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

I think it’s sometimes a matter of belief meets reality and they aren’t always compatible. Anyone can believe anything, but reality doesn’t care about what we believe. Words have meaning. History exists. Facts, reason, and logic are all independent of what we prefer to believe. Some can be reasoned with, some can’t be reasoned with.

There’s far too much to say about the study of the human psyche. Often people don’t know enough to know that they don’t know what they are talking about, but confidence can exist independently of whether or not it’s appropriate.

Yes we should follow what Jesus said. You would think that would settle it, but it doesn’t. More proof that belief can take precedent over practical/critical thinking.
You nail the problem of people. Yet you keep on preaching the incorrect doctrine of Christ.
 
Provocative insights, my Friend.
Yes, sometimes we quarrel as if our words had the capacity to shape God.
We even deceive ourselves thinking we are defending God or being the spokesperson of God.
He is who He is, independently of our arrogance and ignorance.

God bless you tonight and forever, Runningman!
But a lot of people do not have anything worth defending about God because they only have lies.
 
You nail the problem of people. Yet you keep on preaching the incorrect doctrine of Christ.
The fact that I am self aware of this and the state of subjective versus objective reality should alert to you the fact I have very well considered the matter. Maybe you’re wrong about Jesus. Is that a possibility or no?
 
The fact that I am self aware of this and the state of subjective versus objective reality should alert to you the fact I have very well considered the matter. Maybe you’re wrong about Jesus. Is that a possibility or no?
If someone has a sufficient argument for a different conception of the Godhead, I could be attentive toward that. And I figure you have considered the matter deeply but also incorrectly. Your arguments show the incorrect logic you apply. The best I can guess is that you reduce all ideas to ones you can grasp while you reject the connected meaning of scriptures. You fail to discern nuances in scripture. This can be the error of people reading the bible as if everything is shared at a 3rd grade level and people build their doctrine as a 10 year old would.
 
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If someone has a sufficient argument for a different conception of the Godhead, I could be attentive toward that. And I figure you have considered the matter deeply but also incorrectly. Your arguments show the incorrect logic you apply. The best I can guess is that you reduce all ideas to ones you can grasp while you reject the connected meaning of scriptures. You fail to discern nuances in scripture. This can be the error of people reading the bible as if everything is shared at a 3rd grade level and people build their doctrine as a 10 year old would.
Begin with the explicit and objective statements about who God is first and build from there. Why do you think we always harp on the fact that the Bible doesn’t explain or describe Trinitarianism but is plain and clear about the Father being the only true God? Begin with the sure foundation first build from there. We can fit the nuances in after that.

So you see we are coming at this from different angles.
 
Begin with the explicit and objective statements about who God is first and build from there. Why do you think we always harp on the fact that the Bible doesn’t explain or describe Trinitarianism but is plain and clear about the Father being the only true God? Begin with the sure foundation first build from there. We can fit the nuances in after that.
Because you only have a few sticks to build with and it does not give you the structure you need. You repeat stuff like Jesus is not the Father (which is true) and Jesus is not another God (which also is true). But you fail to acknowledge that Jesus is part of the Godhead. So a few of your narrowing of ideas is correct but you go too far and miss the picture. You are not even persuaded by the scriptures testifying against your narrow interpretation. So not sure how you can be helped.
 
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uh no. Jesus was condemning the Pharisees for denying Christ's work by the Spirit of God. We know further that Satan can make himself appear as an angle of light which could allow someone to be enticed to possession by a demon and think they have something special. So you are mistaken on several counts. This verse also speaks of the Spirit being of God too, so we address key point of the Trinitarian discussion.
Well said!

To: @Pancho Frijoles :

You may allow the spirit that is of Muhammed to dwell in you.
Christians allow the Spirit that is of Christ to dwell in them.
 
Because you only have a few sticks to build with and it does not give you the structure you need.
All of the sticks fit together this way. We know for certain Jesus is a man who did many things other men did, can do, or inherited a status that others can.
 
All of the sticks fit together this way. We know for certain Jesus is a man who did many things other men did, can do, or inherited a status that others can.
You denigration of Jesus is astonishing. But keep it up and you will be a cherished observant of the Baha'i Faith.
 
You denigration of Jesus is astonishing.
You make Jesus bigger than he is and when people don’t agree with you you misunderstand it as disrespect or denigration. Obviously you are misrepresenting my intentions just as I know you aren’t intentionally perpetuating the sin of idolatry by deifying a created human. I don’t see the need to accuse you, though. I understand you’re most likely simply deceived.
 
You make Jesus bigger than he is and when people don’t agree with you you misunderstand it as disrespect or denigration. Obviously you are misrepresenting my intentions just as I know you aren’t intentionally perpetuating the sin of idolatry by deifying a created human. I don’t see the need to accuse you, though. I understand you’re most likely simply deceived.
isn't that quite an odd observation on your part. It does not matter your intentions since the outcome is still derogatory against Jesus. That's the issue I'm concerned about. Your arguments are just a side effect of all that. Beyond that, your intentions may be innocent.
 
