  understand their own Scriptures.
• Bahais believe Christians are false prophets and
  apostates.
• George Townshend tells us that unenlightened
  Christians have actually committed the crime of
  rejecting Christ (Bahaullah), who brought a
  new, different, and more advanced Revelation.

Eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the
Bahá'í Faith
63
BAHAI v.s. CHRISTIANITY

• Bahai says

• Christianity says

• God
• God is unknowable except through conflicting
  manifestations.
• God cannot incarnate Himself.

And this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. (John 173) God also hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name That at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things
in earth, and things under the earth And that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 29-11).
64
BAHAI v.s. CHRISTIANITY

• Bahai says

• Christianity says
• JesusChrist

• JesusChrist
• One of many manifestations of the divine
• Jesus Christ returned as Bahaullah.

Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he
which is of God, he hath seen the Father. ( John
646)   For as the lightning cometh out of the
east, and shineth even unto the west so shall
also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew
2427)
65
BAHAI v.s. CHRISTIANITY

• Bahai says

• Christianity says
• Nature of Revelation

• Nature of Revelation
• Written revelation is incomplete and con-tinuing
• religious truth is ultimately relative
• In their true essence and teaching all religions
  are true or reflect facets of the truth.

 Sanctify them through thy truth thy word is
truth. (John 1717) I have not written unto you
because ye know not the truth, but because ye
know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (1
John 221).
66
BAHAI v.s. CHRISTIANITY

• Bahai says

• Christianity says
• Method of Biblical Interpretation

• Method of Biblical Interpretation
• Biased
• employs Bahai assumptions
• non-literal

Objective Employs universally accepted
principles Literal