Aug
23
In my last visit to India I had the opportunity to visit the Baha’i Lotus Temple in Delhi. The temple was built in 1986 and is known as the Taj Mahal of the 20th century.
The Lotus Temple is open to people of all faiths and each day they have a prayer time where representatives from different religions like Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Christianity are invited to come and offer prayers up to God.
This pluralistic outlook is at the heart of the Baha’i faith. Nevertheless, they still claim that they are the closest to the truth since the last prophet that God sent was their own, namely, Bahaullah (1817-1892). He claimed to be “the Supreme Manifestation of God.” Although they take pride in their pluralistic position, they cannot live it out consistently. This is evident by the fact that they end up claiming superiority over all other religions.
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7 Responses to “Baha’i Lotus Temple in New Delhi, India”
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Are you sure about this claim to superiority? Baha’u'llah indicates that the mercy of God rains down on the believers and the unbelievers alike. One of Baha’u'llah’s very first statements was to announce that all beings were immersed in a vast sea of purification at his advent. God is no discriminator of persons. Baha’is have an open ended notion of spiritual evolution of the succcessive religions of God which eliminates the problems of finality and exclusivity found/developed in other religions. All religions rise fall and decay and are reborn. The Baha’i one is no different in that respect and fully expects to be superseded in the future.
Sorry but you have gotten the premise completely wrong. Baha’is DO NOT claim “superiority over all other religions” as you mention we simply say that the Baha;i Faith is the “Most recent” version of the one religion of the one God. It is the religion for this current time.
Please see http://www.bahai.org for a more complete explanation of our beliefs.
Thank you
Graham
Nice, thank you
Graham,
Thanks so much for your comment. As I study other religious traditions it is my desire to try to gain an “insider’s” perspective (as much as this is possible as an “outsider”). I agree with you that Baha’is do not explicitly teach or claim that the Baha’i faith is superior to other religions. This would not make sense based upon their pluralistic outlook.
Nevertheless, my point is that by claiming to be “the most recent version of the religion of the one God” as you say, the Baha’is are in a way saying that the religions that preceded it like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have served their purpose and have been superseded by the teachings of Bahaullah. As you know, the teachings of the Baha’i faith are not the same as those found in Judaism, Christianity or Islam. Bahaullah claimed to bring a new version of God’s religion (this is one reason why the Baha’is have been victims of such heavy persecution in Persia/Iran). Clearly you believe that this new version (Baha’i) is better than the previous versions.
Moreover, although you believe that the Baha’i faith is for this time and that in the future a new religion will come and replace the Baha’i faith, this does not negate the fact that Baha’is believe that their faith is the most recent and thus, most accurate version of God’s one religion. Because of this, I still think that I am correct in saying that Bahai’s claim (although implicitly) that their faith is superior to that of others.
Thanks for taking the time to post a comment.
-Michael
Steve,
Thanks so much for your comment. Please see my response to Graham since you both made a similar comment.
Thanks
Michael
In the end it comes down to whether God has spoken again and revealed Himself in Baha’u'llah. Jesus called upon His followers to recognize the truth of Moses and the Jewish prophets and yet claimed to be their fulfilment as well as the most perfect truth from the Almighty. You could thus direct the same criticism at Jesus and the Christians in the centuries Him. How easy was it to live out consistently both the independent “one way” of Jesus while also maintaining continuity with the prophets of old?
The duty of every human being is to seek the Manifestation of God for his own time. In one sense, the Baha’i Faith is not pluralistic since it calls for recognition of God’s revelation in its current dispensation. On the other hand, the Baha’i Faith is pluralistic in the sense of recognizing and valuing the timeless truths of the one faith of God in its previous dispensations. To characterize the Baha’i Faith as pluralist, exclusivist, or supremacist is to distort both its continuity with the past and its independence as the way of God for this generation. It is an application of human concepts to the Lord of all religions, Who reveals His truth as He wills.
