What are the core beliefs of Christianity?
Biblically speaking,
Christians are those who are forgiven of their sins and who have entered a personal relationship with Almighty God through faith in Jesus Christ (
Ephesians 2:8–9;
Romans 10:9–10). In order to become a Christian, a person must fully accept as part of his or her own personal worldview the following core beliefs:
• Jesus is the Son of God and is equal with God (
John 1:1,
49;
Luke 22:70;
Mark 3:11;
Philippians 2:5–11)
• Jesus was born of a virgin (
Matthew 1:18;
Luke 1:26–35)
• Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life (
Hebrews 4:15;
John 8:29)
• Jesus was crucified to pay the penalty for our sins (
Matthew 26:28;
1 Corinthians 15:2–4)
• Jesus rose from the dead (
Luke 24:46;
Mark 16:6)
• We are saved by the grace of God; that is, we cannot add to or take away from Christ’s finished work on the cross as full payment for our sin (
Ephesians 2:8–9)
.
This is excellent, because you are looking at how modern conservative Christians view their Faith through interpretation of the Bible.
So the next step is to work out what it is they teach that is consistent with a Baha'i perspective and where it deviates, why it deviates.
• Jesus is the Son of God and is equal with God (
John 1:1,
49;
Luke 22:70;
Mark 3:11;
Philippians 2:5–11)
1/ Jesus is the 'Son of God'. That is consistent with Baha'i theology.
A Baha'i perspective on Jesus as the 'Son of God'
2/ Jesus is equal with God. We know that a Manifestation of God can say that He is God and that be true from the Kitab-i-Iqan.
We also know that Jesus is not physically God incarnate as many Christians believe. What are some of the Christian writings that correct this belief?
1 John 4:12
"No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."
Mark 13:32
But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
1 KIng 8:27
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
Malachi 3:6
For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Scripture seems to imply that Jesus can not possibly be God incarnate.
Perhaps it would be better to think of Jesus as being a perfect image or reflection of Gods' divine attributes?
Colossians 1:15 in regards to Jesus
"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature"
John 5:19
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
John 8:28
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
• Jesus was born of a virgin (
Matthew 1:18;
Luke 1:26–35)
Baha'is and Muslims believe this too.
• Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life (
Hebrews 4:15;
John 8:29)
Jesus was a perfect relection of the attributes of God. He was also a human being who became angry at times, for example over turning the tables of the money lenders at the temple (Matthew 21:12-13). So we would need to clarify what we mean by 'sinless'.
• Jesus was crucified to pay the penalty for our sins (
Matthew 26:28;
1 Corinthians 15:2–4)
I believe we need to deconstruct that statement, and see it as part of a narrative that was used to teach the significance of Christ's sacrifice and How His Messeage enables us to draw closer to God. We need to see it in historic context.
• Jesus rose from the dead (
Luke 24:46;
Mark 16:6)
The resurrection of Christ is probably one of the major barriers to Christians seeing the Baha'i Teachings as compatible with Christianity.
We need to demonstrate from scripture and using reason how the gospel writers created the resurrection narrative based on the Apostles Teachings to the gentiles, why that narrative is important and why it shouldn't be taken literally.
• We are saved by the grace of God; that is, we cannot add to or take away from Christ’s finished work on the cross as full payment for our sin (
Ephesians 2:8–9)
The are plenty of biblical writings that make it clear that it is through both Faith and deeds we are saved. This would be consistent with a Baha'i perspective.
Doesn’t it bother you that Christianity teaches that a person cannot be saved without holding to the core beliefs of Christianity?
No. It used to bother me a great deal but it doesn't at all now.
It bothers me a lot. There is no way Christianity can be reconciled with the Baha’i Faith. Christians who know what the Baha’i Faith teaches have told me that. Just because Baha’is believe in the Virgin Birth and that Jesus lived a sinless life and that Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross does not make us Christians. Baha’u’llah said that the genuine text of the heavenly Gospel has not been lost but its meaning has been misconstrued by the Church and made into false doctrines.
I agree the meaning has been misconstrued by the Church and they have false doctrines. However we can make an argument from the Bible itself to correct the false doctrines. Those arguments may not be accepted, but the Christian will go away having a much better impression of the Faith, than if we steamrollered both Paul and the Bible itself.
See it as being a challenge. To have a meaningful dialogue with Christians about their own faith using the Bible, reason, and the conclusions of biblical scholars. Don't introduce a single verse from the Baha'i writings unless asked.
It is nowhere stated in the Baha’i Writings does it say that Peter affirmed Paul. Where did you get this idea?
Go back and read the letter from the Universal House of Justice. It explicitly refers to the biblical verse where Peter affirms Paul.
That st. Paul on occasion disputed with st. Peter is seen from st. Paul’s own words in the Epistle to the galatians, 2:11–14. it is also
st. Paul who mentions early divisions among the Christians, which he endeavours to heal, in i Corinthians 1:11–13. s t. Peter’s attitude
to st. Paul appears in ii Peter 3:15–18.
Apostle Paul, a "False Teacher"?
From: Apostle Paul, a "False Teacher"?
Response of the Universal House of Justice
Concerning the relationship of St. Peter and St. Paul, the Research Department has found nothing in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá or the Guardian which states that St. Paul "usurped the station of Peter" or that he "completely changed the basic message of Christ."
However, just because something is not stated in the Baha’i Writings does not mean it
cannot be true. Everything is not in the Writings.
Abdu'l-Baha in particular has made extensive commentary on the Bible and there wouldn't be too many of the 27 NT books that he hasn't quoted. He always uses the bible as a basis to explain the correct meaning. He never says, ignore the bible because its no longer relevant.
I never said that Paul corrupted Christianity. I said that he changed the course of Christianity, in the sense that he veered away from what Jesus taught. The Epistles of Paul support the Councils of the Church and they are used by the Church to support the Church doctrines. In other words, many of the Church doctrines are based upon the Epistles of Paul.
The Church doctrines are based on ALL books in the New Testament including the gospels and the other apsotles. It is the interpretation of the body of the Bible has a whole that has been misinterpreted, and only in certainly well defined areas.
Some of those key areas are:
The Divinity of Christ
Salvation and the exclusivity of Christ
The resurrection
The sonship of Christ
The fall of man
The necessity of both Faith and deeds
The nature evil and sin
Prophecy
I did find a reference to the following quote on that UHJ website you posted about Paul:
“None, I feel, will question the fact that the fundamental reason why the unity of the Church of Christ was irretrievably shattered, and its influence
This refers to the papacy. The first Pope of course was Peter and the Baha'i writings affirm the primacy of Pope. However you won't need to dig too deep to see how the Papacy degenerated at times.
The Bad Popes - Wikipedia
Christendom has become irreparably divided and it lacks the means to meet the challenges of the modern world. It relies on a narrative that may have been effective for teaching the gospel in a bygone era but is hopelessly outdated. We come from a position of incredible strength as we have access to Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation. If our hearts are turned towards His Covenant we can draw on Divine inspiration to unravel all the mysteries of the biblical verses as Abdul-Baha obstructed.