Do you believe in life after Death?

[Trailblazer]

Do do you know that it is possible to have a broken arm and not believe it? It takes an XRay to prove it,

But how are you going to prove that your beliefs are true?

After all, as you know, even if the Bible is God's Word, you well know that other Christians do not interpret it the same way you do or have the same beliefs that you do about God, the return of Jesus or the afterlife.

So what's up? You are all reading the SAME Bible.

 

[BSM1]

Feel free to respond however you wish.....”God” is considered archaic by many......but he is not irrelevant to his own intelligent creation....and for them, his laws are not negotiable.

Does it mean that you can wish him away by not believing in him? You can believe that his laws are nonsensical. We all have free will.....to believe whatever suits us.

But whatever happens......you can’t say that you weren’t informed.....can you? Informed choice is the only one worth making, isn’t it?
We will all find out soon enough I think.

Please take this in a friendly way, but my life experiences has allowed my concept of 'God' to transcend anything you might find in a book. Nor can you be taught this belief; you have to find it within you. You are wrong in your idea of what I have described, but until you look for yourself, you'll only see the shadows on the cave wall. Good luck.

 

[Deeje]

I believe that is your delusion.
I believe there is only one God, the One True God of the Bible and all the other religions.
Christians do not own God or the religion of God, some of them just believe they do.

If there is one true God then why do you pretend to accept the Bible as his word? You have to pretend to do that because so much of Baha'i beliefs totally contradict the Bible. Why would God punish his people for false worship if they were all acceptable to him?

Let's see....

“From the beginning of the world until the present time each ‘Manifestation’ 1 sent from God has been opposed by an embodiment of the ‘Powers of Darkness’.

Yes, because the "powers of darkness" come from a source that Baha'i refuse to acknowledge.
Jesus identified this power that you deny. (John 8:44) The one who became an adversary of God was right there in the garden of Eden, a trusted guardian who was dissatisfied with his lot and desired what was not his to take. If you do not believe in the devil, then who tempted the first humans?
If there was a quality of evil in mankind, then God's creation was not perfect and he set them up to bring all manner of suffering into the world on purpose. Is that the god you worship?

This dark power has always endeavoured to extinguish the light. Tyranny has ever sought to overcome justice. Ignorance has persistently tried to trample knowledge underfoot. This has, from the earliest ages, been the method of the material world.

Still this is a world of God's making according to your beliefs. This speaks of evil as if it were itself an entity....a 'power' has to have a source.....God is not the source of evil.....in fact he tried to keep evil away from his human creation right from the beginning.

In the time of Moses, Pharaoh set himself to prevent the Mosaic Light being spread abroad.

And yet the magic practicing priests could perform similar feats to Moses.....where did they get their power?

Moses was a Hebrew, raised in Pharaoh's own household, yet he did not worship the deities of the Egyptians.....he worshipped the God of the Israelites who sent Moses to rescue them out of slavery. The 10 plagues were each designed to humiliate one of Egypt's gods. How is that possible if all worship and all gods were acceptable to him?

How could he say to Israel through Moses...."I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You must not have any other gods besides me."

In the day of Christ, Annas and Caiaphas inflamed the Jewish people against Him and the learned doctors of Israel joined together to resist His Power. All sorts of calumnies were circulated against Him. The Scribes and Pharisees conspired to make the people believe Him to be a liar, an apostate, and a blasphemer. They spread these slanders throughout the whole Eastern world against Christ, and caused Him to be condemned to a shameful death!

Yes, and interestingly, he was sent to no others except the "lost sheep of the house of Israel".
His laws only applied to them, not with any other nation did he make a covenant.
It was only when his own people rejected their Messiah that he turned his attention to the nations to offer them the opportunity to become Christ's disciples. As it was in Israel, no convert was permitted to bring their former religion with them.....they had to reject all other worship in order to worship Jehovah exclusively.

In the case of Muhammad also, the learned doctors of His day determined to extinguish the light of His influence. They tried by the power of the sword to prevent the spread of His teaching.

