I'm thinking that there are many Baha'i attitudes to the Trinity. I'll tell you mine, after spending many hours in a forum that was all about the Trinity. One thing I noticed is that the words "person" and "is" don't mean the same things in the Trinity doctrine that they mean in everyday conversation. Another is that it isn't really about whether God is one, or three, or any other number. As the owner of the forum told me, it's about "WHO GOD IS." Another is that it's a mystery that no one who understands it claims to really understand, and every effort to try to make it understandable ends in some kind of heresy. I don't see anything wrong with people thinking that way, and I think that it can be very helpful and beneficial sometimes for a personal relationship with God, as long people are aware of all the ways that it can be misunderstood and misused.Sorry I'm back to try to sort out the Baha'I attitude to the trinity ...
But this has tremendous implications.
Bahaollah was a narcissist, a self-praising parrot who would repeat that day-in and day-out. Allah is just an adjunct. There always are the gullible who can be trapped. Fake Hindu 'swamies' also take advantage in the same way.First, "recognition of Him Who is the Day Spring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation." He says "Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good; and whoso is deprived thereof, hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed." The second duty is "to observe every ordinance" of Baha'u'llah.
Yes, it's delicious!This is a self-refuting statement.
It's an oath of absolute fealty to Baha'u'llah?It does for me also.![]()
Who will waste that much time on what an uneducated 19th Century Iranian said in self-praise. There are better reads.
All religions claim that. That is jazz only. Which God or Goddess? We have hundreds of them. God of Abraham is not one of them.Beliefs of all religions cannot be reconciled.
It's an oath of absolute fealty to Baha'u'llah?
Maybe you would like to know what Baha'u'llah says are the first two duties prescribed by God for His servants: First, "recognition of Him Who is the Day Spring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation." He says "Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good; and whoso is deprived thereof, hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed." The second duty is "to observe every ordinance" of Baha'u'llah. He says that those two duties are inseparable, that neither is acceptable without the other. There is a wide range of understanding among Baha'is about it means to recognize Baha'u'llah, what He means by all that, and what His laws are; and no one with any authority to tell all Baha'is what to think, or to speak for all Baha'is in answering those questions.
... what I consider a serious misrepresentation of Buddhism in the writings of the Baha'i founders.
Fair enoughI've been trying to learn not to argue with people about their terminologies. If people want to call their personal belief system or someone else's "the Baha'i Faith," or even project an imaginary belief system onto some other people and call that "the Baha'i Faith," I don't think that there's anything I can do to change that, and I won't try. All I want to do is to inform people that there is a worldwide community of people with that same name, which is not about promoting or defending some belief system. It's about people working side by side in neighborhoods and villages all around the world, learning together to help make their community life healthier, happier and more friendly, for every person who lives in and around the community.
Of course God is not a human person. The terms Father, Son and Holy Spirit are used to try to put it into human words how the spiritual dimension contains and permeates and 'weaves' nature, but is not contained by it.I'm thinking that there are many Baha'i attitudes to the Trinity. I'll tell you mine, after spending many hours in a forum that was all about the Trinity. One thing I noticed is that the words "person" and "is" don't mean the same things in the Trinity doctrine that they mean in everyday conversation. Another is that it isn't really about whether God is one, or three, or any other number. As the owner of the forum told me, it's about "WHO GOD IS." Another is that it's a mystery that no one who understands it claims to really understand, and every effort to try to make it understandable ends in some kind of heresy. I don't see anything wrong with people thinking that way, and I think that it can be very helpful and beneficial sometimes for a personal relationship with God, as long people are aware of all the ways that it can be misunderstood and misused.
(later) Also, the Holy Spirit is like a person in some ways, and not like a person in some other ways. Calling the Holy Spirit a "person" in English is a misleading translation, but maybe there isn't any better way to say it in English, and "person" is good enough for what it's for, if people understand its limitations.
His level of education is apparent in his writings.Meanwhile some of Baha'u'llah's enemies in Iran want to prove he was highly educated, saying he received his education from a private tutor since he comes from an aristocratic family.
Who is to say some of the stars themselves are not Manifestations of God since they eventually gave rise to us? From particles to stars to minds.![]()
... He made the circuits of these luminous divine orbs to be their lofty and celestial spheres; and He made the bodies of these spiritual spheres to be subtle and soft, flowing and liquid, undulating and vibrating, in such manner that these refulgent orbs swim in the circumferences of the spheres, and move in their vast space by the aid of their Creator and Maker, their Ordainer and Fashioner.His level of education is apparent in his writings.
Before you ascribe the universe and stars to God, give evidence of God's existence. Do not just assert.
At this time, the Bahá'í administration either pressured to resign, or actively disenrolled, a number of Bahá'í intellectuals associated with the online Talisman discussion list, for disagreeing with the received line on certain controversial issues.
"At this time, the Bahá'í administration either pressured to resign, or actively disenrolled, a number of Bahá'í intellectuals associated with the online Talisman discussion list, for disagreeing with the received line on certain controversial issues."
Yes, I came across reports of these events, too, while researching the Baha'i faith a couple of years ago.
Some of those who were disenrolled? excommunicated? were publishing interesting (to me) material on mystical aspects of the Baha'i corpus.
That shows the education level of Abdul Baha as well. Abdul Baha also was not college-educated.As for those who claim that the celestial spheres are massive, solid and contiguous with each other; that they are glassy, transparent and penetrable to the light of other bodies; capable of neither being cleft asunder nor welded back together; forever impermeable and imperishable -- these thoughts are mere suppositions and surmises made by people who have not understood the meaning of the brilliant verse that clearly states: 'All swim in a celestial sphere' (21:34, 36:40). The import of this verse is clear inasmuch as the act of swimming cannot be conceived of except in yielding, fluid, liquid bodies, and is quite impossible in solid, resistant bodies. Look, then, with discerning vision into this clear, conclusive and manifest proof.
https://bahai-library.com/abdul-baha_lawh_aflakiyyih
I'm sure education is not a requirement of holiness or spiritual wisdom. However it becomes an issue when making infallible declarations to be followed for 1000 years. My whole problem with Baha'u'llah is his self-declaration as the only valid messenger, especially when making judgements upon Christian trinitarian or other beliefs.That shows the education level of Abdul Baha as well. Abdul Baha also was not college-educated.
Of course God is not a human person. The terms Father, Son and Holy Spirit are used to try to put it into human words how the spiritual dimension contains and permeates and 'weaves' nature, but is not contained by it.
The whole problem is other faiths tying to over-simplify what Christian trinitarians think and believe, imo -- waving away two thousand years of Christian thought with a few casual words...
It was quite understoodI forgot, what I actually thought about the words "is" and "person" in the Trinity doctrine was that they don't have the same meanings there that they ever have in any other context.
Thank you.No creed, no list of beliefs that a person has to say they believe. The things to consider, when they are considered, are about a person's understanding of the roles of Baha'u'llah, Abdu'l-Baha, Shoghi Effendi, and Baha'i institutions in the Baha'i community, about their attitudes towards them, and about their understanding and acceptance of the responsibilities of membership.