Baha´iism, Christian Modernization, and Sustainability

Baha´iism According to the book Mankind's Search for God (pub. in 1990 by Jehovah's Witnesses, chp 12, pgs 304-305), it states concerning the Baha' i religious faith: "The Bahā’ī faith is not a sect of Islām but is an offshoot of the Bābī religion, a group in Persia (today Iran) that broke away from the Shī‛ite branch of Islām in 1844. The leader of the Bābīs was Mīrzā ‛Alī Moḥammad of Shīrāz, who proclaimed himself the Bāb (meaning “the Gate”) and the imām-mahdī (“rightly guided leader”) from the line of Muḥammad. He was executed by the Persian authorities in 1850. In 1863 Mīrzā Ḥoseyn Alī Nūrī, a prominent member of the Bābī group, “declared himself to be ‘He whom God will make manifest,’ whom the Bāb had foretold.” He also took the name Bahā’ Ullāh (“Glory of God”) and formed a new religion, the Bahā’ī faith". The book further says: "Bahā’ Ullāh was banished from Persia and was eventually imprisoned in Acco (today Acre, Israel). There he wrote his main work, al-Kitāb al-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book), and developed the doctrine of the Bahā’ī faith into a comprehensive teaching. At Bahā’ Ullāh’s death, the leadership of the fledgling religion passed to his son ‛Abd ol-Bahā’, then to his great-grandson, Shoghi Effendi Rabbānī, and in 1963 to an elected administrative body known as the Universal House of Justice". "Bahā’īs believe that God has revealed himself to man by means of “Divine Manifestations,” including Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Zoroaster, the Buddha, Jesus, Muḥammad, the Bāb, and Bahā’ Ullāh. They believe that these messengers were provided to guide mankind through an evolutionary process in which the appearance of the Bāb initiated a new age for mankind. The Bahā’īs say that to date his message is the fullest revelation of God’s will and that it is the primary God-given instrument that will make world unity possible". "One of the basic precepts of Bahā’ī is “that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin, that their basic principles are in complete harmony.” They “differ only in the nonessential aspects of their doctrines", but which the Bible does not concur, exposing all the religions of the world as false, being given the mystic name of Babylon the Great and that there is only "one faith" that pleases God (Eph 4:5), whose personal name is Jehovah.(Ex 6:3) "Bahā’ī beliefs include the oneness of God, the soul’s immortality (see Ps 40:14 that shows that the soul can be destroyed and Jeremiah 2:34 that shows that the soul has blood and therefore bleeds, so that it can be determined that the soul is as a person who breathes [the Hebrew word for soul, nephesh, literally means "breather"] and is therefore not immortal), and the evolution (biological, spiritual, and social) of mankind. On the other hand, they reject the common concept of angels" (the same as the Sadducees in the 1st century [Acts 23:8] but which the Bible establishes angels as ' mighty in power and God's ministers who does his will ', Ps 103:21, 22). "They also reject the Trinity (which also the Bible does not teach, see John 14:1, 28), the reincarnation teaching of Hinduism, and man’s fall from perfection and subsequent ransom through the blood of Jesus Christ".(which the Bible firmly establishes as real [Gen 3:1-6] and thus the need for a redeemer or ransomer, which Jesus Christ provided; Rom 5:12, 18; Matt 20:28) Today, the religions of the world are like a buffet, whereby a person can pick and choose any kind of religion that he wishes. However, to gain Jehovah God's favor, requires a strict set of guidelines be followed, just as a precision piece of machinery is built on a strict set of tolerances so that it performs well.(see Matt 7:13, 14, in which Jesus shows that the religions of the world are likened to "spacious road that leads to destruction, and many are going in through it", while the "one faith" that pleases Jehovah is likened to "cramped road leading off into life, and few are finding it") **** Your comment seems to want to promote Baha´i-ism by making assertions about Baha Ullah and running down a list of beliefs with selected assertions which, in fact, cover your personal interests and criteria. The process of attempting to engage in logical reasoning is itself a very specific cultural behavior with a very definite context, University-based society and the Enlightenment, not least of all. That is a Christian development, that is part of the modernization that Christians have driven within Christianity and that has spread because of its immense power and promise. It has been labeled "Western Civilization" and attributed to Greek philosophers, humanists, scientists, and rationalists mostly, but is in fact Christian modernization. It has taken over the world in its secular form, but it is in recognizing Christ´s legacy and the need to align unrestrained secular pluralism with Christ´s integrity. His death by execution and Resurrection served a purpose to highlight his teachings of God´s love and instructions for spiritual growth training to achieve the highest form of the Golden Rule package, "Love thy neighbor as thyself, until thy enemy." The Enlightenment Freedom of Religion and Universities now require the pluralistic participation and integrity resonance of all spiritual seekers with the concrete scientific concern of unsustainability underway. Modern secularized Christian University philosophy gives us the scientific view of the Universe that helps us understand the unity of God, while different disciplines, religions, and spirituality provide individuals with options in finding useful social, cultural, and psychological elements. In that fuller and more adequate perspective that your own intellectual effort can be appreciated more fully. May Baha Ullah help you in your search, in Jesus´, Buddha´s, Gandhi´s, and Susan B Anthony´s name.