Evidence for God

[PearlSeeker]

The Bible does not say when during the messianic age peace would increase.

Baha'u'llah wrote that humanity could have had the Most Great Peace, but since the kings and rulers all rejected His message, we have had to settle for the Lesser Peace.

“Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace, hold ye fast unto this, the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better your own condition and that of your dependents.

O rulers of the earth! Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories and dominions. Beware lest ye disregard the counsel of the All-Knowing, the Faithful.

Be united, O kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest, if ye be of them that comprehend. Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 253-254

Some of the prophecies for the return of Christ and how they were fulfilled by Baha'u'llah are depicted in the following 10 minute video.
How that prophecy was fulfilled can be seen in this video at the 6-minute mark.
Baha’is believe that the judging is being accomplished through the Universal House of Justice (UHJ).

What this means to a Baha’i is that in the future diverse religions and races will become comrades, friends and companions. The contentions of races, the differences of religions, and the barriers between nations will be completely removed, and all will attain perfect union and reconciliation. Eventually, there will be only one religion, the religion of God.

Clearly, Jesus did not fulfill Isaiah 11:6-9 but Jesus promised to fulfill Isaiah 11:6-9 when He returned.

John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

The one fold and one shepherd is the promise to unite mankind, what Baha’u’llah came to do, among other things.

“My object is none other than the betterment of the world and the tranquillity of its peoples. The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established. This unity can never be achieved so long as the counsels which the Pen of the Most High hath revealed are suffered to pass unheeded.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 286

“The utterance of God is a lamp, whose light is these words: Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship. He Who is the Day Star of Truth beareth Me witness! So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth. The one true God, He Who knoweth all things, Himself testifieth to the truth of these words.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 288

Below is part of the commentary on Isaiah chapter 11, according to Abdu'l-Baha.

“In Isaiah, chapter 11, verses 1 to 10, it is said: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” This rod out of the stem of Jesse might be correctly applied to Christ, for Joseph was of the descendants of Jesse, the father of David; but as Christ found existence through the Spirit of God, He called Himself the Son of God. If He had not done so, this description would refer to Him. Besides this, the events which he indicated as coming to pass in the days of that rod, if interpreted symbolically, were in part fulfilled in the day of Christ, but not all; and if not interpreted, then decidedly none of these signs happened. For example, the leopard and the lamb, the lion and the calf, the child and the asp, are metaphors and symbols for various nations, peoples, antagonistic sects and hostile races, who are as opposite and inimical as the wolf and lamb. We say that by the breath of the spirit of Christ they found concord and harmony, they were vivified, and they associated together.” But “they shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” These conditions did not prevail in the time of the manifestation of Christ; for until today various and antagonistic nations exist in the world: very few acknowledge the God of Israel, and the greater number are without the knowledge of God. In the same way, universal peace did not come into existence in the time of Christ—that is to say, between the antagonistic and hostile nations there was neither peace nor concord, disputes and disagreements did not cease, and reconciliation and sincerity did not appear. So, even at this day, among the Christian sects and nations themselves, enmity, hatred and the most violent hostility are met with.” Some Answered Questions, pp. 62-63

So Baha’u’llah himself acknowledged that the rulers rejected his message.

The UHJ doesn't judge between the nations. It doesn't have such power and authority. Did they prevent or stop the war in Ukraine for example?

Yes, Jesus didn't fulfill Isaiah 11. Nor did Baha’u’llah. The unity has never been achieved. This is also what Abdu'l-Baha said.

 

[Trailblazer]

So Baha’u’llah himself acknowledged that the rulers rejected his message.

Of course He did.

The UHJ doesn't judge between the nations. It doesn't have such power and authority. Did they prevent or stop the war in Ukraine for example?

"He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples;"

The Bible does not say when or how that will happen.
The UHJ does not have that kind of power or authority yet since this is not a Baha'i world.

Yes, Jesus didn't fulfill Isaiah 11. Nor did Baha’u’llah. The unity has never been achieved. This is also what Abdu'l-Baha said.

I never claimed that all the messianic prophecies have been fulfilled by Baha'u'llah, I only ever said that all the prophecies for the return of Christ have been fulfilled by Him. Some of the messianic prophecies are in the process of being fulfilled and the remainder of the prophecies will be fulfilled during the messianic age, a 1000 year period of time which began with the revelation of Baha'u'llah in 1852 AD.

