Truth in all the World's Religions?

[InvestigateTruth]

Don't get me wrong; I believe in Baha'u'llah...

So you believe that Baha'u'llah is the most recent Manifestation of God for this age?

 

[Katzpur]

The LDS church isn't as open and ecumenical as the above post seems to claim. It claims that it is the authentic Church of Jesus Christ, that it contains the fullness of the gospel contained in the Christian bible (modified by Joseph Smith), the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, ect. This is similiar to what the Catholic Church claims:

"the sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Savior, after His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd, and him and the other apostles to extend and direct with authority, which He erected for all ages as 'the pillar and mainstay of the truth.' This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him" (Lumen gentium, 8).

The CC also teaches that those Churches, "Ecclesiastical Communties' and non-Christians, because they are not Catholic (not in full communion with Rome) are defective to varying degrees.

The LDS Church teaches that all the other churches are 'dead,' hence the requirement for the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ.

So while both are somewhat ecumenical towards other denominations and religions, they nonetheless make exclusive truth claims, believing that they are special in their knowledge and understanding of 'the Truth' and all others are defective relative to them.

No one making exclusive truth claims can be completely sincere and without ulterior motives when dealing with others.

As long as we have religions believing this, and there are many others, there will continue to be conflict. They will never be able to coexist without competition (or often worse) until they reform or die.

Dont tell me what the LDS Church claims. I'm 62 years old and a lifelong member of the Church. I know and understand what we teach far better than you do.

We do claim to have the fullness of the truth, but the OP asked if there are truth in all religions and we absolutely believe there is. Furthermore, we believe that, with very few exceptions, all human beings will end up in Heaven. How many other Christian denominations believe that?

 

[Gaura Priya]

So you believe that Baha'u'llah is the most recent Manifestation of God for this age?

Yes, I do so now. I even have a picture of Baha'u'llah as a sign of my belief and declaration in him as the Promised One. However, alot of people claimed that because I also believe in Ghusn-i-Akbar, I am *gasp* a Unitarian Baha'i. But I still learn towards my Christian background because it was my upbringing.

Here is some factual understanding regarding Abbas Effendi's younger brother, Ghusn-i-Akbar, the second son of Baha'u'llah, instead of the coloured, falsified and biased history that the Haifan Baha'i Faith has presented him: http://www.uubahai.com/2010/03/ghusn-i-akbar-part-1-the-facts/

I really do not believe in Covenant-Breaker shunning... so there is a GOOD reason why I do not call myself a Baha'i in public. The early Bayanis (whom you call 'Babis') practiced hiding their faith in the Bab to protect themselves, and even Baha'is did so too out of choice, especially to those American ministers and pastors who continued to keep their Christian flock to bring them the hints of that quintessential glory of the New Dispensation, the New Zion, to say with the most earthly tones.

 

[InvestigateTruth]

When I meant that it is new, I meant that it is an imposition by Baha'u'llah's followers, and not by Baha'u'llah himself.

Actually Baha'u'llah in the Tablet of Ahmad clearly said He was the Promissed One that all the messengers had foretold:

"Verily this is that Most Great Beauty, foretold in the Books of the Messengers, through Whom truth shall be distinguished from error and the wisdom of every command shall be tested. Verily He is the Tree of Life that bringeth forth the fruits of God, the Exalted, the Powerful, the Great."

Also in Tablets of Baha'u'llah:

"THE time fore-ordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have all been fulfilled."

"VERILY I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.
Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise, yearned to attain it. No sooner, however, had the Day Star of His Revelation manifested itself in the heaven of God’s Will, than all, except those whom the Almighty was pleased to guide, were found dumbfounded and heedless."

 

[Gaura Priya]

Actually Baha'u'llah in the Tablet of Ahmad clearly said He was the Promissed One that all the messengers had foretold:

"Verily this is that Most Great Beauty, foretold in the Books of the Messengers, through Whom truth shall be distinguished from error and the wisdom of every command shall be tested. Verily He is the Tree of Life that bringeth forth the fruits of God, the Exalted, the Powerful, the Great."

Also in Tablets of Baha'u'llah:

"THE time fore-ordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have all been fulfilled."

"VERILY I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.
Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise, yearned to attain it. No sooner, however, had the Day Star of His Revelation manifested itself in the heaven of God’s Will, than all, except those whom the Almighty was pleased to guide, were found dumbfounded and heedless."

Eee... yes. I'm not arguing with you.

Baha'u'llah never mentioned Buddha nor Krishna, and these attributions are from Shoghi Effendi and Abdu'l-Baha. Baha'u'llah has however mentioned Noah, Abraham, Salih, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad, Salih, the Bab, and he himself.

 

[Blackheart]

I am not offending any one here. But the problem with monotheistic religions is that as they are purely monotheistic, as they believe in one God, and that one story, they cannot accept any other versions. Hence, the "I am right, and you are wrong" argument. As I am from India, many of my teachers (who were Hindus) would say "religions are all the same, they all strive to teach good and talk about the same God". But what they didn't understand is that most Christians and Muslims would disagree with them.