Muhammad was the prophet and founder of Islam. But Christ said it was the Jews who were in a covenant relationship with God....he never made a covenant with any others. The "new covenant" instituted by Jesus was initially made with his Jewish disciples.

At age 40, Muhammud claimed to have revelations from Allah that became the basis for the Koran and the foundation of Islam. And whose word do we have for this? What proof is there that his 'revelations' were from God? What proof is there that your self proclaimed prophet was who he said he was? Was Islam ever a peaceful religion....or was it a blood spilling religion like all the rest? You take a great deal on faith.

The prophets that God sent to his people had the power of the holy spirit and it was often demonstrated in no uncertain terms......what did your prophets have to prove that they were from God?...apart from their own declaration?

In spite of all their efforts the Sun of Truth shone forth from the horizon. In every case the army of light vanquished the powers of darkness on the battlefield of the world, and the radiance of the Divine Teaching illumined the earth. Those who accepted the Teaching and worked for the Cause of God became luminous stars in the sky of humanity.

Where is this evident? Since the institution of Christianity, no true Christian has ever lifted up a weapon in defense of their religion....except "the sword of the spirit"...God's word, the Bible. (Ephesians 6:14-18)
The Crusades were not fought by Christians because Christ did not promote bloodshed. So any battle fought in the name of any god or Christ from the first century onward, was a lie....that makes their religion a lie as well.

Now, in our own day, history repeats itself.

Those who would have men believe that religion is their own private property once more bring their efforts to bear against the Sun of Truth: they resist the Command of God; they invent calumnies, not having arguments against it, neither proofs. They attack with masked faces, not daring to come forth into the light of day.”
Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks

We will each stand by our decisions and 'reap what we have sown'.....that is fair, and our destiny is in our own hands. Your religion is based on the claims of mere humans who had nothing but their words to back them up.

But how are you going to prove that your beliefs are true?
After all, as you know, even if the Bible is God's Word, you well know that other Christians do not interpret it the same way you do or have the same beliefs that you do about God, the return of Jesus or the afterlife.

So what's up? You are all reading the SAME Bible.

If you knew what the Bible teaches you would not have to ask that question. It’s all in there....

 

[Deeje]

Please take this in a friendly way, but my life experiences has allowed my concept of 'God' to transcend anything you might find in a book. Nor can you be taught this belief; you have to find it within you. You are wrong in your idea of what I have described, but until you look for yourself, you'll only see the shadows on the cave wall. Good luck.

I understand and we are all free to believe as we see fit.

I believe that God is who he says he is, not who people want him to be. There are so many versions of God in the world, it’s truly mind boggling. Our decisions in this matter affect our relationship with this entity whom we all seem to see in many ways.

I can see that you have made up your mind and that is a good thing. Having the courage of our convictions is so much better than being an indecisive, wishy washy, I dunno sort of believer.....

We will all know in the end I guess.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Do you? If yes, what kind of life after death? Physical body? Only Soul? Reincarnation? Others?


How do you feel about the fact that you or your loved ones die some day? Feel sad? Indifference? Happy?

Share what your scriptures says about death. I share from Bahaullah:


O SON OF THE SUPREME! I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve? I made the light to shed on thee its splendor. Why dost thou veil thyself therefrom?

- Hidden Words of Bahaullah

Yes. I believe we're judged and either go to a place of love, a place of healing or to punishment depending on how we lived our lives.

Death doesn't bother me. It's part of life. I dont even care to live a very long life.

 

[Trailblazer]

If there is one true God then why do you pretend to accept the Bible as his word? You have to pretend to do that because so much of Baha'i beliefs totally contradict the Bible.

