Is Christ superior to other Prophets/Founders

[CG Didymus]

Krishna teaches to love God with all one’s heart. No different to Jesus. Just a different age. But They both taught the love of God.

Who was the God the Krishna was telling people to love? Since I don't expect an answer, I think it was either himself or Vishnu. If it was Vishnu, then that is not the same God Christians believe that Jesus was talking about. People did have different Gods back then, and not all were real. Like the one's that the God of Israel said were false Gods.

 

[Brian2]

And I still haven't seen their interpretation of the empty tomb. If Jesus rose spiritually, then the body should have still been there.

Matthew 28:5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay.

Baha'i say that resurrection is what happens when someone dies and their spirit departs and goes to heaven. So death is resurrection.
Then they need to come up with something else for what happens at the resurrection on the last day.
Whatever that is, it does not include the resurrection of a transformed physical body.
Those who go to heaven it seems have a body composed of only heavenly elements.
I'm prepared to accept that the physical body is resurrected and transformed into a body comprised of heavenly elements I guess, but no, they don't want anything to do with a transformed physical body.
But yes, the empty tomb is probably the least of their problems really. Just borrow the JW explanation that the body was used by Jesus to show that Jesus had risen from the dead and just disposed of or something.
Neither they nor Baha'is want a Jesus who is a man in heaven as far as I know, no matter which body He has.

 

[PearlSeeker]

But many Christians , clinging to one or two verses, fanatically assert Christ’s superiority and that other religions are ‘Satan inspired’ and their founders - false prophets. Do you agree with this?

I don't agree with this but I understand why Christians believe Jesus is above all others - this theological view is certainly part of the Bible.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Sorry, I am not yet convinced about that. But, I think it is interesting, if that is the teaching of them all, why do people not follow it?

All the Messengers taught to love God and one another. One has only to read the scriptures of other Faiths to see that. People do follow it but we all are tested.

 

[loverofhumanity]

I just can't fathom the arrogance that would look at a religion that you don't even belong to and say "yeah... you know all the things that make your religion unique, even the things in core expressions of your faith like the Shahadah or the Apostle's Creed? They're all just window-dressing that doesn't really matter. The only genuine parts of your religion are the ones that agree with my religion."

Is hubris considered a sin in the Baha'i faith?

But are things like the Apostles Creed and Shariah law and such truly part of what God revealed to humankind? Upon close inspection you will find that these doctrines were never part of the original religion, but were additions made by the priests and clergy.

We Baha’is full accept that which was revealed by God but not the interpretations or doctrines added by fallible men.

 

[CG Didymus]

We Baha’is full accept that which was revealed by God but not the interpretations or doctrines added by fallible men.

Was the NT revealed by God or was it what people remembered about what Jesus said and did and, in the epistles, interpreted what he said? Even what got made into the NT was decided by Church leaders.

 

[Muffled]

What do you mean by God in the flesh? I believe in what the Bible teaches that …..

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (Luke 4:24)

So if you’re saying that Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit then I agree but God is Spirit not flesh.

I believe filled with the Holy Spirit has a different connotation in Christian circles. I believe it means that God is the only abiding Spirit in Jesus.

 

[Sand Dancer]

This question to me has been a huge cause of strife, disunity and even war. All the great Teachers/Prophets (Buddha, Muhammad, Krishna etc) in history taught spirituality. So in my mind They are all equal with regards to this purpose.

But many Christians , clinging to one or two verses, fanatically assert Christ’s superiority and that other religions are ‘Satan inspired’ and their founders - false prophets. Do you agree with this?

Krishna and Buddha are revered by their followers and were well before the time of Christ yet no mention is made in the Bible that Krishna or Buddha are from Satan. And as the Bible is claimed to be God’s Word and God is All Knowing, no mention either that Muhammad, the Bab or Baha’u’llah are false Prophets. So where is the Bible stating all these other religions are false according to Christians.

There are verses where Christ says He is the beginning and the end but so too did Krishna say the same thousands of years before Christ appeared. So why the insistence on Jesus being superior when if anything Jesus taught love above anything else. Why is supremacy so important to so many Christians?

They had similar messages, if you take the deeper meaning. They were just in different parts of the world at different times. None were perfect but were very good teachers.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

But are things like the Apostles Creed and Shariah law and such truly part of what God revealed to humankind? Upon close inspection you will find that these doctrines were never part of the original religion, but were additions made by the priests and clergy.

We Baha’is full accept that which was revealed by God but not the interpretations or doctrines added by fallible men.

So when your mistake is pointed out, you just double down, eh?