I would describe myself as Christian and I would certainly agree with you. All of the major religions that I am aware of are basically giving us the same message which naturally leads me to wonder if they are all from the same original source. By source I am talking about divine inspiration. I find it very difficult to believe that a supreme being who is concerned with mankind would only send messengers to the Jews or to the Arabs. I believe that every society has recieved its messengers its just that when you subscribe to a certain religion you are often told that it is the only 'true religion' and therefore our ears are closed to anything outside of that domain.

 

[InvestigateTruth]

Eee... yes. I'm not arguing with you.

Baha'u'llah never mentioned Buddha nor Krishna .

I am aware that He did menion Hinduism and Zoroastrian in the Table of "tabernacle of unity"

Bahá'í Reference Library - The Tabernacle of Unity, Pages 3-13

 

[Father Heathen]

A broken clock is right twice a day, if someone hasn't already said it.

 

[LuisDantas]

So you believe that Baha'u'llah is the most recent Manifestation of God for this age?

Do you have a definition of Manifestation of God that we can use? After all, strictly speaking a Faith such as Bahai, which believes in a Creator God, technically considers each and every part of existence a Manifestation of God in some sense, doesn't it?

 

[Sen McGlinn]

Yes, all creation manifests the attributes of God. And all human beings, potentially, embody all of the attributes ( in the form of virtues such as sovereignty, truthfulness, being loving ). The Manifestation is believed to manifest them perfectly, not just potentially, but the Manifestation is also believed to manifest the Will of God for a people, in an age. In our age, the 'people' is the entire world, and the Will of God has a lot to do with guiding globalization along the right channels, ending warfare between nations, reconciling religion with scientific understandings, and removing prejudices.

In short, the Manifestation for an age is not simply a more perfect human.

Behold, how immeasurably exalted is the Lord your God above all created things! Witness the majesty of His sovereignty, His ascendancy, and supreme power. If the things which have been created by Him -- magnified be His glory -- and ordained to be the manifestations of His names and attributes, stand, by virtue of the grace with which they have been endowed, exalted beyond all proximity and remoteness, how much loftier must be that Divine Essence that hath called them into being?...
(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 184)

And when Thou didst purpose to make Thyself known unto men, Thou didst successively reveal the Manifestations of Thy Cause, and ordained each to be a sign of Thy Revelation among Thy people,...
(Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 128)

They are also called "the Manifestations of Thy Cause" (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 211). The word "Cause" (`amr) means both a religious cause, and a Command, indicating a specific designation as Manifestation/founder of religion, by the Will of God.

 

[BruceDLimber]

The vast majority are legitimate and of God, though not literally "every" one!

From the Baha'i scriptures:

"There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. All of them, except a few which are the outcome of human perversity, were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose. Arise and, armed with the power of faith, shatter to pieces the gods of your vain imaginings, the sowers of dissension amongst you. Cleave unto that which draweth you together and uniteth you."

—(The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah, p. 114;
also Gleanings, CXI, pp. 217-8)


Peace,

Bruce

 

[Orias]

Elephant in the Dark
By Rumi

Some Hindus have an elephant to show.

No one here has ever seen an elephant.
They bring it at night to a dark room.

One by one, we go in the dark and come out
saying how we experience the animal.

One of us happens to touch the trunk.
"A water-pipe kind of creature."

Another, the ear. "A very strong, always moving
back and forth, fan-animal."

Another, the leg. "I find it still,
like a column on a temple."

Another touches the curved back.
"A leathery throne."

Another, the cleverest, feels the tusk.
"A rounded sword made of porcelain."
He's proud of his description.

Each of us touches one place
and understands the whole in that way.

The palm and the fingers feeling in the dark are
how the senses explore the reality of the elephant.

If each of us held a candle there,
and if we went in together,
we could see it.
_____________________________________________________________________


This may have some to offer, showing that, as humans, we are capable of seeing the bigger picture for what it is, instead of pre-denial and false accusations.

Together, we are more than able to see our perceptions and create a "truth" beyond the singular conceptions of moral tribune.

All perception is truth, for that is simply what it is.

Narrow minded prejudices lead to a less than conducive sense of being, where the partaker only abdicates his power among those who are like him. It does not lead to a greater sense of human being; rather it leads one into their own abyss of "darkness", or singularity in truth.

Scapegoating is as easy as twirling your hair, every singular "truth" has a devil, but they never excerise the purpose of their God's own powers.

Almighty God's need not battle an Adversary, if in fact, this almighty "God" created everything.

It's a stupid way of rationalizing fear, rather than it's intended purposes of bringing us together, it separates us.

There is truth in every belief or conceptualization, for they are all conceived by a greater conscious, driven by an inevitable fear, death.