There are two separate categories of prophecies in the Bible:

1. The prophecies that are related to the return of Christ (what would happen right before He returns, when He returns, and during His lifetime).
2. The prophecies related to the messianic age (what will happen during the next 1000 years, starting from when Christ returned).

 

[CG Didymus]

So Baha’u’llah himself acknowledged that the rulers rejected his message.

The UHJ doesn't judge between the nations. It doesn't have such power and authority. Did they prevent or stop the war in Ukraine for example?

Yes, Jesus didn't fulfill Isaiah 11. Nor did Baha’u’llah. The unity has never been achieved. This is also what Abdu'l-Baha said.

Again.... Not that Baha'is take it literally or care, but the NT has Jesus saying that will be wars and rumors of wars. So, yes, that is happening. However, he says that is not yet the end. Plus, when he comes back in Revelation, he destroys the evil kings and rulers. They don't ignore him.

There' too many inconsistencies. But which religion doesn't? Which kinda makes it seem like people, not some all-knowing God, is behind them.

 

[CG Didymus]

What prophecies? You mean the ones that say that the Christ will return to where? Persia? That he will be thrown in jail and rejected? And, since he is supposedly the return of the Maitreya Buddha and the Kalke Avatar, that those prophecies have been fulfilled also? Yes... that famous and well-known prophecy that has Krishna and the Buddha also both returning as the same person to Persia and not someplace in India. And they too, will get rejected and thrown in jail and sent to a prison city in Palestine. Yes. But I forget... Where is that prophecy?

Oh, and if Baha'is make the claim that Persia was part of the Assyrian Empire, so that makes one Bible prophecy work, then, after thinking about it, that would be like someone saying that a person came from Australia, or Canada and then say that it fulfilled a prophecy about them coming from England because Australia and Canada were part of the English Empire. But, since that's all Baha'is got, similar, close... but not perfect fulfillments, then what can they do but go with them and hope nobody notices.

But they are in good company. In the NT, Matthew cherry-picks all sorts of verses from the Bible and makes them about Jesus. The worst, to me, is when he takes one verse out of Isaiah and makes it a fulfilled prophecy about a virgin birth.

 

[PearlSeeker]

I never claimed that all the messianic prophecies have been fulfilled by Baha'u'llah, I only ever said that all the prophecies for the return of Christ have been fulfilled by Him. Some of the messianic prophecies are in the process of being fulfilled and the remainder of the prophecies will be fulfilled during the messianic age, a 1000 year period of time which began with the revelation of Baha'u'llah in 1852 AD.

Then we will have no evidence till 2852. In this regard Baha’u’llah is no different than for example Sun Myung Moon and other Messiah claimants.

 

[Trailblazer]

Then we will have no evidence till 2852.

Baha'u'llah never claimed that the prophecies were evidence of His station. He wrote that the evidence is His person, what He did on His mission, and what He wrote. I believe that the prophecies for the return of Christ were fulfilled by His coming and what He did on His mission, but that is not the reason I became a Baha'i.

In this regard Baha’u’llah is no different than for example Sun Myung Moon and other Messiah claimants.

With regard to His person, what He did on His mission, and what He wrote, Baha'u'llah was very different from all the other Messiah claimants, including Sun Myung Moon.

 

[PearlSeeker]

Baha'u'llah never claimed that the prophecies were evidence of His station. He wrote that the evidence is His person, what He did on His mission, and what He wrote. I believe that the prophecies for the return of Christ were fulfilled by His coming and what He did on His mission, but that is not the reason I became a Baha'i.

You said: "Also, during His earthly mission He fulfilled Bible prophecies, so that is more evidence to me." It's true that you didn't say all the prophecies. But that makes him no different from other M claimants. So let's skip the prophecies.

What is so special about his person, works and words? So far we have only some speed writing that didn't impress me much.

 

[Trailblazer]

You said: "Also, during His earthly mission He fulfilled Bible prophecies, so that is more evidence to me." It's true that you didn't say all the prophecies. But that makes him no different from other M claimants. So let's skip the prophecies.

Again, it doesn't matter if all the Bible prophecies have been fulfilled to date, since the messianic age is only beginning.
Baha'u'llah is the only one who fulfilled all the prophecies for the return of Christ. That makes Him different from the other messiah claimants, unless you think you can find anyone who fulfilled all of those prophecies.

What is so special about his person, works and words? So far we have only some speed writing that didn't impress me much.

