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A Bahá’í Introduction to
“And [be] ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto Him immediately.” (Luke 12:36)
This web page is a love letter to all those who love the Lord Christ and who cherish a belief in His Second Coming. It assumes that its reader shares our belief in the divine authority of Christ and the inspiration of the Holy Bible.
This decision to begin from Christian premises is not meant to deter any reader who may, at this point, remain uncommitted to Christ. One of our goals is to offer fresh and compelling reasons for making that very commitment. The message of the Bahá’í Faith is for every human being – for people of every religion, and people of no religion.
It is, however, primarily our brothers and sisters in Christ whom we are here addressing. We therefore feel obliged to begin by emphasizing the biblical foundations of Bahá’í belief. The Bahá’í Faith teaches:
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That Jesus Christ is the Son of God;
- That the Gospel is the divinely inspired Book of God, the
sacred “Bible of salvation”;
- That the Christ of the Bible is the Spirit and Presence of
God, the pre-existent “Word” through whom “all things
were made” (John 1:3);
- That the miracle of Virgin Birth was an earthly sign of His
heavenly Sonship;
- That Jesus Christ died for our sins and is risen from the dead;
- That we are saved by our faith and grace, and that deeds are
secondary to faith;
- That our Creator is a personal God, that we must repent to be
forgiven of sin, and that Bahá’ís are saved;
- That the signs for the Second Coming are clearly given in the Bible.
Only with this understanding can one grasp the following announcement from Bahá’í sacred writings:
“Followers of the Gospel, behold the gates of heaven are flung open. He that had ascended unto it is now come. Give ear to His voice calling aloud over land and sea, announcing to all mankind the advent of this Revelation – a Revelation through the agency of which the Tongue of Grandeur is now proclaiming: ‘Lo, the sacred pledge hath been fulfilled, for He, the Promised One, is come!’”
These majestic words are from the pen of Bahá’u’lláh, the nineteenth-century religious figure known to history as the founder of the Bahá’í Faith. With power and authority, Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed to the Christians of the world that He fulfils the Bible’s sacred promises concerning the Return of Christ: “Jesus, the Spirit of God . . . hath once more, in my person, been made manifest unto you” (Gleanings 101). To Pope Pius IX Bahá’u’lláh wrote:
“O Pope! Rend the veils asunder. He who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds, and the decree hath been fulfilled by God, the Almighty, the Unrestrained . . . He, verily, hath again come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time . . . Beware lest any name debar thee from God . . .”
Considering Bahá’u’lláh's claim for the first time, many Christians understandably find it difficult to accept that “the Lord of Lords is come”. The information accompanying this web page is designed to provide the background information that can help every true believer in Christ fairly and fearlessly investigate this claim.
A Bahá’í, then, is someone who acknowledges that:
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Christ has returned in the Glory of the Father, with a New Name (Rev. 3:12) which is Bahá’u’lláh (pronounced “Bah-HAH-o-LAH”, meaning in Arabic “the Glory of God”).
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He is the Spirit of Truth come to teach mankind all truth – how to live in accordance with the Will of God, to find success and salvation in this life while preparing our souls for their eternal journey through the Worlds of God.
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He is the Promised One of all divinely-revealed Religions: the Kalki Avarar, the Shah Bahram, the Maitreya Buddha, and the Prince of the Royal House of David.
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He has come to glorify Jesus as "He Who purified the World" and "the very Savior of man".
We are Bahá’ís, the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, and there are more than 6 million of us throughout the world, in every country, from every race and nationality. We work under His Divine Guidance to establish the Millennial Kingdom of God – to unite human hearts with God, to join in accord all souls, to end sectarian bickering and racial prejudice. In return He promises personal fulfillment through His Divine Precepts for living, as well as eternal happiness in His Paradise in the Afterlife.
Jesus promised:
“However, when He, the Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me . . .” (John 16:13)
Bahá’u’lláh wrote of Himself:
“Verily, He Who is the Spirit of Truth is come to guide you unto all truth. He speaketh not as prompted by His own self, but as bidden by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” (Lawh-i-Aqdas 11:4-5)
“Verily, He (Jesus) said, ‘Come after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.’ In this day, however, We say: ‘come ye after Me, that We may make you to become the quickeners of mankind.’” (The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, p.91)
For more information on the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, please select any of the topics to the left, or choose one of the online brochures to the right.
Christianity
and the Bahá’í Faith: Frequently Asked Questions