Well said!

To: @Pancho Frijoles :

You may allow the spirit that is of Muhammed to dwell in you.
Christians allow the Spirit that is of Christ to dwell in them.
Yes, you had already posted this, my friend.:)
I agree with what you say.
I also believe that our Buddhist brothers and sisters allow the spirit of The Buddha to dwell in them.
So, when you allow the spirit of Christ dwell in you, you start living the life of Christ and everyone surrounding you (family, friends, coworkers, Forum members) are blessed.
Praise be to God, trough all His Manifestations!
 
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isn't that quite an odd observation on your part. It does not matter your intentions since the outcome is still derogatory against Jesus. That's the issue I'm concerned about. Your arguments are just a side effect of all that. Beyond that, your intentions may be innocent.
Here we are back at sharing opinions, but I am pretty sure I can prove Jesus is a man using scripture, that men are creatures, and that deifying creatures is a sin. I am pretty sure you couldn’t prove the converse to be true or make an exception for Jesus without introducing a contradiction to scripture.
 
Begin with the explicit and objective statements about who God is first and build from there. Why do you think we always harp on the fact that the Bible doesn’t explain or describe Trinitarianism but is plain and clear about the Father being the only true God? Begin with the sure foundation first build from there. We can fit the nuances in after that.

So you see we are coming at this from different angles.
Trinitarians are not Polytheists. As such we do acknowledge the Father as well as the Son and the Holy Spirit as the only true God, against all the pagan gods that were prevalent in Greco-Roman times.

You, on the other hand, are confronted by an avalanche of verses that explicitly destroy Unitarianism. Off the top of my head are John 1:1, John 8:58 & Ex 3:14, John 8:24, John 17:1-5, John 20:28, Rev 3:21, etc.... Looking at the list I made, I see the Book of John repeated over and over. We should start a study on John and that will chase away all Unitarian heresies.
 
Here we are back at sharing opinions, but I am pretty sure I can prove Jesus is a man using scripture, that men are creatures, and that deifying creatures is a sin. I am pretty sure you couldn’t prove the converse to be true or make an exception for Jesus without introducing a contradiction to scripture.
We who believe scriptures do not deny Jesus is incarnate as a man. For you to make that as a bold declaration is like saying how smart you are to say water is wet. But you forget that all creation was made through Christ and he is able to inject himself in creation so we can see in him the image of the Father. It is not idolatry to worship Christ as sent from heaven. I do not know why that is so hard for you to comprehend.
 
Yes, you had already posted this, my friend.:)
I agree with what you say.
I also believe that our Buddhist brothers and sisters allow the spirit of The Buddha to dwell in them.
So, when you allow the spirit of Christ dwell in you, you start living the life of Christ and everyone surrounding you (family, friends, coworkers, Forum members) are blessed.
Praise be to God, trough all His Manifestations!
Actually, the displacement of the Spirit of Christ by the spirit of Buddha/Muhammad is not a good thing in my view. You should think twice of the implications of that.
 
Actually, the displacement of the Spirit of Christ by the spirit of Buddha/Muhammad is not a good thing in my view. You should think twice of the implications of that.
May Pancho Frijoles see what this would be like -- but only at a safe distance from all that would be manifesting.
 
We are about to start the celebration of the birth of The Báb, that for us, Baha'is, is another Manifestation of God and the forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh.

The Báb (a title which means, "The Gate") was born in Shiraz, Iran, in 1820, declared his mission in 1844 and died executed by a firing squad at Tabriz in 1850.
The Báb life is better understood under the messianic fervor of Shiite Islam in Persia, which ran in parallel to the adventist fervor in North America about year 1844.
He announced the imminent appearance of "He who God will make manifest" (Bahá'u'lláh), more or less in the way John the Baptist announced the imminent appearance of Jesus.
 
We who believe scriptures do not deny Jesus is incarnate as a man. For you to make that as a bold declaration is like saying how smart you are to say water is wet. But you forget that all creation was made through Christ and he is able to inject himself in creation so we can see in him the image of the Father. It is not idolatry to worship Christ as sent from heaven. I do not know why that is so hard for you to comprehend.
If you do not deny the Scriptures, then do you confess the word incarnate is not present in the entire Bible? Now you need to prove an incarnation without any of the writers saying that's what it was. Please proceed.
 
If you do not deny the Scriptures, then do you confess the word incarnate is not present in the entire Bible? Now you need to prove an incarnation without any of the writers saying that's what it was. Please proceed.
The evidence is out there. I'm not here to show you that 1+1=2. I assume the Trinity is true at least until someone makes a sufficient argument denying Christ's divinity. Without some sufficient argument against his divinity, I cannot deny the testimony of scripture that led us to the Triune concept.
 
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