I do not have to pretend to accept the Bible because I believe that the Bible as God's holy Book, His most great testimony among His creatures

“We have also heard a number of the foolish of the earth assert that the genuine text of the heavenly Gospel doth not exist amongst the Christians, that it hath ascended unto heaven. How grievously they have erred! How oblivious of the fact that such a statement imputeth the gravest injustice and tyranny to a gracious and loving Providence! “How could God, when once the Day-star of the beauty of Jesus had disappeared from the sight of His people, and ascended unto the fourth heaven, cause His holy Book, His most great testimony amongst His creatures, to disappear also?” The Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 89

What Bahais believe does not contradict the Bible; it only contradicts "some of" the Christian interpretations of the Bible.

If you knew what the Bible teaches you would not have to ask that question. It’s all in there....

If you knew what the Bible teaches that would have to mean that the Christians who disagree with you don't know what the Bible teaches. It is clear that Christians cannot agree on what the Bible teaches so it is logical to assume that none of them correctly understand everything that the Bible teaches.

Sadly, Christians have misinterpreted much of the Bible because they did not have the KEY to unlock the meaning. I have the KEY because I have what Baha’u’llah revealed, so that is why I can understand what the Bible means and they cannot.

Because of the way the Bible was written, misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Bible has been a big problem since the very beginning. Everyone disagreed as to what the Bible meant and nobody understood much of what it meant, and that is why there are so many different sects of Christianity. However, it was prophesied by Daniel that the Book would be sealed up until the time of the end, meaning nobody would really understand it:

Daniel Chapter 12: 4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? 9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

The early Church fathers interpreted the Bible the way they did because they could not fully understand it.

The "Book" was intended to be sealed up until the time of the end, until the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days came. The 2,300 years came in 1844 and the book was unsealed by Baha’u’llah.
That math is explained in Some Answered Questions, 10: TRADITIONAL PROOFS EXEMPLIFIED FROM THE BOOK OF DANIEL.

We do not have to run to and fro anymore. Unsealing the Book means we can now understand the true meaning of the Bible. By reading the Baha’i Writings that explain the true meaning of the Bible, we can understand what the Bible means.

 

[Deeje]

Share what your scriptures says about death. I share from Bahaullah:

O SON OF THE SUPREME! I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve? I made the light to shed on thee its splendor. Why dost thou veil thyself therefrom?

- Hidden Words of Bahaullah

Can you tell me why Baha'ullah spoke archaic English?

Wasn't he an Arabic speaker?

What is the Baha'i vision of life after death? Where do they see the 'afterlife' lived?

 

[McBell]

Can you tell me why Baha'ullah spoke archaic English?

Wasn't he an Arabic speaker?

What is the Baha'i vision of life after death? Where do they see the 'afterlife' lived?

ROTFLMAO

And Jesus spoke English....

ROTFLMAO

 

[osgart]

How do you actually verify that a holy book is telling the truth of reality anyway?

What's the test?

 

[cataway]

I do not have to pretend to accept the Bible because I believe that the Bible as God's holy Book, His most great testimony among His creatures

“We have also heard a number of the foolish of the earth assert that the genuine text of the heavenly Gospel doth not exist amongst the Christians, that it hath ascended unto heaven. How grievously they have erred! How oblivious of the fact that such a statement imputeth the gravest injustice and tyranny to a gracious and loving Providence! “How could God, when once the Day-star of the beauty of Jesus had disappeared from the sight of His people, and ascended unto the fourth heaven, cause His holy Book, His most great testimony amongst His creatures, to disappear also?” The Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 89

What Bahais believe does not contradict the Bible; it only contradicts "some of" the Christian interpretations of the Bible.

If you knew what the Bible teaches that would have to mean that the Christians who disagree with you don't know what the Bible teaches. It is clear that Christians cannot agree on what the Bible teaches so it is logical to assume that none of them correctly understand everything that the Bible teaches.

Sadly, Christians have misinterpreted much of the Bible because they did not have the KEY to unlock the meaning. I have the KEY because I have what Baha’u’llah revealed, so that is why I can understand what the Bible means and they cannot.

