Dear Gilberto,
I have often read your questions and the various answers by Baha'is. I find
that whatever answer you receive you are never satisfied and yet you still
enquire and persist. This denotes great perseverance and struggle. Please
tell me why you persist?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gilberto Simpson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Baha'i Studies" <bahai-st@list.jccc.edu>
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 3:07 PM
Subject: Re: Fwd: delivering wives in Bible texts
On 7/13/06, Hasan Elias <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Gilberto, you wrote:
Could you specify how they [Bahai notions of the Manifestations being
divine
and human and Christian notions of Jesus being divine and human] are
actually different? Is there some specific element of Bahai teaching which
isn't found in Christianity? Or vice versa?
Hassan:
1) One of the fundamental teachings of the Bahá'í Faith is that God does
not
incarnate himself:
"Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His
Essence and reveal it unto men". (*)
{other similar quotes deleted}
From my side, there is also a whole larger picture. It's not like the
above verse is the only thing which the Bahai faith has to say on the
subject.
There are passages like the above in the Bahai writings which you can
use if you are explaining the issue to a Muslim.
But if a Bahai were talking to a Christian they could quote Shoghi
Effendi's statement that the sonship and divinity of Jesus is to be
fearlessly asserted.
And if they were talking to a Hindu, they say that a Manifestation is
the same as an Avatar (which actually does suggest incarnation).
http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/bhpapers/vol5/indiabf.htm
It's like the Bahais really follow Paul's teaching of trying to be all
things to all people.
If a Bahai speaks one-on-one with a person of a specific religion it
is possible to use selective parts of the writings to radically
emphasize similarities. But if one tries to look at the "big picture"
of what is taught, it seems to be contradictory.
This is a part of what makes me think that the Bahais value unity more
than truth. Its as if the important thing is to bring people together
under the Administrative Order by saying what they want to hear.
(*) Gleanings 20. The concept of incarnation (ulúl) has been decidedly
rejected by Bahá'u'lláh (see also Kitáb-i-Íqán 104 (p. 98)).
But if it has been so decidedly rejected, why would Bahais in India
present Bahaullah as an Avatar?
-Gilberto
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