That is something you have to determine for yourself by reading about Him, but ultimately it is God who guides us to the truth.

“Whoso maketh efforts for Us,” he shall enjoy the blessings conferred by the words: “In Our Ways shall We assuredly guide him.””
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 266-267

To me He is special because He speaks for God. I know that because I was guided by God to recognize Baha'u'llah as a Messenger of God.

By the way, initially I did not become a Baha'i, because I thought Baha'u'llah was special. I became a Baha'i becaue I thought the Baha'i Faith was special because of its message.

 

[joelr]

It's a Baha'i thing, and maybe with a lot of this particular Baha'i adding their interpretations into it. She, and other Baha'is, take whatever they want out of the Bible and the NT and make it not literal but symbolic, then with other things she quotes the Bible as if it is literal.




Now I don't care so much that the Baha'is don't take some things in the Bible and NT literal, but it's who they claim are manifestations/messengers from the Bible that bothers me. In the Bible, Adam is not a manifestation but a guy who screwed up and disobeyed God. And here if Baha'is want to call that story symbolic, I'm okay with that. But then why and how do they make him a manifestation?

Then there is Noah and Abraham. I don't see any reason in the Bible stories about them to make them manifestations either. Three people from Genesis? All manifestations? Then, Baha'is aren't finished with Judaism yet, they add Moses. Call him a prophet but a manifestation is a level much higher than that. They are supposedly "perfect" reflections of God. Moses was not perfect and I don't think that Judaism or Christianity make him to be this special creation of God, a manifestation.

It all Baha'i beliefs. I just don't think it that everything they believe is true.

The Bahai messed up with that. It wasn't known back then but scholarship is quite sure now that Genesis is a re-working of Mesopotamian stories. Abraham, Noah and Moses are literary creations as well.

 

[PearlSeeker]

Again, it doesn't matter if all the Bible prophecies have been fulfilled to date, since the messianic age is only beginning.
Baha'u'llah is the only one who fulfilled all the prophecies for the return of Christ. That makes Him different from the other messiah claimants, unless you think you can find anyone who fulfilled all of those prophecies.

That is something you have to determine for yourself by reading about Him, but ultimately it is God who guides us to the truth.

“Whoso maketh efforts for Us,” he shall enjoy the blessings conferred by the words: “In Our Ways shall We assuredly guide him.””
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 266-267

To me He is special because He speaks for God. I know that because I was guided by God to recognize Baha'u'llah as a Messenger of God.

By the way, initially I did not become a Baha'i, because I thought Baha'u'llah was special. I became a Baha'i becaue I thought the Baha'i Faith was special because of its message.

What are the prophecies for the return of Christ?

Guided by God - does this mean certain feeling? A lot of people were guided to Jesus this way...

What is the message of Baha'i faith?

 

[Trailblazer]

What are the prophecies for the return of Christ?

A few of the prophecies and how they were fulfilled by Baha'u'llah are depicted in the following 10 minute video.

A more extensive list of prophecies and how they were fulfilled by Bahaullah are in the book entitled Thief in the Night by William Sears

Guided by God - does this mean certain feeling? A lot of people were guided to Jesus this way...

No, it means we were guided by God.

"Some were guided by the Light of God, gained admittance into the court of His presence, and quaffed, from the hand of resignation, the waters of everlasting life, and were accounted of them that have truly recognized and believed in Him. Others rebelled against Him, and rejected the signs of God, the Most Powerful, the Almighty, the All-Wise.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 145

The way I interpret that passage is that people who rebel against the signs of God (which are His Messengers) are rejecting the signs of God, so they will not be guided, since God does not override their free will to choose.

What is the message of Baha'i faith?

In 1863, Baha'u'llah began openly teaching the Baha'i Faith, with its revolutionary messages of human unity, the oneness of all Faiths, the equality of men and women, the agreement of science and religion and the establishment of world peace through a global system of governance. Oct 24, 2017

The Call of Baha'u'llah and its Effect on the World - BahaiTeachings.org​

 

[CG Didymus]

The Bahai messed up with that. It wasn't known back then but scholarship is quite sure now that Genesis is a re-working of Mesopotamian stories. Abraham, Noah and Moses are literary creations as well.

I would suspect so, but I'm not going to go in-depth to research it like you have. Everything you say sounds good to me. I really doubt that, before they got written down, legends and traditions that were passed down orally were accurate and historically true.