Because of the way the Bible was written, misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Bible has been a big problem since the very beginning. Everyone disagreed as to what the Bible meant and nobody understood much of what it meant, and that is why there are so many different sects of Christianity. However, it was prophesied by Daniel that the Book would be sealed up until the time of the end, meaning nobody would really understand it:

Daniel Chapter 12: 4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? 9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

The early Church fathers interpreted the Bible the way they did because they could not fully understand it.

The "Book" was intended to be sealed up until the time of the end, until the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days came. The 2,300 years came in 1844 and the book was unsealed by Baha’u’llah.
That math is explained in Some Answered Questions, 10: TRADITIONAL PROOFS EXEMPLIFIED FROM THE BOOK OF DANIEL.

We do not have to run to and fro anymore. Unsealing the Book means we can now understand the true meaning of the Bible. By reading the Baha’i Writings that explain the true meaning of the Bible, we can understand what the Bible means.

[/QUOTE]
1844?? thats interesting, ya missed it by 70 years

 

[InvestigateTruth]

Can you tell me why Baha'ullah spoke archaic English?

Wasn't he an Arabic speaker?

What is the Baha'i vision of life after death? Where do they see the 'afterlife' lived?

His writings are translated to English.

Soul is not like a matter in our view. So, it does not have a location, and place. We dont know, much about afterlife, only we are told, our soul lives on after the body dies.

 

[Trailblazer]

Can you tell me why Baha'ullah spoke archaic English?

Wasn't he an Arabic speaker?

Baha'u'llah spoke Arabic and Persian. Most of the Writings that are in the Baha'i Reference Library were translated into English by the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, Shoghi Efendi, and most but not all were translated into King James English. Tony once explained why they were translated that way but I forgot what he said.

What is the Baha'i vision of life after death? Where do they see the 'afterlife' lived?

Baha'is believe the afterlife will be loved in a spiritual world which is a timeless and place-less extension of this world, and when we pass into that world our soul will take on another form comprised of spiritual elements. In that world we will continue to live as we have lived here, taking with us all of our personality. The only difference is that it is not a physical world, and because it is not physical there is no way that it can be described in a way that we can understand what it will be like. This short three minute video explains what Baha'is believe about the afterlife.

 

[Trailblazer]

1844?? thats interesting, ya missed it by 70 years

Oh, what'd I miss?

 

[Trailblazer]

How do you actually verify that a holy book is telling the truth of reality anyway?

What's the test?

You have to verify the source of the holy book, who it was written by or in whose name it was written.

For example, with the Bible, we have to determine that what was written by the authors accurately depicts the life and teachings of Jesus, but for Baha'u'llah we have to determine if He was a Messenger of God, in order to know if His Writings were from God and thus "holy."

 

[osgart]

You have to verify the source of the holy book, who it was written by or in whose name it was written.

For example, with the Bible, we have to determine that what was written by the authors accurately depicts the life and teachings of Jesus, but for Baha'u'llah we have to determine if He was a Messenger of God, in order to know if His Writings were from God and thus "holy."

So in the act of determination we are using our own judgment then.

And in our own judgment, which is subjective, we must find undeniable truth there or scrap the whole book.

I still think that a holy book must pass objective tests to confirm it as real and true to life. Somewhere along the way it must take the reader to a point of irrefutable truth. If it can't then there can be no responsibility nor accountability to that book.

 

[Deeje]

I do not have to pretend to accept the Bible because I believe that the Bible as God's holy Book, His most great testimony among His creatures

“We have also heard a number of the foolish of the earth assert that the genuine text of the heavenly Gospel doth not exist amongst the Christians, that it hath ascended unto heaven. How grievously they have erred! How oblivious of the fact that such a statement imputeth the gravest injustice and tyranny to a gracious and loving Providence! “How could God, when once the Day-star of the beauty of Jesus had disappeared from the sight of His people, and ascended unto the fourth heaven, cause His holy Book, His most great testimony amongst His creatures, to disappear also?” The Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 89

What Bahais believe does not contradict the Bible; it only contradicts "some of" the Christian interpretations of the Bible.

