The Bahá'í Faith: Teachings, History, and Practices

[Bob Carabbio]

For we, baha'is, The Quran is revealed by God, as the Bible.

Totally wrong. the Quran is a worthless collection of garbage.

We baha'is believe that God forgives those who come to Him with a contrite and broken heart, in genuine repentance.

Which means NOTHING if it doesn't include FAITH (Heb 11:1 - Eph 2:8,9) in the SIN OFFERING of Jesus on the Cross.

If you are interested in knowing more about why we believe in that, please let me know.

I have no interest in worthless philosophies like "Bahai".

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

I have no interest in worthless philosophies like "Bahai".

I appreciate your candid response.
God bless you and your family.

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

Going back to "The Hidden Words" of Bahá'u'lláh

"O SON OF SPIRIT! Noble have I created thee, ​

yet thou hast abased thyself. ​

Rise then unto that for which thou wast created."​

God created me noble, in his image.
As a child, I was in his presence and kingdom.

Yet, I have taken wrong decisions and abased myself.
God reminds me what my true origin and purpose is. I was not created for abasement and destruction, but for voluntarily coming back to his Arms.
These verses of The Hidden Words are beautifully converted in a song:

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

Prayer for the Departed, from Abdul Bahá.
We believe we can be intercessors for others, included those who have died
That is why we can pray for each other, here and in the afterlife.
God listens to us not because of any personal merit, but because He is Merciful and Munificent, and because His Manifestations (Zoroaster, Moses, Jesus, Bahaullah) have made us priests.

O My God! ​

O Thou forgiver of sins, ​

bestower of gifts, dispeller of afflictions! ​

Verily, I beseech thee to forgive the sins ​

of such as have abandoned the physical garment ​

and have ascended to the spiritual world. ​

​

O my Lord! ​

Purify them from trespasses, ​

dispel their sorrows, ​

and change their darkness into light. ​

Cause them to enter the garden of happiness,​

cleanse them with the most pure water, ​

and grant them to behold Thy splendors ​

on the loftiest mount.​

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

In 1912, only about a small fraction of college students were women. However, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, whose writings we consider inspired by God, not only advocated that “Daughters and sons must follow the same curriculum of study,” but went a step further:

“…the education of women is of greater importance than the education of men, for they are the mothers of the race, and mothers rear the children. The first teachers of children are the mothers. Therefore, they must be capably trained in order to educate both sons and daughters.”

The following is a prayer of Abdul Bahá for little girls. I was blessed with two beautiful daugthers. I pray to God tonight for those of you blessed in similar way.

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

A prayer revealed through Bahá’u’lláh

MY God, my Adored One, my King, my Desire!
What tongue can voice my thanks to Thee?
I was heedless,
Thou didst awaken me.
I had turned back from Thee,
Thou didst graciously aid me to turn towards Thee.
I was as one dead,
Thou didst quicken me with the water of life.
I was withered,
Thou didst revive me
with the heavenly stream of Thine utterance
which hath flowed forth
from the Pen of the All-Merciful.

O Divine Providence!
All existence is begotten by Thy bounty;
deprive it not
of the waters of Thy generosity,
neither do Thou withhold it
from the ocean of Thy mercy.
I beseech Thee to aid and assist me
at all times and under all conditions,
and seek from the heaven of Thy grace
Thine ancient favor.
Thou art, in truth, the Lord of bounty,
and the Sovereign of the kingdom of eternity.

 

[mikesw]

I think maybe just point people to the website rather than posting the material here. It is not that good to share here since the Bahai faith denies the God of the Holy Bible.

 

[synergy]

A prayer revealed through Bahá’u’lláh

MY God, my Adored One, my King, my Desire!
What tongue can voice my thanks to Thee?
I was heedless,
Thou didst awaken me.
I had turned back from Thee,
Thou didst graciously aid me to turn towards Thee.
I was as one dead,
Thou didst quicken me with the water of life.
I was withered,
Thou didst revive me
with the heavenly stream of Thine utterance
which hath flowed forth
from the Pen of the All-Merciful.

