This religion is much the same as many of the eastern philosophies which adopt a semi-eclectical worldview towards humanity by incorporating the element of various religious ideologies.
As I have mentioned previously on some of my other posts as related to Hinduism, Cao Dai and Sai Baba the Bahá’í Faith also maintains an emphasis on the common elements of religious belief without seriously considering the differences as elemental to a religions process or system of proposed truth. So to meld all these religions is an oversimplification to comparative religion which unduly denies others a lack of religious identity.
Ironically, Bahá’í boasts as being a one world order kind of religion yet it maintains its own unique religious history that particularizes this movement as definably Bahá’ís contrary to its universal position. Even the name itself is exclusive as the “Bahá’í Faith” by which it maintains its own doctrines, laws and traditions.
Bahá’í first came out of Islamic Shiite tradition in which it emphasizes and end time messianic figure which is described at the 12th imam or mahdi.
This all began with Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad or Mirza Ali Muhammad who was the supposed to be the relative of the prophet Muhammad who like his relative found enlightenment through deep meditation which led him to believe that he was chosen to be the gate or Báb by preparing the way for the coming of the messiah much like a John the Baptist figure.
Surprisingly, his successor Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Núrí or Bahá’u’lláh was not even the choice of the Bab which should be the first indication something was wrong here but rather it was Baha’u’llah’s brother Mírzá Yaḥyá Núrí who was the one that was chosen and this created a rift from the onset of this movement which was already headed down the path of fragmentation or disunity contrary to its religious agenda.
Now concerning the doctrinal controversies of this movement it denies the grievous reality of sin and its evil consequences by overestimating the evolution of mankind’s morality and yet this last century has been the bloodiest since the beginning of time. Evil or should I say the results of evil have exponentially increased through the evolutionary process of technology in which now more than ever mankind is increasingly aware of the mortal danger as being on the extinction list based on the genocidal tendencies of wicked empires. After all we have seen the atrocities of Germany’s Nazism and even with all this documentation we have people today who are in denial that this even happened and yet this is no different than what Baha’i supports by ignoring this stark reality by dismissing sin and evil as just a glitch in human progress.
In addition to this the Bab states that he was ushering in the age of fulfillment when in actuality the outcome of this last century was an era of bloodshed which would be followed today by the evil dictatorships of North Korea and Iran.
Baha’u’llah’s son‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the assigned successor of Baha’i and in 1911 he gave his first public speech in which he spoke of the world prophetically as being in an enlightened age when war will cease and that peace will reign by which mankind will finally be united as brothers. This of course happened right on the heels of two world wars alongside of many other global skirmishes within this last century.
So when looking at the failure of this prophetic utterance from a biblical perspective the scripture indicates a simple test concerning the veracity of the prophetic calling in that if what the prophet says comes to pass then he is of God and if not he was considered a false prophet and it appears that the latter is the case for Abdu’l-Baha, Deuteronomy 18:22.
This also reminds me of the prophetic voices during the time of the prophet Jeremiah when the false prophets were speaking “peace, peace when there was no peace.”
Anyway this brings me to my next point in which this movement sees Baha’u’llah’s life as the fulfillment of the second coming of Christ which is a disappointment considering what little had been accomplished by this exiled leader and its resultant movement. Also the second coming of Christ is not foreseen as some temporal or intermittent reign and yet Baha’u’llah as a man died in 1892. Nor is the second coming described as the solitary confinement of a prison cell but rather it is displayed as the glorious rule of one who would sit enthroned among the nations of the world in the grandeur of power.
Even his efforts of letter writing to the world leaders of his time had no resultant effect in redirecting the course of the world towards a restored state.
Some other discrepancies are concerning the prophecies about Jesus in Isaiah which have been associated with Baha’u’llah and yet strikingly there is not a genealogical connection as related to Baha’u’llah’s lineage in relationship to the nation of Israel nor would he be considered a descendant of king David. That’s why the gospel writers emphasized the genealogical records as a means to substantiate the credentials of Jesus as the Messiah in fulfillment to Old Testament prophecy.
Also to identify Baha’u’llah as the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is an overstatement/ exaggeration and a radical departure from the text in light of his life. First of all the suffering servant motif was to be an atonement for the forgiveness of sins which is clearly outside the parameters and purpose of Baha’u’llah and is contrary to this movement’s agenda which downplays evil and sin as merely a human weakness. Yet Isaiah takes sin very seriously as an offense before God by which only the righteous servant can reconcile us unto God through his sacrificial death.
Another controversy is the influence from its Islamic roots in the idea of a transcendent God who is unitarily one. Yet how can this distinction be rectified against other supposed holy men who have either taken an atheistic/agnostic, polytheistic, animistic, pantheistic, monistic, panentheistic, deistic, trinitarian, etc. views about the essential nature of God.
If we can’t reconcile the ontological differences as a starting point to the discussion of God talk then how can we ascertain that all prophets and their messages have the same origin or nature?
One thing is for sure whether we are talking about the nature of God or other doctrinal distinctions is that many of these views are irreconcilable and can not be harmonized. So in essence the Baha’i Faith is not a completion of revelation but rather a contradiction in attempting to synchronize and sacramentalize many of these competing religious traditions.
