Please?
I know I ask this a lot, but it's hard to find ALL the information on this subject.
Ive searched there official websites, and read there basic Morales and everything, but is there anything YOU CAN tell me? Some stuff I need to know?
I would prefer a Baha'i to answer this, but any answer will do.
Omg......
here we go again....
The Baha'i faith believes 100% in Jesus, God, and the Holy Bible, AS DO I!!!!
"In the past, God's Messengers have for the most part presented their messages to humanity by speaking or preaching; these outpourings have been recorded by others, sometimes during the Prophet's life, sometimes later, from the memory of His followers. The Founder of the Bah?'? Faith, however, Himself took up pen and paper and wrote down for humanity the revelation He received or dictated His message to believers who served as secretaries.
Bah?'u'll?h addressed not only those timeless theological and philosophical questions that have plagued humanity since antiquity--such as Who is God? What is goodness? and Why are we here?--but also the questions that have preoccupied 20Th century thinkers: What motivates human nature? Is real peace indeed possible? Does God still care for humanity?
From His words, the worldwide community of Bah?'u'll?h draws its inspiration, discovers its moral bearing and derives creative energy."
http://www.bahaullah.com/index.html
Bah?'u'll?h, whose name means "The Glory of God" in Arabic, was born on 12 November 1817 in Tehran.
The Baha'i Faith is a pluralistic belief system which claims that every religion (including polytheism) was sent down by the one true, infinite God.
Now, the problem with the philosophy of Baha'ism is that it excludes Biblical truth since it claims that truth is in all, when really, all religions claim to be the true one yet claiming that all others are false as opposed to the belief that all religions are true and that all religions agree that other religions are true. However, If this is true, then Baha'ism itself is saying that Jesus could not be the way, the truth and the life, as truth is in all which we know that it isn't by applying Christian Theology. Furthermore, I'd like to point out the fact that Baha'ism denies the the deity of Christ and his miracles, and argue that Jesus never claimed to be God's only Son.[1]
Overall, however, Baha'ism is a very tolerant faith, but if we actually think about its belief system theologically and philosophically, it does not provide any truths; but rather makes it more harder to find truths.
"As much info as you can give me" is both over broad and vague--but to attempt to tackle the question, I'll give you my standard "Baha'i Faith in 500 words or less" text. If you have any more specific questions I'll be happy to address them as I can.
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The Baha'i (bu-HI, means "Follower of Glory") Faith is an independent world religion founded in the 1860's and is the latest in the line of "Abrahamic" religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baha'i). The Manifestation of the Faith is a man named Baha'u'llah (bu-HA-oo-lah, means "Glory of God"), who was the son of a Persian nobleman before he began his life as a religious leader.
Theologically, Baha'is believe in an idea called Progressive Revelation, which in a nutshell means that all the major world religions are updates/versions of one fundamental religion. Manifestations such as Jesus, Muhammed, Buddha, and Baha'u'llah are introduced to humankind at points in history to update the religious message of the age, according to man's capacity to understand it. To that extent the Manifestations represent the same "Son of God" and are theologically equivalent. Baha'u'llah and The Baha'i Faith are simply the latest "updates" to this unfolding universal religion. To us religions are not in conflict with each other except through imperfect human interpretation of their teachings; instead they all supplement and build on one another and are all valid "paths to God".
Think of progressive revelation using this analogy: the progression of religions is like taking math classes throughout school. In first grade, you learn 1 + 1 = 2. In eighth grade you learn algebra. In twelfth grade you learn calculus. Is there any way you *possibly* could have comprehended calculus in the 1st grade? Of course not. You were immature, much like mankind was 2000 years ago. But in 12Th grade, you were mature enough to understand calculus and so a teacher (Manifestation) taught you that message. Now, does your understanding of calculus invalidate that 1 + 1 = 2? Absolutely not. The message and the underlying fundamental math has never changed, but your ability to comprehend it has.
Basic core beliefs of the Faith are the oneness of God (not only monotheism, but that the God of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc are all the same entity); oneness of Religion; the unity of humankind; elimination of racism and prejudices of all types; the equality of men and women; universal education; elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty. Baha'is aren't allowed to proselytize, although non-aggressive/non-coercive "teaching" and education are popular. Baha'is do not have a clergy or a physical church; generally believers worship in each other's homes, though some communities open centers which are used for all facets of Baha'i life (administrative, classes, prayer services, etc).
Worldwide there are approximately 6 million Baha'is and it's one of the fastest-growing religions on the planet. We're the largest religious minority in Iran, where we face intense religious persecution. World headquarters are in Haifa, Israel which is where Baha'u'llah spent his last years in exile and is buried.
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I hope that's useful! Normally at this point I'd direct you to the website (http://www.bahai.us) but you indicated you already visited it, so it's redundant.
Baha'i Faith: As much info as you can give me?