O Divine Providence!
All existence is begotten by Thy bounty;
deprive it not
of the waters of Thy generosity,
neither do Thou withhold it
from the ocean of Thy mercy.
I beseech Thee to aid and assist me
at all times and under all conditions,
and seek from the heaven of Thy grace
Thine ancient favor.
Thou art, in truth, the Lord of bounty,
and the Sovereign of the kingdom of eternity.

Is Bahá’u’lláh praying to Allah of the Quran?
Don't be afraid to reveal the true name of the God or god that Bahá’u’lláh is praying to.

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

Is Bahá’u’lláh praying to Allah of the Quran?
Don't be afraid to reveal the true name of the God or god that Bahá’u’lláh is praying to.

Yes, my friend. Why should I be afraid?

Depending on the context, Bahá’u’lláh could use “Khoda” (Persian) “Allah” (Arabic) or most importantly, the Greatest Name, which has two main variants, “Alláh’u’Abhá” and “Ya bahá’ul’Abhá” (“God, the Most Glorious”, “Glory of glories”)

When we greet another Baha’i, we say “Alláh’u’Abhá”.
Many of us keep a written representation of the Greatest Name in our homes. I have it in my studio where I write to you, hanging from the wall.
From time to time we repeat 95 times that name out loud in intimate meditation. Some do it daily. To keep track of the number of times without getting distracted, some Baha’is use a rosary or a cell phone app. I use the cell phone
Here is a meditative repetition of the Name of God and its written representation.

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

This is the short version of the prayer we pray every Single day of our lives.
We say it in our native tongue, so I say “Oh Dios, mi Dios” (O God, my God). The lady in the video is singing in Arabic and says the grammatical variant of Allah that corresponds.

***
Honestly, when I pray I don’t think neither in Ahura Mazda nor in YHWH nor in the Allah of the Quran or the Alla’u’Abhá of my religion.
I just visualize One Personal God.
Now, When I pray with my mother, who is Christian, I pray to The Father, and she loves to recite prayers from Bahaullah as well. We pray together every Monday, by zoom (we live in different cities). Although She is Christian, she knows that Allah is another name for the Only God, and she always thought that since the time she was a Catholic. So I was raised with that concept. Believe me when I say that it never crossed my mind that Muslims were heretics or anything like that. I just thought they were wrong at some things.

The first time in my life I met Christians who thought that Allah was not God was in a Latin American Christian Forum 4 years ago. I felt puzzled, sad and even outraged. To me it is a matter not even of Theology, but common sense and education.
I have already expressed publicly that I worship Allah and submit my life to Him. I can’t imagine my life in any other way.

***
At Bahai “Temples” the mos frequent thing is to find people from all religions praying in silence to the Only and True God, whatever His name.
Then, at certain times, Bahais come to the microphone to read prayers from several sacred texts, including The Lord’s Prayer, or singing a verse of the Holy Quran.

 

[synergy]

Yes, my friend. Why should I be afraid?

Depending on the context, Bahá’u’lláh could use “Khoda” (Persian) “Allah” (Arabic) or most importantly, the Greatest Name, which has two main variants, “Alláh’u’Abhá” and “Ya bahá’ul’Abhá” (“God, the Most Glorious”, “Glory of glories”)

When we greet another Baha’i, we say “Alláh’u’Abhá”.
Many of us keep a written representation of the Greatest Name in our homes. I have it in my studio where I write to you, hanging from the wall.
From time to time we repeat 95 times that name out loud in intimate meditation. Some do it daily. To keep track of the number of times without getting distracted, some Baha’is use a rosary or a cell phone app. I use the cell phone
Here is a meditative repetition of the Name of God and its written representation.

Thanks for that information. This all sounds like another of many attempts by man to reach God. The difference between these attempts and Christianity is that in Christianity you have God reaching out to man and revealing himself in his Son, the Uncreated Word of God. As enchanting as these many attempts to reach God are, if man doesn't acknowledge the one time God did reach out to us in Person then how honest are we in reaching out to God? All attempts should conform to Christianity, not ,that Christianity should conform to the Baha'i. I wonder what your thoughts are.

