The Oneness of Religion

[CitizenOfWorld]

he principle of the unity of religion is at the center of Bahá'í teachings. Bahá'u'lláh states that humanity is engaged in a collective growth process quite similar to the growth process of an individual: just as a person begins life as a helpless infant and attains maturity in successive stages, so humankind began its collective social life in a primitive state, gradually attaining maturity. In the case of the individual, it is clear that his or her development takes place as a result of the education he or she receives from parents, teachers, and society in general. But what is the motive force in humankind's collective evolution?

The answer the Bahá'í Faith provides to this question is "revealed religion." In one of His major works, the Kitáb-i-Iqán (the Book of Certitude), Bahá'u'lláh explained that God, the Creator, has intervened and will continue to intervene in human history by means of chosen Messengers. These Messengers, Whom Bahá'u'lláh called "Manifestations of God ," are principally the Founders of the major revealed religions, such as Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad, and so forth. It is the spirit released by the coming of these Manifestations, together with the influence of Their teachings and the social systems established by Their laws and precepts, that enable humankind to progress in its collective evolution. Simply put: the Manifestations of God are the chief educators of humanity. With regard to the various religious systems that have appeared in human history, Bahá'u'lláh has said:


These principles and laws, these firmly-established and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source and are the rays of one Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated.2
Thus the principle of the unity of religion means that all of the great religious Founders--the Manifestations--have come from God, and that all of the religious systems established by Them are part of a single divine plan directed by God.

In reality, there is only one religion, the religion of God. This one religion is continually evolving, and each particular religious system represents a stage in the evolution of the whole. The Bahá'í Faith represents the current stage in the evolution of religion. To emphasize the idea that all of the teachings and actions of the Manifestation are directed by God and do not originate from natural, human sources, Bahá'u'lláh used the term "revelation" to describe the phenomenon that occurs each time a Manifestation appears. In particular, the writings of the Manifestation represent the infallible Word of God. Because these writings remain long after the earthly life of the Manifestation is finished, they constitute an especially important part of the phenomenon of revelation. So much is this so, that the term "revelation" is sometimes used in a restricted sense to refer to the writings and words of the Manifestation.

Religious history is seen as a succession of revelations from God and the term "progressive revelation" is used to describe this process. Thus, according to Bahá'ís, progressive revelation is the motive force of human progress, and the Manifestation Bahá'u'lláh is the most recent instance of revelation.

Bahá'u'lláh taught that the time interval between two Manifestations may be about one thousand years. He also taught that the process of revelation will not stop with His revelation and that another Manifestation will come after Him, though not before the expiration of one thousand years from Bahá'u'lláh's coming. According to the Bahá'í writings, the process of revelation will continue indefinitely into the future and humankind will see the coming of a great many more Manifestations.

To put the Bahá'í concept of religion more clearly in focus, let us compare it with some other ways in which religion has been regarded. On one hand is the view that the various religious systems result from human striving after truth. In this conception, the Founders of the great religions do not reveal God to us, but are rather philosophers or thinkers, human beings who may have progressed farther than others in the discovery of truth. This notion excludes the idea of a basic unity of religion since the various religious systems are seen as representing different opinions and beliefs arrived at by fallible human beings rather than infallible revelations of truth from a single source.

Many orthodox adherents of various religious traditions, on the other hand, argue that the Prophet or Founder of their particular tradition represents a true revelation of God to humanity, but that the other religious Founders are false prophets, or at least essentially inferior to the Founder of the tradition in question. For example, many Jews believe that Moses was a true Messenger of God, but that Jesus was not. Similarly, many Christians believe in Jesus' revelation, but consider that Muhammad was a false prophet, and hold that Moses was inferior in status to Christ.

The Bahá'í principle of the oneness of religion differs fundamentally from both of these traditional concepts. Bahá'u'lláh attributed the differences in some teachings of the great religions not to any human fallibility of the Founders, but rather to the different requirements of the ages in which the revelations occurred. In addition, He maintained that there has been a great deal of human error introduced into religion through the corruption of texts and the addition of extraneous ideas. Moreover, Bahá'ís consider that no one of the Founders is superior to another. Shoghi Effendi has summarized this view in the following words:


The fundamental principle enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh, the followers of His Faith firmly believe, is that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive process, that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony, that their aims and purposes are one and the same, that their teachings are but facets of one truth, that their functions are complementary, that they differ only in the nonessential aspects of their doctrines, and that their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society.

http://www.bahai.org/article-1-4-0-4.html

[CitizenOfWorld]

I don't think they exist in strong religions

Regards,

Abdullah Singh

[andrewblow]

NO SIR.

No such thing. Although this idea may (in our humanity) sound enticing, it is completely of the Devil - who is seriously looking for confusion - AND MADE IT.

God - the only, Almighty God of Israel and of the Bible gave His Word and - with the encouragements to understand and believe it, also gave us warnings not to ADD, or SUBTRACT anything from it.