Oh dear.....I don't know where to start with this......the contradictions come as a result of the foretold apostasy, which Jesus and his apostles warned would take place, "while men were sleeping"...."from among themselves" false teachers would arise to "draw away disciples after themselves".....and that is exactly what happened. Christendom does not even know that it happened and that they are the disunited result.

If you knew what the Bible teaches that would have to mean that the Christians who disagree with you don't know what the Bible teaches.

You are not familiar with the Bible at all are you? You only have what Baha'i teaches you.....that is sad because you have no idea how much contradiction there is between what Baha'i's believe and what Jesus Christ taught. Not only are they in complete disagreement with the God of the Jews, but assume that Islam is somehow the foundation of Christ's teachings.....Islam does not feature in his teachings at all. Ishmael was not the one to whom the promises were made. Messiah was to come through Isaac, not Ishmael.
After their expulsion from Abraham's camp because of Ishmael's taunting of Isaac, he eventually became a nomad in the Paran Wilderness, in which he fulfilled the prophecy that said of him: “He will become a zebra of a man. His hand will be against everyone, and the hand of everyone will be against him; and before the face of all his brothers he will tabernacle.” (Genesis 21:17-21; Genesis 16:12) His mother, Hagar found an Egyptian wife for her son, and he in time fathered 12 sons, chieftains and family heads of the promised “great nation” of Ishmaelites. Ishmael also had at least one daughter, Mahalath, who married Esau, Jacob's twin brother. He was not favored by God. (Malachi 1:2-3)

It is clear that Christians cannot agree on what the Bible teaches so it is logical to assume that none of them correctly understand everything that the Bible teaches.

Your mention of Daniel ch 12 supplies the answer.....an "abundance of knowledge" would be made available at this "time of the end".....not at the time of Baha’u’llah, but much later in the time of the kings mentioned in Daniel 2:44.....the kings that now presently rule the earth. This knowledge is now on an information super highway, something which Baha’u’llah could never have imagined.

Since "the good news of God's Kingdom" had to be "preached in all the inhabited earth, before "the end" came, only in today's world could such knowledge reach into the most inaccessible places as a "witness to all the nations". (Matthew 24:14) There was no real means to do so in Baha'u'llah's time.

The "time of the end" began in 1914 (using Daniel's calculations) with the first event of the "sign" that Jesus gave for his second coming...."nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom"...the very first World War. (Matthew 24:2-14) Baha’u’llah was too early and he did not bring about the change that Jesus had foretold. All of the features of the sign had to occur like a fingerprint in one time period and Jesus was going to be "with" his disciples in an unprecedented global preaching campaign. (Matthew 28:19-20) The world is undergoing a change, the likes of which have never been seen before. What is going to happen will take the world by surprise...even those who are expecting it. (Matthew 24:42-44) Man will never bring about the changes that Christ foretold, though they will try to introduce an imitation.

Sadly, Christians have misinterpreted much of the Bible because they did not have the KEY to unlock the meaning. I have the KEY because I have what Baha’u’llah revealed, so that is why I can understand what the Bible means and they cannot.

Well, you believe you have....but how do you know, if you have never studied the Bible in its entirety? You have no idea what Christ taught.....do you?...only what bits you have been fed.

Because of the way the Bible was written, misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Bible has been a big problem since the very beginning. Everyone disagreed as to what the Bible meant and nobody understood much of what it meant, and that is why there are so many different sects of Christianity. However, it was prophesied by Daniel that the Book would be sealed up until the time of the end, meaning nobody would really understand it:

See above. Only those who accepted the cleansing and refining of their worship at that time would be granted insight....the wicked would understand nothing and see no need to adjust their thinking at all.....which is why Christendom has not budged on her doctrines since the apostasy began.(Daniel 12:9-10)

The early Church fathers interpreted the Bible the way they did because they could not fully understand it.

The early church fathers were part of the problem.....not a solution....with the birth of Roman Catholicism the "weeds" well and truly established themselves in the same field as Jesus had sown the "wheat"....satan was the sower, just as Jesus had foretold. (Matthew 13:24-30; 36-42)
Like all false religion, Christianity from that time onward was doomed.....until the "time of the end" when the cleansing would occur.

