Baha’i Harmony of Faiths. Can all faiths really be harmonized together?
I first came across the Baha’i faith via the musings of David C. Lane who has blogged as the Neural Surfer. Lane is famous for exposing Paul Twitchell, founder of the cult New Age group Eckankar. I recall that during these talks, Lane often spoke of the Baha’i faith in mostly positive terms.
What is the Baha’i faith and what does it teach? This article from Got Questions is most helpful and should set the stage for the following instructive article from Creation Ministries International.
The core doctrines of the Baha’i faith:
1) Adoration of one God and the reconciliation of all major religions.
2) Appreciation of the diversity and morality of the human family and the elimination of all prejudice.
3) The establishment of world peace, equality of women and men, and universal education.
4) Cooperation between Science and Religion in the individual’s search for truth.
To these may be added certain implicit beliefs and practices:
5) A Universal Auxillary Language.
6) Universal Weights and Measures.
7) God who is himself unknowable nevertheless reveals himself through manifestations.
8) These manifestations are a kind of progressive revelation.
9) No proselytizing (aggressive witnessing).
10) The study of different Scriptures besides simply Baha’i books.
11) Prayer and worship is obligatory and much of that according to specific instructions.
What does a Christian say to a guide who believes that all religions can lead to God? Find out how David Catchpoole responded from a creationist viewpoint below.
Excerpt:
Guiding his busload of tourists through Chicago and surrounds, our coach driver announced that the next scheduled stop would be the renowned Baha’i temple, and its information center. He spoke very enthusiastically for several minutes about the Bahá’í faith, telling us that, in essence, Bahá’í combines all the good points of other religions into one gentle and beautiful faith.
Upon arrival, we all disembarked and began climbing the steps leading up to the hilltop temple, enjoying the views of the manicured garden surroundings, with its soothing cascades and serene pools of clear water. Entering the temple, the interior was just as breathtakingly impressive as the exterior, but it was the nine large inscriptions in the temple alcoves that caught my attention—two in particular:
“All the prophets of God proclaim the same faith.”
“Consort with the followers of all religions with friendliness.”Later, down in the fastidiously clean-and-nice visitor information center, the displays continued the ‘all the prophets’ theme, listing, among others, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and Bahá’u’lláh.
However, the Bahá’í list of ‘prophets’ cannot all have been correct. Crucially, the teachings of Jesus about himself as recorded in the Bible are utterly irreconcilable with what Muhammad says of him in the Qur’an. …keep reading
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