MochaRadha
Member
as a deity or does it have o be as a prophet
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can Bahais believe in Jesus
- Thread starter MochaRadha
- Start date
arthra
Baha'i
Mocha Radha thanks for posting your question on the Baha'i Faith DIR here at Religious Forum!
In my own words let me explain my understanding and I'll follow-up with some quotes from the Baha'i Writings...
Baha'is believe Jesus is a Manifestation of God and perfectly reflected the attributes of God and as a Manifestation acted as a mediator between God and HIs creation.
Jesus Himself you may already know alluded to Himself as a "Prophet":
6:4 But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
(King James Bible, Mark)
There are two kinds of Prophets independent and dependent...
Abdul-Baha explains:
Universally, the Prophets are of two kinds. One are the independent Prophets Who are followed; the other kind are not independent and are themselves followers.
The independent Prophets are the lawgivers and the founders of a new cycle. Through Their appearance the world puts on a new garment, the foundations of religion are established, and a new book is revealed. Without an intermediary They receive bounty from the Reality of the Divinity, and Their illumination is an essential illumination. They are like the sun which is luminous in itself: the light is its essential necessity; it does not receive light from any other star. These Dawning-places of the morn of Unity are the sources of bounty and the mirrors of the Essence of Reality.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 164)
Jesus was an Independent Prophet. The Gospel was revealed through Him and also He influenced civilization.
Jesus as a Manifestation of God:
For the Holy Spirit is the divine bounties and lordly perfections, and these divine perfections are as the rays and heat of the sun. The brilliant rays of the sun constitute its being, and without them it would not be the sun. If the manifestation and the reflection of the divine perfections were not in Christ, Jesus would not be the Messiah. He is a Manifestation because He reflects in Himself the divine perfections. The Prophets of God are manifestations for the lordly perfections -- that is, the Holy Spirit is apparent in Them.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 127)
Last edited:
BruceDLimber
Well-Known Member
NO Divine Messenger (aka Manifestation) is God, though there is a sense in which any of Them can be referred to as God because each represents the Face of God on earth during His (the Manifestation's) time here.
And not only CAN a Baha'i believe in Jesus, he or she MUST believe in Jesus--as well as all the other Divine Messengers--as a basic condition of Baha'i membership!
Peace,
Bruce
And not only CAN a Baha'i believe in Jesus, he or she MUST believe in Jesus--as well as all the other Divine Messengers--as a basic condition of Baha'i membership!
Peace,
Bruce
MatthewS78
New Member
Hi,
I am happy I found this thread searching about Jesus and Baha'is. I wanted to write before, but I was not sure if it was the right thing to do. I just wanted to say that I once told a Baha'i group in Australia about Jesus, but they never replied. Maybe my email to them sounded a bit like "I know it better", although this was really not the case. Basically I had written to them because I had a terrible tragedy in my family (somebody who had been fighting against cancer for years had just been told she had defeated it and had a deadly car accident driving home to tell me) and I needed some answers, so I searched a lot on the net (about religion, God etc.) to find them, and after many pages I stumbled upon a page that mentioned an autistic person (a person with Asperger's Syndrome) who had been badly discriminated against by some Baha'is in Australia, I think around Melbourne. It is really a very sad story, so I wrote to the group mentioned on that page and told them to tell their people about Jesus and his message of unconditional love and forgiveness, but they never replied.
I talked to the victim too a couple of times (there was a contact email address on that page, at least when I found it weeks ago), but she sounded very unwell and I didn't want to put her under too much pressure.
I have seen her website though and she is amazing, a real prodigy (like other autistic people), but those Baha'is even told her she should be "put down" and constantly told her how worthless she is. Anyway, obviously I cannot share the whole story and the details here because it would be totally off topic of course and I don't think that the victim would like the details to be revealed here. I just wanted to say that I am happy that Baha'is believe in Jesus, it doesn't really matter if they believe he is God or not, his message of love is what counts. He is a Divine Messenger, as you said.
There are bad sheep in all groups of course, so I just want to add that I have nothing against Baha'is and I think their message is very good and inspiring. We are indeed One World. Those people are just not good Baha'is.
Peace and love,
Matt
I am happy I found this thread searching about Jesus and Baha'is. I wanted to write before, but I was not sure if it was the right thing to do. I just wanted to say that I once told a Baha'i group in Australia about Jesus, but they never replied. Maybe my email to them sounded a bit like "I know it better", although this was really not the case. Basically I had written to them because I had a terrible tragedy in my family (somebody who had been fighting against cancer for years had just been told she had defeated it and had a deadly car accident driving home to tell me) and I needed some answers, so I searched a lot on the net (about religion, God etc.) to find them, and after many pages I stumbled upon a page that mentioned an autistic person (a person with Asperger's Syndrome) who had been badly discriminated against by some Baha'is in Australia, I think around Melbourne. It is really a very sad story, so I wrote to the group mentioned on that page and told them to tell their people about Jesus and his message of unconditional love and forgiveness, but they never replied.
I talked to the victim too a couple of times (there was a contact email address on that page, at least when I found it weeks ago), but she sounded very unwell and I didn't want to put her under too much pressure.
I have seen her website though and she is amazing, a real prodigy (like other autistic people), but those Baha'is even told her she should be "put down" and constantly told her how worthless she is. Anyway, obviously I cannot share the whole story and the details here because it would be totally off topic of course and I don't think that the victim would like the details to be revealed here. I just wanted to say that I am happy that Baha'is believe in Jesus, it doesn't really matter if they believe he is God or not, his message of love is what counts. He is a Divine Messenger, as you said.
There are bad sheep in all groups of course, so I just want to add that I have nothing against Baha'is and I think their message is very good and inspiring. We are indeed One World. Those people are just not good Baha'is.
Peace and love,
Matt
arthra
Baha'i
Matt the internet is probably not the best place to judge others... If the matter concerned a Baha'i and the Assembly where they lived the correspondence would be confidential.
We are not a court here.
Baha'is do believe in God and His Messengers. We believe Jesus perfectly reflected the attributes of God.
We are not a court here.
Baha'is do believe in God and His Messengers. We believe Jesus perfectly reflected the attributes of God.