 

[joelr]

I would suspect so, but I'm not going to go in-depth to research it like you have. Everything you say sounds good to me. I really doubt that, before they got written down, legends and traditions that were passed down orally were accurate and historically true.

No there is very little history, they serve to tell stories and pass on wisdom. Some are new takes on older stories, updated versions. Genesis is several versions of the stories combined into one book. 2 creation stories, 2 flood stories.

 

[joelr]

A few of the prophecies and how they were fulfilled by Baha'u'llah are depicted in the following 10 minute video.

That book starts by greatly exaggerating the claims of the Millerite movement:
" In the first half of the nineteenth century, there was worldwide and fervent expectation that during the 1840’s the return of Christ would take place. The story made the headlines and even reached the Congress of the United States. From China and the Middle East to Europe and America, men of conflicting ideas shared in the expectancy"

You can research the movement. It was largely in New York, not worldwide and was a movement of a bunch of wu-peddelers. Yet the William Sears book claims:

" In the first half of the nineteenth century, there was worldwide and fervent expectation that during the 1840’s the return of Christ would take place. The story made the headlines and even reached the Congress of the United States. From China and the Middle East to Europe and America, men of conflicting ideas shared in the expectancy"

It's based on numerology and quackery:

There were three things that Miller determined about this text:[11]

1. That the 2,300 symbolic days represented 2,300 real years as evidence in Ezekiel 4:6[12] and Numbers 14:34.[13]
2. That the sanctuary represents the earth or church. And,
3. by referring to 2 Peter 3:7[14] that the 2,300 years ended with the burning of the earth at the Second Advent.

Miller tied the 2,300-day vision to the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks in Daniel 9 where a beginning date is given. He concluded that the 70-weeks (or 70-7s, or 490 days/years) were the first 490 years of the 2,300 years. The 490 years were to begin with the command to rebuild and restore Jerusalem. The Bible records 4 decrees concerning Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity:

1. 536 BC: Decree by Cyrus to rebuild temple.[15]
2. 519 BC: Decree by Darius I to finish temple.[16]
3. 457 BC: Decree by Artaxerxes I of Persia.[17]
4. 444 BC: Decree by Artaxerxes to Nehemiah to finish the wall at Jerusalem.[18]
5. Great Disappointment - Wikipedia

Of course they ignore virtually every other passage besides II Peter 3:10 about the 2nd coming. Jesus (will still be Joshua, his name??) will cause all sorts of fir and brimstone and a final battle, but of course that was cancelled and God decided to send a man who could not do miracles, healings or demonstrate any magic powers. How convienant.
The rest of the book is surely full of such nonsense and obvious exaggerations that it should be easy to completely debunk. Someone must have already done this?

I would like to know what is the strongest prophecy in this book? What is the best evidence of all the evidence.
Here is just one random one,

"Christ said: “… there shall be wars and rumours of wars … And then shall they see the Son of man coming …”

Bible scholar Paul K. Dealy in his Dawn of Knowledge writes: “History records the following great wars among the leading nations: (1) About this time a war was in progress between China and England terminating in the loss of Hong Kong to the former. A treaty was signed between them in 1842. (2) The Crimean War—England, France and Turkey against Russia 1854. (3) The atrocious Sepoy mutiny 1857–8. (4) France and Italy against Austria 1859. (5) Civil war of the United States 1861–65. (6) Franco-Prussian war 1870–1. (7) Russian-Turkish war 1877–8. (8) And during the last decade the wars between China and Japan, Turkey and Greece, Spain and the United States, the invasion of China by all the great powers, and the Boer war.”


They cannot be serious with this? From 1810-1819.....SIXTY WARS??? Every 10 years there are ABOUT SIXTY WARS HAPPENING and about 60 erupting???????? Constantly. That is not a prophecy. It's like a psychic who says "you are shy around others until you get to know them".

List of wars: 1800–1899 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Total nonsense. Don't buy into this wu.

 

[PearlSeeker]

A few of the prophecies and how they were fulfilled by Baha'u'llah are depicted in the following 10 minute video.

IMO these are freestyle reinterpretations completely ignoring the Biblical meaning of the concepts.

"Another Comforter". The text itself says it is the Holy Spirit (not another Christ).

Glory (from the Latin gloria, "fame, renown") is used to describe the manifestation of God's presence as perceived by humans according to the Abrahamic religions. (Wiki)

Verses about God's glory are actually examples of Biblical theophany - something you reject.