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

Thanks for that information. This all sounds like another of many attempts by man to reach God. The difference between these attempts and Christianity is that in Christianity you have God reaching out to man and revealing himself in his Son, the Uncreated Word of God. As enchanting as these many attempts to reach God are, if man doesn't acknowledge the one time God did reach out to us in Person then how honest are we in reaching out to God? All attempts should conform to Christianity, not ,that Christianity should conform to the Baha'i. I wonder what your thoughts are.

I totally agree with you in that it is God who reaches out to us through a Personal Mediator. The concept of Manifestation of God (Mediator, Anointed, Divine Messenger, Educator, or Comforter) is central to Bahai theology, as God Himself is knowable to humans only thorugh His Manifestations.

The concept is functionally similar to the teophanies that we have discussed in other threads.
Theologically, you and me see these teophanies a bit different, but in practice, the implication is the same: you and I know we must follow, out of love, what the Angel of YHVH says, because that is the will of God Himself.

As I have said, I don’t mind if the Angel of YHVH at each instance were Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jesus or Bahaullah. If at any of those teophanies it was pre-incarnate Jesus, I thank God for that.

We believe in Bahá’u’lláh as the most recent (but not the last) Manifestation of God. To us He represents the Second Coming of Christ.

 

[synergy]

I totally agree with you in that it is God who reaches out to us through a Personal Mediator. The concept of Manifestation of God (Mediator, Anointed, Divine Messenger, Educator, or Comforter) is central to Bahai theology, as God Himself is knowable to humans only thorugh His Manifestations.

The concept is functionally similar to the teophanies that we have discussed in other threads.
Theologically, you and me see these teophanies a bit different, but in practice, the implication is the same: you and I know we must follow, out of love, what the Angel of YHVH says, because that is the will of God Himself.

As I have said, I don’t mind if the Angel of YHVH at each instance were Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jesus or Bahaullah. If at any of those teophanies it was pre-incarnate Jesus, I thank God for that.

We believe in Bahá’u’lláh as the most recent (but not the last) Manifestation of God. To us He represents the Second Coming of Christ.

I don't see how your remarks "acknowledge the one time God did reach out to us in Person". You're talking about multiple different people appearing and not the "in Person" appearance of God Himself. We're worlds apart, unfortunately.

 

[civic]

I don't see how your remarks "acknowledge the one time God did reach out to us in Person". You're talking about multiple different people appearing and not the "in Person" appearance of God Himself. We're worlds apart, unfortunately.

Jesus the Son of God cannot be compared to any other man since He was Unique, One of a kind that set Him apart from all the prophets in both testaments. And the prophets and apostles worshipped Him and He was their Lord,Master, Sovereign, King, God, Savior etc......

Only Christ made the payment for mans sins through His atonement and Resurrection. Only He can pay for mans sins. We know this because the Psalmist declared in 49:7 : No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.

And we know God requires a payment to be made for the forgiveness of their sins and for the person to be redeemed/saved. Christ sacrifice was a once and for all act never to be repeated of substituted by anything or anyone else. It's why the law was replaced by Him.

Why people cannot see this is true or deny it is beyond me. He is the only Mediator between God and man. Nothing else and no one else can help man in his despair. It's all about Him from cover to cover. This is why no other book is necessary but the 66 we have that is all sufficient for our daily lives. There is no need to look elsewhere for help or understating since God divinely and miraculously gave us His written word.

He did the work for us so that we don't have to work for our salvation. This separates Christianity from all other religions.

end of rant.

 

[Administrator]

Going back to "The Hidden Words" of Bahá'u'lláh

"O SON OF SPIRIT! Noble have I created thee, ​

yet thou hast abased thyself. ​

Rise then unto that for which thou wast created."​

God created me noble, in his image.
As a child, I was in his presence and kingdom.