 

[CG Didymus]

We Baha’is full accept that which was revealed by God but not the interpretations or doctrines added by fallible men.

"Full" accept? Except the parts Baha'is don't believe. First of all, I don't see anything wrong with disagreeing with some of mythical and virtually impossible things said in the Bible and NT. But when some Baha'is have said they don't believe some of the stories in the Bible and NT, then why say "We Baha'is" accept it fully? Baha'is don't.

From Letters Written on Behalf of the Guardian:

...The Bible is not wholly authentic, and in this respect is not to be compared with the Qur'an, and should be wholly subordinated to the authentic writings of Bahá'u'lláh
. (28 July 1936 to a National Spiritual Assembly)

...we cannot be sure how much or how little of the four Gospels are accurate and include the words of Christ and His undiluted teachings, all we can be sure of, as Bahá'ís, is that what has been quoted by Bahá'u'lláh and the Master must be absolutely authentic. As many times passages in the Gospel of St. John are quoted we may assume that it is his Gospel and much of it accurate.
(23 January 1944 to an individual believer)​

 

[loverofhumanity]

I believe filled with the Holy Spirit has a different connotation in Christian circles. I believe it means that God is the only abiding Spirit in Jesus.

Yes I agree. But also in all the other Prophets and Messengers that appeared before Christ and since Him.

 

[loverofhumanity]

So when your mistake is pointed out, you just double down, eh?

Im not in a contest to win the argument just try and explain and share how I understand things. If I didn’t say it clearly, I tried to clarify it that Baha’is accept the original source but not added doctrines or interpretations of men. So we accept all that comes from God but not fallible men. And clergy have added a lot to religions that neither Christ nor Muhammad nor other Prophets taught such as rituals, doctrines, ceremonies and laws. Did you know that the majority of shariah laws are not from the Quran nor the sacraments from the Bible nor Trinity.

This is why God sends Messengers from time to time because eventually religions become muddied with man made ideas and become superstitious and fanatical. Hope this helps but I’m learning too so my answers may not be as perfect as you might expect.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

It is humanly impossible to invent the Bible as it is known today, without God instructing it’s authors over 1400 years, proven by archaeology etc., then the church fathers. The story is too elaborate and intricate for the human mind to invent and so must be true. This is what sets it apart from all religious texts.

The Mahabharata is a better and slightly less hypocritical story.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

I’m a Chemist and know how much effort goes into make a simple molecule like ammonia

You talk as if I should be paying $50 for some windex.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

Christ existed long before Buddha.

How do you figure?

 

[Trailblazer]

But many Christians , clinging to one or two verses, fanatically assert Christ’s superiority and that other religions are ‘Satan inspired’ and their founders - false prophets. Do you agree with this?

No, I do not agree with it, I think it is abominable.

 

[Trailblazer]

It should not ever be superiority in the sense of me being superior to you, but the truth is always better than what is not true.

Anyone could say the same thing about their religion.

 

[CG Didymus]

All the Messengers taught to love God and one another. One has only to read the scriptures of other Faiths to see that. People do follow it but we all are tested.

And the NT teaches that through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and there is only one person, Jesus, that was able to pay the penalty for Adam's disobedience. How many other religions teach that? The most you can say is that most all the major religions taught about loving God and loving each other but they all had a bunch of other teachings and beliefs that contradicted each other. But, even with that, did they all teach about God? And, if they did teach about a God, did they define that God the same? Like was the God of the Greeks that same God that was believed by the Egyptians? And was the God of Israel the same as those God? No, because the Jews believed those Gods to be false Gods.

Now if you want to say dump all the superstitious and mythical beliefs of the past religions and get down to the core beliefs of what we think are true spiritual teachings, then sure... let's look at them.

 

[Trailblazer]

It is humanly impossible to invent the Bible as it is known today, without God instructing it’s authors over 1400 years, proven by archaeology etc., then the church fathers.

God instructing it’s authors?
And what is the 'proof' that any of those authors were instructed by God rather than just writing from their human minds?

The story is too elaborate and intricate for the human mind to invent and so must be true. This is what sets it apart from all religious texts.

I could make the same argument for my religion. The history of the Baha'i Faith is too elaborate and intricate for the human mind to invent and so must be true, and we did not have to invent any of the history since it is well-documented, unlike the Bible, which is not verifiable history.

On top of that we have the original Writings of Baha'u'llah, penned in His own hand. By contrast, Jesus wrote nothing so all you have is stories that came by way of oral tradition. Nobody knows what Jesus said.

 

[Trailblazer]

If the beliefs of Christianity are true, then Jesus is God (or the son of God) and Krishna, Buddha, etc., aren't.

If