"New name". The meaning is too vague to draw any conclusions.

In 1863, Baha'u'llah began openly teaching the Baha'i Faith, with its revolutionary messages of human unity, the oneness of all Faiths, the equality of men and women, the agreement of science and religion and the establishment of world peace through a global system of governance. Oct 24, 2017

The Call of Baha'u'llah and its Effect on the World - BahaiTeachings.org​

The oneness of all faiths? IMO Bahai faith is based on wrong interpretation of other faiths and ignoring the contradictions between "messengers".

 

[Trailblazer]

IMO these are freestyle reinterpretations completely ignoring the Biblical meaning of the concepts.

What is the Biblical meaning, what Christians believe the Bible means? I believe Christians are completely off track and clueless about anything regarding the return of Christ. For one example, they are still waiting for the same Jesus to return, when Jesus clearly said that His work was finished here and He was no more in the world (John 14:19, John 17:4, John 17:11, John 19:30)

"Another Comforter". The text itself says it is the Holy Spirit (not another Christ).

The Holy Spirit proceeds only from God. The Holy Spirit was sent by God to Jesus and descended upon Jesus as a Dove. The Holy Spirit was sent by God to Baha’u’llah and descended upon Baha’u’llah as a Maiden in the Black Pit prison in 1852 AD.

Having received the Holy Spirit from God, both Jesus and Baha’u’llah brought the Holy Spirit to humanity. The Comforter and Spirit of truth are just titles for the man who brings the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a Comforter and Baha'u'llah was another Comforter who taught all things and testified of Jesus.

John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Jesus promised to send the Comforter and the Spirit of truth and Jesus said what he would do when he came.

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

John 16:12-14 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

One of the various proofs that Baha’u’llah was the Comforter and the Spirit of truth is that Baha’u’llah did EXACTLY what Jesus said the Comforter and Spirit of truth would do. Referring to Jesus as the Son of Man, Baha’u’llah testified of Jesus and glorified Jesus.

“Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.

We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 85-86

Glory (from the Latin gloria, "fame, renown") is used to describe the manifestation of God's presence as perceived by humans according to the Abrahamic religions. (Wiki)

That is correct. The Glory of God is the Manifestation of God, God manifested as a man in order to be present with us on earth.

Verses about God's glory are actually examples of Biblical theophany - something you reject.

I don't know what you are referring to.

"New name". The meaning is too vague to draw any conclusions.

Maybe so, but we can conclude that the name won't be Jesus. If the same Jesus was going to return as Christians believe, why would He have a new name? Moreover, if He came with a new name how would anyone know He was Jesus?

The oneness of all faiths? IMO Bahai faith is based on wrong interpretation of other faiths and ignoring the contradictions between "messengers".

IMO, the Baha'i Faith interprets the scriptures of other faiths correctly, since Baha'u'llah unsealed the book.

Daniel Chapter 12:8 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. 12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. 13 But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

Misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Bible has been a big problem since the very beginning. Christians disagreed as to what the Bible meant and that is why there are so many different sects of Christianity. I believe that Christians have misinterpreted much of the Bible because they did not have the key to unlock the meaning, and that is understandable because it was prophesied in Daniel 12 that the Book would be sealed up until the time of the end, meaning nobody would really understand it.

Note that Dan 12:13 says "at the end of the days.” This chapter is about what will happen at the time of the end, when Christ returns.

12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

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

Unsealing the Book means we can now understand what much of the Bible means that could never be understood before by reading the Baha’i Writings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are no contradictions between Messengers, only some differences in their messages. A difference is not a contradiction.
The only reason it 'seems like' there are contradictions between the messages of the Messengers is because those messages have been misinterpreted by the followers of the older religions.

 

[CG Didymus]

You said: "Also, during His earthly mission He fulfilled Bible prophecies, so that is more evidence to me." I

Here's a quote from a Baha'i article...

Baha’u’llah not only claimed to have fulfilled prophecies, but he also explained their true meaning, which was far different from conventional interpretations​

​

Why would he claim that he fulfilled some prophecies if he didn't mean for it to be evidence that he is the return of Christ? But, unfortunately, most of the "fulfilled" prophecies have a lot a problems like being too vague or being cherry-picked and way out of context.

 

[CG Didymus]

The Bahai messed up with that. It wasn't known back then but scholarship is quite sure now that Genesis is a re-working of Mesopotamian stories. Abraham, Noah and Moses are literary creations as well.