We do not have to run to and fro anymore. Unsealing the Book means we can now understand the true meaning of the Bible. By reading the Baha’i Writings that explain the true meaning of the Bible, we can understand what the Bible means.

Or you could be tending another crop of weeds, same sower, just a different variety of weeds....if you don't know what genuine Christianity looks like how can you possibly claim Jesus as part of your own worship. He would not have a bar of your very inclusive worship.....it is everything that God forbade for his people. The worship of Jehovah was "EXCLUSIVE".....no person could become a worshipper of the true God unless they obeyed his laws. Having "NO OTHER GODS" was his first Commandment. Baha'i embrace them all.

From my perspective, that means that Baha'i does not have a leg to stand on.

 

[Deeje]

His writings are translated to English.

But why not into the language that we speak in our day? I understand the need for translation, but the Bible has kept up with modern English......why have Baha'i's not done this? Archaic English is not well understood by the modern reader. Its like those who stick to the old KJV.....its like reading a foreign language. It loses so much.

Soul is not like a matter in our view. So, it does not have a location, and place. We dont know, much about afterlife, only we are told, our soul lives on after the body dies.

Now that is interesting......since the Bible tells us exactly what to expect in the life to come....where it is and what we will be doing there....I'm surprised that Baha’u’llah didn't tell you this....? How could he not know when Jesus did?

 

[Deeje]

ROTFLMAO

And Jesus spoke English....

ROTFLMAO

He did not speak archaic English, though I'm sure he could possibly have understood every language spoken since he was with his Father in heaven prior to his earthly sojourn, having witnessed God's actions in breaking up the works of the Tower builders at Babel.......(Genesis 11:1-9)

Translation has to offer meaning that is valid to the reader......archaic English adds nothing to a 21st century reader....in fact it just makes the whole thing confusing.

 

[chinu]

There is no viewing.
There is thinking and internal visualising from memory.

Or from imagination.
I can close my eyes right now and imagine the face of someone I have never seen before.
Brains can do that. Again, it's called thinking.

With whom am discussing all this ? A mere brain ?

Is this just a brain fighting a debate with another brain ?
If so, what's the connection ? why two brains fighting with each other ?

 

[Deeje]

Baha'is believe the afterlife will be loved in a spiritual world which is a timeless and place-less extension of this world, and when we pass into that world our soul will take on another form comprised of spiritual elements.

And you base this belief on what? This is nothing like Jesus described.

Do Baha'i's have any idea why God made us to be material creatures on a material earth in the first place? What was wrong with the world as God made it? Life at the beginning was ideal in every way....so what went wrong that we ended up like this? God already had millions of spirit creatures to reside in the heavens with him, long before the earth was even created.....so is this like like a 'training ground' for the next life? If so where will I find this stated in the Bible?

In that world we will continue to live as we have lived here, taking with us all of our personality. The only difference is that it is not a physical world, and because it is not physical there is no way that it can be described in a way that we can understand what it will be like.

Again, what was wrong with the physical world?
There are a few places where a "new heaven and a new earth" are spoken about....one in Isaiah 65:17...one in 2 Peter 3:13 and again in Revelation 21:1....can you tell me what these "new heavens and earth" are? To mention them consistently throughout history, it must be important. So what does it means?

This short three minute video explains what Baha'is believe about the afterlife.

It all sounds very nice but what is it based on? Why the need to go somewhere that is the same as here but better? Its not the planet that is the problem...its the people who live on it. The Bible says that God will remove the wicked and leave the faithful right here, to return to what he purposed in the beginning.

You are a Landlady...right? What do you do if your tenants trash your house? Do you burn it down and build another one? Or do you evict the bad tenants, clean it up, repair the damage and invite new, better tenants in to take care of your property? Would you give the bad tenants a good reference so that they could go and trash someone else's house? Or would you do all in your power to make sure they never did that again?