Also another element which leaves this movement in a state of obscurity is there lack of ability to define the afterlife except to say that the biblical position regarding heaven and hell are a falsehood and at best these concepts are only metaphorical.
In Baha’i there is only the conceptual idea of some shadowy reality in which these departed spirit beings continue to somehow exist. Yet the bible gives more of a specific view concerning life after death and this phenomena has been documented among medical authorities as corresponding with the scriptural imagery of heaven and hell. I have written a blog about this at
jesusandjews.com/wordpress/2009/10/29/is-hell-real/
Also among the Baha’is, truth is adaptive and yet truth transcends time and is not necessarily relative to the contemporary society which subjectively redefines “what works” as based on the emotional needs of people. To take a position of what is truth today by assigning it as yesterday’s mistake or as a future blunder does nothing to certify truthfulness except to say that it is not timely or contemporaneous towards a personal preference.
Another oxymoron to this movement is its view concerning the equality of women and yet they are not able to serve among the nine leaders at the Universal House of Justice and not only that but there are other limitations in which only a few of the world religions/cults are represented among the House’s leadership making it parochial not universal.
Intuitively God is a personal being as He has made us social creatures whereby we reciprocate our affections and emotions on the basis of relationships in which we not only yearn for the human touch but also sometimes we have a deep seated desire to be spiritually connected to a reality which is beyond ourselves in wanting to understand the main questions of life and relevancy. This quest is not merely a human invention but has been hardwired into the mainframe of our being so that we would essentially seek and find God.
God has not only given us the lofty gift of general revelation by the display of His glorious creation but He has also manifested His intimacy by sending his One and only Son, not sons, so that whosoever should believe in Him shall have the surety of everlasting life. Jesus was the exact representation of God’s being in displaying the personal aspect of a loving God in His humanity by which He bore the marks of mortality as the ultimate representation of His selfless and heroic love as the supreme and innocent sacrifice. His participation in humanity was that of a servant not in the sense of merely just sharing some revelation of knowledge but in giving His life on our behalf in order to justify us before a holy and righteous God thus eliminating all guilt. How personal can God get by which He participated in clothing Himself with flesh and bone as a way to ensure a reconciliatory relationship.
I have briefly explained that evil is real and should not be minimized as being illusory nor is it merely a human weakness or flaw but rather it is a serious violation and crime of rebellion not only against mankind but against the Creator. Please don’t trivialize the conscious as this is a moral compass by which God has internally communicated His laws on the human tablet of our heart which either confirms or condemns our actions. God has taken this mater seriously and I would encourage you to do likewise by trusting in the saving power of Jesus.
Finally this globalization of religion may appear to be a good idea or the answer to the warring factions of diversity by seeking out some form of unification through religion but is this movement based on reality? After all are we depending upon earthly creatures to somehow make the paradigm shift to a new and better world by utilizing the vehicle of religion and education and yet we have seen the best of these advanced societies as moral failures.
It is a honorable thing to pursue the ideals of helping others but will this ensure a corresponding utopian existence by which man can create his own destiny? This form of religious socialism comes down to trusting in the will of human nature and it has not nor will it ever produce the qualities that are distinguishably classified as the parousia of Christ which theoretically makes this position unreasonable.
The difference between this humanitarian view and the biblical outlook is that the bible has an emphasis on God binging about this order of reality versus trusting in the moral efforts of men who are attempting to build just another Tower of Babel in order to reach heaven.
Lastly, if the movement itself has internal inconsistencies such as its many schisms which would include the outlandish claims of the dissident Leland Jensen under the Provisions of the Covenant or any other splinter group ,which would be considered heretical as based on their mainstream movement, then how can they reassure themselves that this cream of the crop won’t fail in bringing forth a global harvest of peace and unity?
Also how can this movement claim to represent all when such bias towards other religious world views exist to such a degree that according to Baha’i that some should remove their religious status. To impose these kinds of objectives is not pluralistic but discriminatory. Also Bahai’s judgments against these oppositional views does not resolve the tension nor does it adequately refute these differences especially since this movement sees truth as being relative.
In all fairness the ideals of this organization towards the betterment of mankind is commendable but is it achievable? Their social platform of world peace and equality is desirable but will it be attainable? They have been proactive which is putting their religious beliefs into action by practicing what they preach yet does this ascertain its outcome of success or is just a pie in the sky?
To put their faith in mankind will only lead to disappointment especially for those who don’t hold to their ideals of a unified world and without divine intervention of the second coming of Christ this reality will never be realized. To have a beautiful garden in the midst of a political and religious hotspot like Israel does not assure that the garden of Eden will be restored in bringing about the salvation of society.
Excerpts taken “From Handbook of World Religions, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission”
AMG’s World Religions and Cults, AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, Tennessee
“Reprinted by permission. “(Nelson’s Illustrated Guide to Religions), James A. Beverley, 2009,Thomas Nelson Inc. Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.”
Find It Quick Handbook on Cults and New Religions
Copyright © 2005 by Ron Rhodes
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
Used by Permission.