Absolute Truth

Modesty said:
But you're also very insistent on orthodox Baha'i doctrine.
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Tony Bristow-Stagg said:
I see religious fundamentalism and orthodoxy, built on doctrine, needs to be addressed and I see it will be addressed on a global scale, not just Christians but all Faiths will face a reckoning.

Different conclusions are great. Man made fundamental doctrine have been and are always ultimately the cause of division, thus this will always be a quandary we face and it is what the Baha'i have and will also face as time rolls on.
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That Baha'u'llah in his station as Christ the Father has laid down the absolute truth for all humanity for the next 800 years sounds pretty much like doctrine to me?

Baha'i celebrate the death of Baha'u'llah as his 'ascension' and face towards his grave to pray. They have established a ruling Universal House of Justice (which excludes women) and follow a list or exhortations, including that Baha'i 'should make a 19% voluntary payment to the Universal House of Justice on any wealth in excess of what is necessary to live comfortably, after the remittance of any outstanding debt'

The following are a few examples from Baháʼu'lláh's teachings on personal conduct that are required or encouraged of his followers:

Baháʼís over the age of 15 should individually recite an obligatory prayer each day, using fixed words and form.

In addition to the daily obligatory prayer, Baháʼís should offer daily devotional prayer and should meditate and study sacred scripture.

Adult Baháʼís should observe a Nineteen-Day Fast each year during daylight hours in March, with certain exemptions.

There are specific requirements for Baháʼí burial that include a specified prayer to be read at the interment. Embalming or cremating the body is strongly discouraged.

Baháʼís should make a 19% voluntary payment on any wealth in excess of what is necessary to live comfortably, after the remittance of any outstanding debt. The payments go to the Universal House of Justice.

Prohibitions
The following are a few acts of personal conduct that are prohibited or discouraged by Baháʼu'lláh's teachings:

Backbiting and gossiping are prohibited and denounced.

Drinking and selling alcohol are forbidden.

Sexual intercourse is only permitted between a husband and a wife, and as a result, premarital, extramarital, and homosexual intercourse are all forbidden.

Participation in partisan politics is forbidden.

Begging is forbidden as a profession.

The observance of personal laws, such as prayer or fasting, is the sole responsibility of the individual.There are, however, occasions when a Baháʼí might be administratively expelled from the community for a public disregard of the laws, or gross immorality. Such expulsions are administered by the National Spiritual Assembly and do not involve shunning.
Baha'i

The more things change, the more they stay the same, yawn

There are many paths to the divine @Tony Bristow-Stagg
(Thanks for that one @Vasu Devan)

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Faithfulservant said:
I understand where you are coming from. I struggled with this for so many years. I couldn't reconcile the loving God that I knew with the wrathful God I was reading about in the bible. It was a really hard and confusing time for me.
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Were you ever able to reconcile it?
 
Faithfulservant said:
I understand where you are coming from. I struggled with this for so many years. I couldn't reconcile the loving God that I knew with the wrathful God I was reading about in the bible. It was a really hard and confusing time for me.
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I think its something most Christians struggle with at some point in their faith walk. Some people are able to work through it, some people can't. For me, I had to be honest with myself and acknowledge I couldn't force myself to try to accept it anymore.
 
It's going to be simple. I'd heard it my life but finally was convicted of it. I finally understood that God is so Perfect, Holy, Just and Good that He truly cannot be in the presence of my sin. Moses could not bear His Glory full on by looking at His face. Hiding in a crevice of a rock. He could only be grazed by the shadow of it or he would have died. He came off that mountain with his face shining with the after effects of that Glory. I believe that was Jesus transfigured.

So knowing that Jesus came to earth as a man tempted as we are and didn't sin. Suffered willingly on the cross and the complete separation from His Father because all of our sins were laid upon Him in that moment. That is why I had eternal separation from God because of that very sin. Because of what Jesus did I could be at peace with God and the righteousness of Christ was imparted to me. I just had to accept it and in that moment I accepted and believed how wretched that sin made me. I was forgiven and redeemed in the eyes of my Father in heaven.

Sin equals death ( separation from God) hell is eternal separation from God. By understanding that I was able to reconcile.

I don't have all the answers I just know that God IS truly Good and because of that I can trust Him. I didn't trust Him before when I was doubting... I was afraid.

This is a bit lengthy but it's hard to go light on such a powerful experience I had and it was very personal. It also makes me very compassionate with people that struggled with what I struggled with. I thought I knew God and what the bible was saying ugh it was a horrible time for me.

I was searching for God and looking for what made sense to me and what I could accept. I personally was not finding it.

Thanks for letting me share this.
 
Faithfulservant said:
I just had to accept it and in that moment I accepted and believed how wretched that sin made me.
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I respect and understand what you're saying as a formerly very devout Christian. But for me, the moment I think I truly stopped cowering at God's feet was, after leaving the Church, realizing I had no sin. Not that I had never done anything wrong (of course I have), but that I was fundamentally good and that there was no supernatural stain on my soul making me unworthy of God's love.
 