Self preservation is the highest law, by the highest means, which means, any singular belief will accuse any other belief of falseness, while the singular belief itself, rides it's own wave into nothingness.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

This may have some to offer, showing that, as humans, we are capable of seeing the bigger picture for what it is, instead of pre-denial and false accusations.

Together, we are more than able to see our perceptions and create a "truth" beyond the singular conceptions of moral tribune.

All perception is truth, for that is simply what it is.

Narrow minded prejudices lead to a less than conducive sense of being, where the partaker only abdicates his power among those who are like him. It does not lead to a greater sense of human being; rather it leads one into their own abyss of "darkness", or singularity in truth.

Scapegoating is as easy as twirling your hair, every singular "truth" has a devil, but they never excerise the purpose of their God's own powers.

Almighty God's need not battle an Adversary, if in fact, this almighty "God" created everything.

It's a stupid way of rationalizing fear, rather than it's intended purposes of bringing us together, it separates us.

If it's true that "all perception is truth", then wouldn't this apply to all human endeavour, not just religion? Why put religion on a pedestal?

 

[Orias]

If it's true that "all perception is truth", then wouldn't this apply to all human endeavour, not just religion? Why put religion on a pedestal?

Of course it would.

I didn't mean to make it sound like I was illuminating religion, in general I was speaking of every form of conceptualization.

Human endeavour applies greatly to religion and belief specifically, with the premise that belief is considered a religion, without the "religious" aspects.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

If it's true that "all perception is truth", then wouldn't this apply to all human endeavour, not just religion? Why put religion on a pedestal?

Good point !

It is not religion that we should put on a pedestal but self improvement through self analysis.

My wife just told me a story about a Janitor who cleaned up at a hospital. He believed his job was to make the patients comfortable by having a clean room. Not just cleaning rooms. He would clean the room of a patient who was very sick and unconscious most of the time. Whenever he cleaned that room his father was always sitting watching. One day he cleaned the room and his father was not their. Later that day the father found him and chewed him out telling him his son deserved a clean room. The Janitor did not say a word he just when back to that room and cleaned a 2nd time. He did not argue or say I already did it. Why ? Because he thought the best way to make that father comfortable was just to clean the room.

This is the highest ideal. To analysis your self and the environment that you live in to do the greatest Good.

Belief in god is not necessary to do it.

 

[genenuega]

Good point !

It is not religion that we should put on a pedestal but self improvement through self analysis.

My wife just told me a story about a Janitor who cleaned up at a hospital. He believed his job was to make the patients comfortable by having a clean room. Not just cleaning rooms. He would clean the room of a patient who was very sick and unconscious most of the time. Whenever he cleaned that room his father was always sitting watching. One day he cleaned the room and his father was not their. Later that day the father found him and chewed him out telling him his son deserved a clean room. The Janitor did not say a word he just when back to that room and cleaned a 2nd time. He did not argue or say I already did it. Why ? Because he thought the best way to make that father comfortable was just to clean the room.

This is the highest ideal. To analysis your self and the environment that you live in to do the greatest Good.

Belief in god is not necessary to do it.

Interesting story with very good insight.. this made my day..

 

[Breathe]

I would like to think all religions are true.

...but I don't. I'm not so optimistic. I would like to be wrong, though.

I think they may have elements of truth in their messages, but as has been said, many of the spiritual truths of these messages are nothing more than common-sense.

Don't hurt others, be nice to your neighbour, give to the poor.. one doesn't need religion in order to do these, nor should one not do these if their religion told them not to. Such common-sense ideas of "be nice" doesn't necessarily mean the message is from God, or has any spiritual truth to it. The religion can have absolutely insane religious views that have no bearing on reality, but still say "be nice"--does that mean it would be from God or contain elements of truth? Doesn't Pastafarianism say to be nice? Does it mean it contains elements of truth?


However, despite that, I do think all people ultimately are going [or at least, trying to go] to the same Source. It seems a bit paradoxical, I know, but I do think that...

 

[tarasan]

How true do you think this is? That all the world's religions probably have some truth, and all the founders of those religions taught a similar message, except for cultural differences? To use an example, Muhammad. Muhammad put the majority of his life into reforming what was an extremely barbaric society. He did have time to teach good things in-between, but most of us his life had to be devoted to defending himself against attackers. How different would Muhammad have been if he had lived in a society that allowed him to be more easy going? Even Muhammad taught very similarly to other teachers, but cultural differences sometimes obscure that. Do you think it's true that all the world's religions contain truth?

No idont believe they all contian truth I think alot are too self contradictory.

 

[Orias]

No idont believe they all contian truth I think alot are too self contradictory.

What exactly do you mean by that?

 

[tarasan]

What exactly do you mean by that?

well, some forms of satanism believe in only the self, while others are completely for self denial

some cliam reality is an illusion while others say this is all there is

some talk about only loving others, while some actively encourage bigotry...