And speaking of "messed" up... I don't take the stories in Genesis as necessarily being true. I'm fine with them just being religious myth. However, the Baha'is take one story in Genesis, the one about Abraham taking Isaac to be sacrificed, and say that it really Ishmael.

After Isaac was born the Bible states that Abraham exiled Hagar and Ishmael at Sarah's request.[22] God then instructs Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and Abraham takes Him to a mountain to perform the sacrifice, however an angel appears and informs Him He is not required to sacrifice Isaac but due to His obedience He is blessed and His descendants will spread to all nations of the earth.[23] The Qur'an states that it was Ishmael, and not Isaac, who was to be sacrificed and Bahá’u’lláh confirms this having revealed the following:​

​

"That which thou hast heard concerning Abraham, the Friend of the All-Merciful, is the truth, and no doubt is there about it. The Voice of God commanded Him to offer up Ishmael as a sacrifice, so that His steadfastness in the Faith of God and His detachment from all else but Him may be demonstrated unto men. The purpose of God, moreover, was to sacrifice him as a ransom for the sins and iniquities of all the peoples of the earth."[24]​

A letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi provides clarification:​

​

". . . the friends should unhesitatingly, and for reasons that are only too obvious, give precedence to the sayings of Bahá’u’lláh which, it would be pointed out, is fully corroborated by the Qur’án, which book is more authentic than the Bible, including both the New and Old Testaments. The Bible is not wholly authentic, and in this respect not to be compared with the Qur’án, and should be wholly subordinated to the authentic Sayings of Bahá’u’lláh."[25]​

Of course, Baha'is are going to believe the Quran over the Bible and the NT. So, then I wonder, is the birth narrative in the Quran that Mary gave birth to Jesus under a palm tree, believed by Baha'is rather than the manger birth story in the NT? They haven't answered. But these things really destroy my confidence that the Baha'is interpretation that all religions came from the one God, the Abrahamic God and that "originally" similar and complimentary beliefs.

 

[PearlSeeker]

What is the Biblical meaning, what Christians believe the Bible means? I believe Christians are completely off track and clueless about anything regarding the return of Christ.

Yes, Christians interpret OT in their own way. Jews know the meaning of OT and Christians know the meaning of NT. Baha'i interpretation is distortion of distortion.

Having received the Holy Spirit from God, both Jesus and Baha’u’llah brought the Holy Spirit to humanity. The Comforter and Spirit of truth are just titles for the man who brings the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a Comforter and Baha'u'llah was another Comforter who taught all things and testified of Jesus.

The promise of Comforter was fulfilled when the apostles (and others) also received the HS. In the OT the Spirit of God is not a person. Sometimes it is referred to as the power.

That is correct. The Glory of God is the Manifestation of God, God manifested as a man in order to be present with us on earth.

Theophany (from Ancient Greek (ἡ) θεοφάνεια theophaneia,[1] meaning "appearance of a deity") is a personal encounter with a deity, that is an event where the manifestation of a deity occurs in an observable way.[2][3] Specifically, it "refers to the temporal and spatial manifestation of God in some tangible form."[4]

Where the deity does not take tangible form (outward manifestation), the broader term used for inward manifestation is divine revelation or divine inspiration.[5] Where the existence of a god is attributed to a human person, here the terms used are divine incarnation, an avatar or, poetically, the personification of that deity.[6]

In the specific usage for Christians and Jews, with respect to the Bible, theophany refers to an event where the Abrahamic God reveals his presence to a person.

(Wiki)

Moreover, if He came with a new name how would anyone know He was Jesus?

In the video you posted "new name" was used in different meanings - sometimes referring to Christ, believers, God. The meaning of this is vague. I understand it as eschatological meaning - end of this world and beginning of the new (kingdom of God on earth). We don't know the new name because it hasn't happened yet.

The only reason it 'seems like' there are contradictions between the messages of the Messengers is because those messages have been misinterpreted by the followers of the older religions.

I know you believe Baha’u’llah is the only one who knows the real message of all religions. Why? Because he said so. Circular argument.

 

[muhammad_isa]

..these things really destroy my confidence that the Baha'is interpretation that all religions came from the one God, the Abrahamic God and that "originally" similar and complimentary beliefs.

The Bible is not the literal word of G-d. It contains mistakes.
Jesus and his disciples worshiped the One G-d .. and it is not that Christianity in its present form
is faultless.