Modesty said:
I respect and understand what you're saying as a formerly very devout Christian. But for me, the moment I think I truly stopped cowering at God's feet was, after leaving the Church, realizing I had no sin. Not that I had never done anything wrong (of course I have), but that I was fundamentally good and that there was no supernatural stain on my soul making me unworthy of God's love.
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I want to add that I'm just adding my perspective as an ex-Christian, in the spirit of interfaith dialogue. I understand the reasons Christians believe in sin. I won't tell Christians how to see their own faith, just sharing my perspective as someone who left it.
 
Modesty said:
I respect and understand what you're saying as a formerly very devout Christian. But for me, the moment I think I truly stopped cowering at God's feet was, after leaving the Church, realizing I had no sin. Not that I had never done anything wrong (of course I have), but that I was fundamentally good and that there was no supernatural stain on my soul making me unworthy of God's love.
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This resonates with me so much because I remember feeling so unworthy unloved and that would never be good enough no matter what I did. It wasn't until I realized what Grace truly meant. Grace cannot be earned it is something that is freely given. And truly understanding John 3:16.

I hope you find what you are looking for. Searching for truth is very unsettling because you have to navigate through so much BS first.
 
Faithfulservant said:
I hope you find what you are looking for. Searching for truth is very unsettling because you have to navigate through so much BS first.
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Thank you ❤️ it's definitely a struggle. I feel like I've investigated every religion (monotheistic religion, that is) around, and I still haven't found the truth.
 
Modesty said:
I respect and understand what you're saying as a formerly very devout Christian. But for me, the moment I think I truly stopped cowering at God's feet was, after leaving the Church, realizing I had no sin. Not that I had never done anything wrong (of course I have), but that I was fundamentally good and that there was no supernatural stain on my soul making me unworthy of God's love.
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Even though I'm not a Christian, that is basically what I believe too. What I also believe, based on personal experience, is unconditional love meaning accepting the darkness within us. No part of you is evil as long as it stays in the mind. No matter how horrific it is. Evil is action, not thought, but even then, if there is an afterlife, it will be one that accepts all humans with love into itself. No truly loving God would strike out against a soul.

Most criminals in this world have done what they did because they faced a life of abuse and hardship, even as children. They did not enjoy what they did unlike the villains portrayed in movies. No one starts a life of evil because they truly want to but rather because they are forced to. When few other options are available.

Also, i truly wonder at the idea of justice against killers being the very act they are being punished for. Killing is bad, but why are we hypocritically responding to it with the same action? True love does not mean killing or even caging in response. Accepting the criminal's actions and guiding him towards another path is true love. Alas, other than a few countries like Sweden and Switzerland, no nation follows that path. But maybe we can as individuals.
 
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Modesty said:
Thank you ❤️ it's definitely a struggle. I feel like I've investigated every religion (monotheistic religion, that is) around, and I still haven't found the truth.
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Form your own religion from the truths you believe and what path you desire to follow. God can always be found within, not necessarily outside.
 
Vasu Devan said:
if there is an afterlife, it will be one that accepts all humans with love into itself. No truly loving God would strike out against a soul.
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I completely agree!
Vasu Devan said:
Most criminals in this world have done what they did because they faced a life of abuse and hardship, even as children. They did not enjoy what they did unlike the villains portrayed in movies. No one starts a life of evil because they truly want to but rather because they are forced to. When few other options are available.
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Yes, I think people have this idea of 'evil' that is so cartoonish. I don't think anyone is 'evil' in the way most people understand the word. People don't just wake up and decide 'okay, I'm going to be a horrible person'. That's another reason why I don't believe in hell, because I don't believe anyone is bad enough to deserve it.
 
Modesty said:
I want God's truth, though, not my own.
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God's truth is not known solely through scripture. Think on the times that you felt God spoke to you in your heart. When some true revelation of love in the world was revealed to you in the world you live in. Ask within and listen to what answers - the inner critic is not the only being inside.

I have found both keeping a journal and mind meditation(zazen) as powerful tools in separating the chaff from the wheat.
 
Vasu Devan said:
God's truth is not known solely through scripture.
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I don't currently believe in any scriptures.
Vasu Devan said:
. Think on the times that you felt God spoke to you in your heart. When some true revelation of love in the world was revealed to you in the world you live in. Ask within and listen to what answers - the inner critic is not the only being inside.
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I do keep praying. I guess I'll just have to wait for God to show me the truth. God allowed me to experience my worst scrupulosity right before I was about to officially join the Church. I didn't understand at the time, but now I believe that was God steering me away. I think He allowed me to experience that to show me the truth, because I was SO devoted to Catholicism at the time, and I wouldn't have turned away from the Church otherwise.
 
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