Responding to a Baha'i

Today, instead of our usual Ask Anything Wednesday, I wanted to briefly interact with someone who commented on my recent blog post Visiting the Bahá’í House of Worship. He wrote the following:

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Dear John,
I enjoyed your article and appreciate that you presented the Bahá’í beliefs accurately from your viewpoint. I just want to testify to you that good Christians can and do become Bahá’ís without losing Christ. The early, and modern, Jews were also accused of abandoning the Jewish faith when they embraced Christ. They in fact were embracing the purpose of the Jewish Faith as you know. This example shows how “traditional” views and doctrines may become a barrier to accepting God’s Messiah or Manifestation. One has to return to the Bible itself and understand God’s methods in the past.

Why did the Jews reject Christ? They knew their scriptures, prophecies and promises very well. Their Messiah was expected to “sit on the throne of David,” vanquish the enemies of the Jews, be a descendent of David and bring world peace. The prophet Elijah was also expected to return and prepare the way. By taking these prophecies “literally,” they missed their Messiah. Was John the Baptist the return of Elijah? Jesus said that he was.

The return of Christ in the Person of Bahá’u’lláh can be understood using the same analogy. This alone doesn’t prove that He was Christ returned, but it opens the door to a new way of investigating the Bible concerning this most important subject. I am from a Christian background and am a first generation American Bahá’í. I would be happy to dialogue with you concerning the Biblical evidence that Bahá’u’lláh is genuine.

Harlan

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Harlan, I want to thank you for your kind words as well as your interest in discussing the question “Who is Christ?” A more important question cannot be asked!

However, you’ve already shown your guiding authority in interpreting Scripture: Bahá’u’lláh. How do you know that we should see as symbolic the biblical teaching of Christ as God incarnate? How do you know that Christ’s return was fulfilled in Bahá’u’lláh? It’s by first accepting Bahá’u’lláh’s claim to be a true prophet of God. You must read Scripture with him as an already existing authority to understand the Bible in a way that fits with your beliefs. You’ve “stacked the deck,” finding Bahá’u’lláh where you expect and want him to be.

Christians interpret the Bible differently. We seek to understand the Scriptures in their grammatical and historical context to determine the original meaning of the text. This isn’t a question of Jew (OT literal) vs. Christian (OT symbolic/NT literal) vs. Bahá’í (OT and NT symbolic) way of understanding Scripture as you suggest. Rather, it’s a question of how we properly interpret the Bible. In theological terms, it’s the study of hermeneutics. Until you and I can come to an agreement on how we’re supposed to interpret the Bible, a discussion of specific texts would yield little fruit.

It’s exactly at this point that you’re merely making an assertion about interpreting Scripture symbolically because of your commitment to Bahá’u’lláh. I ask you to come to the Bible asking what God has revealed through what the writers of Scripture themselves intended to say. If you do so, then you will open yourself to God’s truth that directs us to the God-man, Jesus Christ, and His redeeming work.

Good Christians cannot and will not become Bahá’ís without losing Christ. Christ cannot be demoted to the level of human prophets. He is the prophet, as well as priest and king. All other true prophets direct us to Him. Bahá’u’lláh was a false prophet. I pray that you will recognize this fact and believe in the One who reconciles us with our Creator.

Visiting the Baha'i House of Worship

Last week I wrote about attending the annual conference of the International Society of Christian Apologetics (ISCA). While in the Chicago area, Paul Carden (the executive director of our parent ministry) and I also visited the Bahá’í House of Worship. This House of Worship is the only one on the North American continent, and one of just seven in the world.

As a side note before I move on, guess where one of the other Bahá’í Houses of Worship is? You guessed it: in Uganda, where I plan to launch our ministry.

I have to admit that I was amazed by the architecture of the House of Worship in Wilmette, Ill. It’s truly a sight to behold, with a seating capacity of nearly 1,200 and a dome that’s 90 feet in diameter. Quotations like these from the Prophet Bahá’u’lláh appear over all the entrances and alcoves:

• “All of the Prophets of God proclaim the same faith.”
• “Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent.”
• “So powerful is unity’s light that it can illumine the whole earth.”

After we finished looking at the building, we spent an hour and a half or so with a tour guide, who was a fifth-generation Bahá’í and very friendly. We asked her lots of questions to better understand the faith, learn why she’s a follower, and politely challenge her misperceptions (and misrepresentations) of Christianity and the Gospel. Our time together was very educational, and I can easily see why it appeals to so many Westerners today.

But what is the Bahá’í faith? For most people in America, it’s still a fairly unknown and mysterious religion. An offshoot of Islam, its central theme is: “Bahá’ís believe that there is one God, that all humanity is one family, and that there is a fundamental unity underlying religion.” Thus, God has sent a series of “manifestations” or divine messengers, namely: Adam, Noah, Zoroaster, Krishna, Abraham, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and Bahá’u’lláh. Each messenger builds off the truths taught by preceding prophets, thus opening new vistas of spiritual insight as humanity becomes ready for them. The latest manifestation was Bahá’u’lláh (1817–1892), who provides the fullest and most thorough understanding of God and our purpose in the world.