Yet, I have taken wrong decisions and abased myself.
God reminds me what my true origin and purpose is. I was not created for abasement and destruction, but for voluntarily coming back to his Arms.
These verses of The Hidden Words are beautifully converted in a song:

Rule 4c. 1 link per post, 1 video per thread and only 2 new threads per day for members.

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

I don't see how your remarks "acknowledge the one time God did reach out to us in Person". You're talking about multiple different people appearing and not the "in Person" appearance of God Himself. We're worlds apart, unfortunately.

We have different religions, that's true.
But I honestly don't think we are "worlds apart". That's why I keep asking people to tell me what difference in our daily lives it makes to believe X or Y about a particular theological issue.

For example, whether the being that appeared to Manoah and his wife was pre-incarnated Jesus, pre-incarnated Bahá'u'llah or Enoch, or none of them but another one, has absolutely no impact on the faith and obedience Manoah and his wife had to show in raising their child. They had to obey that being as if he were God.

In the same way, whether God reached out to us in Person or through a Person, or anything in between, requires from us the very same response: repentance, obedience, a life in love.

 

[Pancho Frijoles]

Why people cannot see this is true or deny it is beyond me.

My brother:

Billions of men and women don't see what you see. Not even within the population that self-identifies as Christian.
These are persons with whom you are called to build a better society.
They are at your workplace, at the marketplace, within your sport team, or musical band. They are your dentist, your driver or accountant. They are the teachers of your children. They are perhaps members of your family. They rule your country.

So, if we are to work together and support each other in our daily lives, we better understand how to love each other as Christ asked us, despite our differences.
We don't need to agree theologically to practice that love.

 

[mikesw]

My brother:

Billions of men and women don't see what you see. Not even within the population that self-identifies as Christian.
These are persons with whom you are called to build a better society.
They are at your workplace, at the marketplace, within your sport team, or musical band. They are your dentist, your driver or accountant. They are the teachers of your children. They are perhaps members of your family. They rule your country.

So, if we are to work together and support each other in our daily lives, we better understand how to love each other as Christ asked us, despite our differences.
We don't need to agree theologically to practice that love.

It is the theology that explains the basis of that love for each other in Christ and often extends to people who are dying in the sins. Christians have been known as those who help others even when the cultures forsook people. That is why it is important to know the truth in Christ.

 

[mikesw]

We have different religions, that's true.
But I honestly don't think we are "worlds apart". That's why I keep asking people to tell me what difference in our daily lives it makes to believe X or Y about a particular theological issue.

For example, whether the being that appeared to Manoah and his wife was pre-incarnated Jesus, pre-incarnated Bahá'u'llah or Enoch, or none of them but another one, has absolutely no impact on the faith and obedience Manoah and his wife had to show in raising their child. They had to obey that being as if he were God.

In the same way, whether God reached out to us in Person or through a Person, or anything in between, requires from us the very same response: repentance, obedience, a life in love.

If we deny the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, people are not going to enjoy true reconciliation with God no matter how repentant they are. If you deny who God is, he will deny you. Sorry for sharing the problem of your religion.

 

[synergy]

We have different religions, that's true.
But I honestly don't think we are "worlds apart". That's why I keep asking people to tell me what difference in our daily lives it makes to believe X or Y about a particular theological issue.

For example, whether the being that appeared to Manoah and his wife was pre-incarnated Jesus, pre-incarnated Bahá'u'llah or Enoch, or none of them but another one, has absolutely no impact on the faith and obedience Manoah and his wife had to show in raising their child. They had to obey that being as if he were God.

In the same way, whether God reached out to us in Person or through a Person, or anything in between, requires from us the very same response: repentance, obedience, a life in love.

A major difference is that Christ, as God, spiritually and literally dwells in our hearts. Christ can literally and spiritually dwell in our hearts only if he is God. Let's see Muhammed try to do that. Those who say that's only a metaphor or myth have lost the battle. It's an insult to call the word of God just metaphors and myths.

That's not just world's apart, that's galaxies apart.

(Eph 3:17) that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,