On Encountering the Baha'i Faith: A Pure, Peaceful Feeling

I know I said just yesterday that I am on hiatus from blogging. But, if you will read the excerpted posts below, you will see why I just couldn't resist. What a pure heart Jess has! Click here to read Jess' post previously excerpted on Baha'i Views.

I began reading the book, "The Baha'i Faith" yesterday. I just finished the first section of the book which describes the history of the religion. I am looking foward to the next section which will discuss Baha'i beliefs. I have found it all to be quite fascinating. It is very different from Chrisitianity yet there are many similarities. For instance, the arrival of Baha'u'llah (which means Glory of God) was predicted by a prophet of sorts, just as Jesus's arrival was predicted by prophets in the Old Testament. The early believers were terribly persecuted just as the early Christians were. Baha'u'llah was very confident that he was sent by God to deliver His divine message, just as Jesus proclaimed. The big difference is that Baha'u'llah never claimed that he was God as Jesus did. Though he did claim that he was the long awaited return of the Messiah who was sent to deliver the next stage of God's plan for mankind. And what a plan: To unite humanity into one cohesive group with no nationalites.

After such a short amount of reading I've been very impressed by what this man and his followers were able to accomplish in a relatively short amount of time. I wonder if the early Christian church was as successfully organized and as widespread in the first century of its existance as the Baha'i church was? I am also very impressed that the Baha'i religion is uniform and has not splintered into sects as has happened with all the other major religions in the world. Unity amongst practitioners is very remarkable.

I will admit that I find my new undertaking to explore religions other than Christianity a bit scary. I have even been a little nervous as I read this Baha'i book. Even though I have no real intentions of converting to a different religion I am afraid that my own personal beliefs may change to such an extent that I will have to abandon Christianity based on what I discover in my search. And for my entire life I have been taught that if you do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God then you will be damned to Hell for eternity. It isn't a very nice prospect, is it? I know in the depths of my soul that I do not believe that God would punish so many people in that way. I know it yet I still want to believe in the divinity of Jesus, because frankly, it is a very safe course of action. Who wants to risk their eternal life?! It almost seems to be a superstitious belief for me at this point. A safety net if you will. And yet I know that fear is a very shallow, pathetic reason to follow any religion. But, the bottom line is if you do not accept that Jesus was sent here to save mankind by being the ultimate sacrifice (God sacrificed Himself) then you aren't a Christian. That is the crux of the faith and it doesn't leave any room for a more liberal interpretation. And believing that is my struggle.

It has also been very easy for me to be a Christian because my family is. Plus, I am very comfortable with Christianity. I know the hymns and prayers, I can recite verses and I know all the apostles, I love celebrating the holy days and I love the peaceful sanctity in the sanctuary of a church. I can honestly say that I have had some very real experiences with God because of Christianity. God is a tangible presence in church and I can feel Him so strongly at times during services that I have wanted to cry because my emotions have been so engaged. But I like the idea that God is present in all religions. He must be to provoke such strong emotions and fervent beliefs in any specific doctrine by any practitioner of any faith in this world. As I said in a previous blog, I know Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Shiks, and a Hindu who are all very passionate about their faiths and have very real relationships with God because of their religion. There just has to be more to it than I have discovered. So, scared or not I will continue to make this journey.

Jess, "Fascinated," Rambles, Reviews and Rants, Tuesday, March 28, 2006

I have been continuing on with my study of the Baha'i faith and as I've read I have been filled with such a pure, peaceful feeling.

Bahai's believe in three basic principles:

1) The Oneness of God

Everyone in the world who feels the presence of God and fellowships with Him is worshipping the same God even though he is known by several different names including Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah or Brahma.

2) The Oneness of Humankind

Everyone in the world, regardless of ethnicity belongs to the human race. From the book, "The Baha'i Faith: The Emerging Global Religion", "Baha'i's believe that humankind has always constituted one species, but that prejudice, ignorance, power-seeking, and egotism have prevented many people from recognizing and accepting this oneness." (pg. 76)

3) The Oneness of Religion

Baha'i's accept all religions in the world as being valid. Baha'u'llah said, "These principles and laws, the firmly-established and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are the rays of one Light. That they differ from one another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated." (pg. 82)

Baha'i's believe in progressive revelation through Manifestations. Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and most recently Baha'u'llah were all divine messengers of God. Interestingly, Jews don't believe Jesus was a divine messenger and Christians don't believe Muhammad was a divine messenger and now Muslims, Christians, and Jews all don't accept Baha'u'llah as a divine messenger.

Other neat beliefs of Baha'i's include, the equality of men and women, universal education, the unity of religion and science, and economic justice. (All taken from the The Baha'i Faith by William Hatcher).

Just thought I would blog about what I have learned thus far. Tomorrow I will probably be back with one of my daily life blogs and give the religious quest a rest.

Jess, "Oneness," Rambles, Reviews and Rants, Wednesday, March 29, 2006