Then why does he claim have condensed "all scriptures" into such a work? And why, with the exception of Sufi poetry and relatively few well-known passages from the gospels, does he so rarely quote from or cite directly any other scriptures? Does he ever, in any of his works quote directly from, say, Paul's letters or the Book of Revelation? (I honestly don't know the answer to that question, but I do know that the Gospels were more readily available in the Persian language than the rest of the NT).
It doesn't matter if he is writing to a Christian, Jew, Hindu or Buddhist providing examples from their scriptures. What does matter is the principles outlined are universal and transends any single religious tradition.
As you will appreciate most Muslims believe the original Gospel of Jesus was lost and instead the Christians have a false Gospel in their possession. Baha'u'llah addressed this in the Kitib-i-Iqan and implicitly, through not explicitly gives legitamcy to the entire New Testament. The issue of establishing the authenticity of the Gospels takes precedence over elaborating on Paul's letters or the book of revelation.
Baha'u'llah elaborates on page 89 of the Iqan:
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 living Providence! How could God, when once the daystar 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? What would be left to that people to cling to from the setting of the daystar of Jesus until the rise of the sun of the Muhammadan Dispensation
Baha'u'llah says specifically of the Iqan itself:
the things We have already mentioned suffice the world and all that is therein. In fact, all the Scriptures, and the mysteries thereof are condensed into this brief account. So much so that were a person to ponder it a while in his heart, he would discover from all that hath been said the mysteries of the Words of God, and would apprehend the meaning of whatever hath been manifested by that ideal King. (Íqán 237, emphasis added)
Were you to ponder, but for a while, these utterances in your heart, you would surely find the portals of understanding unlocked before your face, and would behold all knowledge and mysteries thereof unveiled before your eyes. (ibid. 52, emphasis added, cf. 19)
The Station of the Kitab-i-Iqan
My understanding is that Baha'u'llah provides the door to being able to understand all scriptures through the Kitab-i-Iqan. Through reflection and meditation we can acquire a profound understanding of whatever sacred writings we choose. It requires effort on our part. The Kitab-i-Iqan is not a prescriptive and exhaustive list of every religious teaching, rather a means of acquiring an in depth knowledge of all the main religious teachings.
In response to your specific question about Baha'u'llah quoting directly from either the book of Revelation or the Apostle Paul, I'm not aware of one single verse. I suspect He didn't, once again on account of most of the early Baha'is being from an Islamic background. There are of course many references from both Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi to both the book of revelation and the Apostle Paul.
It is not "one exegesis" to Christians, it is the exegesis. And this is yet another example of how counterproductive Baha'i thinking is to interreligious harmony. You just summarily dismissed an absolutely vital tenet of the faith of millions of Christians and - as far as they are concerned - blasphemed against God in the process - in one sentence.
I agree the doctrine concerning propitiatory atonement is a fundamental and core belief to many Christians. Further many of those Christians would be single minded in their belief that there is just one way and one way only to view this doctrine. This will be one amongst a number of percieved core Christian beliefs that will differ from Baha'i beliefs. One criticism of the Baha'i Faith is that it leaves Christianity and other religions too theologically gutted.
What is the Baha'i faith?
Baha'is should look to build points of agreements and common ground with other faiths. We should not go out of our way to emphasise differences and certainly avoid offending. However when asked, Baha'is should be clear and honest about points of disagreement and be prepared to engage in discussion if need be, but agree to disagree when such discussions become fruitless.
And how, exactly, do you know that it is propitiation that was inserted by the enemies of faith and not this parable - perhaps the devil deliberately sowed this weed parable to confuse the minds of people and doubt the love of God in sending his own Son to pay the price for our sins? (
John 3:16;
Matthew 26:28). Of course the answer is you don't know. And neither did Baha'u'llah - he chose to go with the Qur'an on this and no wonder - what further need would there be of other Messiahs to lead us to the life that "knoweth no death" if the price for the remission of sins had already been paid? Its no use agreeing with Jesus or Muhammad about the finality of their respective Messianic missions if one aspires to Messianic status oneself.
Baha'is don't believe in a literal Satan. When a handful of Jews chose to follow Jesus rather than the beliefs and traditions of their ancestors sacrifices needed to be made. Some of what they had formerly believed was either not true or no longer relevant. Jesus put in very succintly when He said you can not put new wine into old wineskins (Mark 2:18-22). The old must die to give way to new life. Exactly the same principle applies for those who accept Muhammad or Baha'u'llah.
Having been formerly Christian before becoming a Baha'i, the problems with Christian theology were clear enough long before I heard about the Baha'i Faith. I believe we all need to pray, reflect and meditate and live in accordance with our highest values and beliefs.
This is confused - it mixes up realities with symbols and reifies notions of 'spiritual' aspects of reality - like 'self' for example. Its just confused IMO. And who said that people who have 'impure' hearts, lack faith and elevate reasonable doubt above credulous 'certitude' do not have a 'life of the spirit' - or animals for that matter? This all departs significantly from other scriptural traditions - not to mention common sense.
It makes perfect sense to me, along with the rest of the Kitab-i-Iqan. I have no problem with a significant departure from traditional Christianity and see it as necessary. We each need to read the reality of our own lives and do what we believe is right. What works for each one of us is very different and I whole heartedly accept our differences.
Indeed - the pen of 19th century Persian man. Just as Joshua, Peter and Ali (assuming that they all actually existed at all) derived their authority from the humans who preceded them. And please don't pretend that after Shoghi Effendi (or even before) there was no division. That just isn't true - is it?
I don't deny the history of my Faith and conflict that arose with succession of leadership from the Bab, Baha'u'llah, Abdu'l-Baha, Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice. I believe Moses, Christ, Muhammad and Baha'u'llah were all real people who brought to humanity a genuine Revelation from God. I appreciate you see them all as either no more than human or even myth. Diversity of belief is fine by me. At the end of the day, God if He exists, judges us all.