Bahá’ís do not see Jesus as God incarnate, but as simply one of the nine messengers. They generally interpret the Bible as symbolic instead of accepting its literal meaning. Bahá’u’lláh is said to fulfill Jesus’ Second Coming and complete His teachings. Essentially, Bahá’ís force Jesus to fit into their mold of religious history in order to claim him as their own. In so doing they deny who He is and the redemption He has accomplished.

Consequently, I left the Bahá’í House of Worship more committed than ever to respond to such falsehoods with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. By counterfeiting Jesus, Bahá’ís are keeping others from knowing the genuine Savior who brings true hope and peace with God.

Pray with me that the Lord will use us to equip our African brothers and sisters in Christ to meet this challenge!

Weekly Round-Up: Bahá’í in Uganda, Prosperity Gospel, African Doctrine of Christ, Proclaiming the Gospel, and 12 Mission Theses

Here's this week's round-up:

1) Eshban Kwesiga, "My visit to the Bahá’í Temple: The beauty and the rumours" in the Sunday Monitor newspaper (Uganda). This reporter recounts a recent visit to the Bahá’í temple in Uganda, the only one in all of Africa. The result is a brief introduction to the history of the Bahá’í and their local temple.

2) Kakaire A. Kirunda, "False Spiritual Healing Threatening Fight Against HIV/Aids - Experts" in the Daily Monitor newspaper (Uganda). Another example of prosperity gospel preachers conning people out of their money and health.

3) "Living on the Seam of History 3: African Christology" on the Koinonia blog. I am really enjoying this series so far! Their latest post is on the development of the doctrine of Christ in Africa.

4) Nii Amoo Darku, "The Verbal Proclamation of the Gospel" in the Lausanne World Pulse (October 2008). A Ghanaian pastor explains the centrality in our faith of proclaiming the gospel. I greatly appreciate the insights of this African church leader!

5) Andreas J. Köstenberger, "12 Theses on the Church’s Mission in the Twenty-First Century" on the Biblical Foundations blog. Well known American evangelical scholar Köstenberger provides some important and much-needed reflections on the church's mission today.

Book Review: Religious Ethics in Africa

Peter Kasenene, Religious Ethics in Africa (Kampala, Uganda: Fountain Publishers, 1998), 110 pp.

One of several books that I picked up while in Uganda last year was Religious Ethics in Africa by Peter Kasenene. Since I am always interested in reading Africans themselves when learning more about a subject of importance on their continent, I was intrigued by this brief work on morality and ethics.

The author himself explains why he wrote this book:

The book discusses the teachings of the major religions in Africa, namely African traditional religions, Christianity, Islam and the Baha'i Faith on each of the selected moral issues. Although the different religions have been put side by side giving them equal treatment, the basic position is that, with relevant adjustments to changing situations and circumstances in Africa, the traditional ethic should be recaptured and used as a basis for moral reasoning and decision-making (iii).

An expansion of the author's university lectures, his work covers a diverse range of ethical issues: ethical theory; religion, ethics, and morality; preservation and promotion of one's life; respect for other people's lives; sex outside marriage; marriage; and family life.

I found this book a helpful and informative descriptive tool. What do some of the main religions in Africa teach regarding various ethical questions? Kasenene provides concise and useful answers. From alcoholic drinking to polygamy, from abortion to bride-gift exchanges, he provides us with informative comparisons of religious morality.

However, he moves from describing what religions teach about morals to prescribing how Africans should live ethically virtuous lives. In doing so, he never grounds his "shoulds" of behavior with reasons. As a matter of fact, he removes any objective criteria for morality when he says:

In the end, everone is morally responsible for his or her actions. People are not machines and so they have to decide personally on what to do, irrespective of what theories, custom, law or even religions prescribe. A person's religion guides him or her on how to behave, but the choice remains his or hers because religious guidance is not infallible (101).

In attempting to insure human responsibility, he undermines it by ultimately leaving ethics up to one's own conscience.

Additionally, throughout this book Kasenene gives his own evaluation of ethical behavior, sometimes disagreeing with all of the surveyed religious views including African traditional religions. His concluding comments on each ethical issue often sound more like a liberal Western scholar's opinion than the views of one who wants to recapture traditional African morality in reasoning and decision-making.

As a result, Kasenene's book is of limited usefulness. A reader can consult it to gain an understanding of different religious views on ethics in Africa. At the same time, he or she should beware of the attempts to move toward an African ethic by the author.

Weekly Round-Up: Baha’i in Uganda, Mormonism

Here is this week's (brief) weekly round-up:

1) "Spreading oneness" and "Being a Baha’i faithful" in the Sunday Vision newspaper (Uganda). It's true--the Baha'i are in Uganda. Make sure to read these, learning more about their beliefs and local history!

2) Rob Bowman, "Whaddya Mean, Mormons Are Not Christians? Shedding Light on a Hot Topic" on the Parchment and Pen blog. Are Mormons Christians? In answering this question, Bowman brings some much-needed insight.