You can dress this confusion up in any way you like - and some people will believe it, but - whilst I respect all people - I must, as a servant of Jesus Christ, warn against believing the deception of the B'hai 'faith'.

Andrew

[CitizenOfWorld]

Originally posted by andrewblow
NO SIR.

No such thing. Although this idea may (in our humanity) sound enticing, it is completely of the Devil - who is seriously looking for confusion - AND MADE IT.

God - the only, Almighty God of Israel and of the Bible gave His Word and - with the encouragements to understand and believe it, also gave us warnings not to ADD, or SUBTRACT anything from it.

You can dress this confusion up in any way you like - and some people will believe it, but - whilst I respect all people - I must, as a servant of Jesus Christ, warn against believing the deception of the B'hai 'faith'.

Andrew

Brother Andrew,

I have seen better people closer to God from religions other than Christianity.

So now the question is,

If the devil guides these people because of their non-Christian faith, how come they do such good deeds to their fellow human beings and for society in this world. Is this the deception of the Devil?

I think most Christians are interpreting the Bible wrongly.

Your comments.

Anthony Abdul Jones

[andrewblow]

My friend - I'll be the first to accept that I'm taking a fundamental 'hard'line here - but to me there is no other way. And I must point out that your comments on "better people" are simply your own assessment - I think God should have a say in this. !!!!

Jesus is either (as he claimed ) "The way, the Truth and the Life" - or he's all crap !!!! No half- measures or shades of grey.

I also accept that there are many 'good' people both now, and throughout history, who have not been of the christian faith. This does not down=grade the christian faith - it simply shows that these men have been extremely (humanly) good people.

However, at the end of time - no person can stand before God in their own strength, stating their own answers to life, negotiating with God for their place in eternity. We will each have to answer the one fundamental question put to us "What did you do with Jesus?" > If we DID know about him - answer up > if we didn't know about him- it's down to the Judgement of a just and righteous God "according to the light that we have received". Paul tells us that creation alone is enough to tell us about God - but the final decision is God's.

[CitizenOfWorld]

Originally posted by andrewblow
My friend - I'll be the first to accept that I'm taking a fundamental 'hard'line here - but to me there is no other way. And I must point out that your comments on "better people" are simply your own assessment - I think God should have a say in this. !!!!

Jesus is either (as he claimed ) "The way, the Truth and the Life" - or he's all crap !!!! No half- measures or shades of grey.

I also accept that there are many 'good' people both now, and throughout history, who have not been of the christian faith. This does not down=grade the christian faith - it simply shows that these men have been extremely (humanly) good people.

However, at the end of time - no person can stand before God in their own strength, stating their own answers to life, negotiating with God for their place in eternity. We will each have to answer the one fundamental question put to us "What did you do with Jesus?" > If we DID know about him - answer up > if we didn't know about him- it's down to the Judgement of a just and righteous God "according to the light that we have received". Paul tells us that creation alone is enough to tell us about God - but the final decision is God's.

Andrew,

This is the question you may not be able to answer .

Your statement

We will each have to answer the one fundamental question put to us "What did you do with Jesus?"

Yes that is true.

But who is Jesus.

Here is the question for you

We will each have to answer the one fundamental question put to us "What did you do with the starving persecuted people in the world?"

How many innocent people did the US kill in the war in iraq?

How many innocent people do indian Hindu fundamentalists kill?

How many innocent people do Muslim fundamentalists kill?

How many innocent Palestinians do the Jews kill?

How many Jews do the Palestinians kill?

How many western people regard themselves as individuals superior to Asians and Africans?

Don't each of these killed and rejected people represent the crucified Jesus?

How much of the world's resources do I myself and you unnecessarily waste living in the developed world. Every day here in Australia they dump glossy advertisment paper material in my letter box, when a student in Africa or some parts of Asia cannot even afford to buy a text book made of recycled paper.

The paper dumped in my mail box is enough to make two text books each day.

You live in an upper class Suburb in England and I live in Australia.

Recently I have stopped consuming and wasting unnecessary resources. I have even learnt to understand and repair my old car inside out, so I don't have to buy a new car.

I reckon I do not need to buy any new consumer goods for the next ten years except clothes and food.

What is your commitment to Humanity and your answers to Jesus?

Is it just the belief in the name of Jesus?

Regards,

John Ibrahim Moses Zubin Ravi Singh




[Edited by CitizenOfWorld on 13th February 2004 at 21:57]

[_DigitaLVampirE_]

Originally posted by CitizenOfWorld

I think most Christians are interpreting the Bible wrongly.

Well if they only choose carefully chosen verses to support their agenda's and completely ignore the other parts of the scriptures, and claim it does not even exist or is an added contribution to the Bible, then they are most certainly interpreting the Scriptures wrongly and in desperate need for studying theology and Church history, and maybe some real in depth Bible study too. Either that, or they need the Light for them to be able to read in the darkness better.