Tiberius
Well-Known Member
I do not blame you for anything. I know I said that I do not believe in the resurrection stories are true but I was nit clear as to what I actually believe is true. To be honest, I never gave the Bible any serious thought until I started posting to Christians on forums about eight years ago, and I had never even read one Bible verse until then. I got interested in knowing what is in the Bible only because I was debating with Christians so I had to know.
I never read the Bible cover to cover, and that is another reason why I don't really have an opinion as to what I consider true or false. I do not believe that Jesus rose from the grave because I consider it absurd and unnecessary to the mission of Jesus, and my religion teaches that the stories were only symbolic, symbolizing the Cause of Christ coming back to life after three days, not the body.
“Therefore, we say that the meaning of Christ’s resurrection is as follows: the disciples were troubled and agitated after the martyrdom of Christ. The Reality of Christ, which signifies His teachings, His bounties, His perfections and His spiritual power, was hidden and concealed for two or three days after His martyrdom, and was not resplendent and manifest. No, rather it was lost, for the believers were few in number and were troubled and agitated. The Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body; and when after three days the disciples became assured and steadfast, and began to serve the Cause of Christ, and resolved to spread the divine teachings, putting His counsels into practice, and arising to serve Him, the Reality of Christ became resplendent and His bounty appeared; His religion found life; His teachings and His admonitions became evident and visible. In other words, the Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body until the life and the bounty of the Holy Spirit surrounded it.
Such is the meaning of the resurrection of Christ, and this was a true resurrection. But as the clergy have neither understood the meaning of the Gospels nor comprehended the symbols, therefore, it has been said that religion is in contradiction to science, and science in opposition to religion, as, for example, this subject of the ascension of Christ with an elemental body to the visible heaven is contrary to the science of mathematics. But when the truth of this subject becomes clear, and the symbol is explained, science in no way contradicts it; but, on the contrary, science and the intelligence affirm it. Some Answered Questions, pp. 103-105
23: THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
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Perhaps the following citations will help you better understand the official position Baha'is take regarding the Bible.
The Bahá'í viewpoint proposed by this essay has been established as follows: The Bible is a reliable source of Divine guidance and salvation, and rightly regarded as a sacred and holy book. However, as a collection of the writings of independent and human authors, it is not necessarily historically accurate. Nor can the words of its writers, although inspired, be strictly defined as 'The Word of God' in the way the original words of Moses and Jesus could have been. Instead there is an area of continuing interest for Bahá'í scholars, possibly involving the creation of new categories for defining authoritative religious literature.
A Baháí View of the Bible
(Rosebery, Australia: Association for Baha'i Studies Australia, 1996)
In studying the Bible Bahá'ís must bear two principles in mind. The first is that many passages in Sacred Scriptures are intended to be taken metaphorically, not literally, and some of the paradoxes and apparent contradictions which appear are intended to indicate this. The second is the fact that the text of the early Scriptures, such as the Bible, is not wholly authentic.
(28 May 1984 to an individual believer)
The Bahá'ís believe what is in the Bible to be true in substance. This does not mean that every word recorded in that Book is to be taken literally and treated as the authentic saying of a Prophet....
The Bahá'ís believe that God's Revelation is under His care and protection and that the essence, or essential elements, of what His Manifestations intended to convey has been recorded and preserved in Their Holy Books. However, as the sayings of the ancient Prophets were written down some time later, we cannot categorically state, as we do in the case of the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, that the words and phrases attributed to Them are Their exact words
(9 August 1984 to an individual believer)
The Bible: Extracts on the Old and New Testaments
(From letters written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice)
I'm sure you'll understand if I say that this sounds like an elaborate justification for people of your faith to pick and choose the bits of the Bible they want by claiming that those parts are the "reliable source of divine guidance and salvation," while the bits you don't agree with are the "not necessarily historically accurate" and "not wholly authentic" parts.