A Baha’i would not deny Moses, Jesus or Muhammad. Jews, Muslims and Christians deny one or more of the Messengers Who founded these religions. They also deny Baha’u'llah. Criticisms of the supposed inconsistency of pluralism/exclusivism refects an attempt to enforce human categories on God’s self-revelation. This false dichotomy is not the real issue at the heart of progressive revelation and this discussion of the Baha’i Faith. The central stumbling block is that a human being has claimed to be the Mouthpiece of God. Baha’ullah is the stumbling block today, just as Jesus was a stumbling block to the established faiths of His time. Bah’u'llah is the one that humanity is approaching and with Whose station and claim it must ultimately come to terms (in so doing, humanity will also have to come to terms with all the Manifestations of the past). In that encounter for the people of this age, the the truth of all previous dispensations is affirmed and understood in light of what God has revealed through Baha’u'llah.
“The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His Glory, and this cannot be attained save through the knowledge of His Divine Manifestation.”
(Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 156)
Will,
Thanks so much for your comment. Ultimately, when people from different religious traditions disagree it is because they are looking to different sources of authority. Baha’is see Bahaullah as the most reliable source of information about God. Thus, what he says trumps what others may say. In a similar way, Christians see Jesus Christ as the most reliable source of information about God since he is seen as the Word of God incarnate. No revelation higher than his own is possible since he is believed to be God in the flesh.
I think you made a great point about the Baha’i Faith. That is the point I was trying to make. It is pluralistic in the sense that it recognizes the validity of other religions (and stresses this point more than most religious traditions). However, it is not pluralistic in that it calls others to see the Baha’i faith as THE religion for this dispensation.
The terms pluralist and exclusivist are technical terms referring to a religion’s understanding of who will attain “salvation.” For example, religious pluralists believe that there are many ways to God (like in Hinduism). Christian inclusivists believe that faithful Muslims, Baha’is, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, etc have access to God and will enter heaven because of what Christ did for them on the cross (in a sense they are anonymous Christians). In contrast, Christian exclusivists believe that only those who have personally placed their faith in Christ have access to God. I am not too familiar with Baha’i soteriology, but on the surface it appears that Baha’is lean toward a pluralistic position. These categories may not even fit the Baha’i tradition, but I still would be interested in hearing what you believe happens to non-Baha’is after they die.
I agree that God’s ways are above our ways and that he can reveal himself as he chooses. Yet, I also believe that God is truthful, honest, and does not contradict himself. For example, Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and to be the only way to the Father. In contrast, Mohammed said that God does not have a Son and that those who believe this are committing the worst sin and will not enter paradise. Although I know God can reveal himself as he so chooses I reject the idea that God was speaking both through Jesus and Mohammed. Mohammed completely rejected what Jesus said about himself. God does not reveal contradictory things about himself. He might reveal gradually, but he will not contradict himself.
Although you make more points I could respond to, I would like to finish by challenging you on your statement that the Baha’i Faith does not deny Jesus. Muslims say the same thing. Muslims even say that they honor Jesus. Nevertheless, they reject Jesus’ claim to deity; they reject his being God’s Son; they reject his death and resurrection; they reject his claim to be the only way to God and so on. They turn Jesus into a mere prophet equal to Abraham and Moses. Thus, in a way they “honor” Jesus by not talking negatively about him, yet I would say that they deny him by rejecting what he taught about himself. They give lip service to Jesus but completely reject what he taught and did. If they read the NT they would see that their beliefs about Jesus amount to a complete rejection of him.
I would be amiss not to finish by explaining what Jesus taught. Often this is assumed. He taught that humanity stands guilty before God because of their sin and deserve eternal separation from God. However, he also taught that he was going to die on a cross in the place of sinners to provide a way for people to be reconciled back to God the Father. He took on the punishment that sinners deserve. After being killed on the cross he resurrected showing his power over death and sin; he then ascended to the Father. Those who recognize their sinfulness and turn to Christ for forgiveness of their sins will be forgiven and will enter into an eternal relationship with God.
Thanks for your time
Michael