Jesus came to take away the sin of the world, but that does not mean that was the original sin that Christians believe was the curse that came as the result of Adam and Eve eating an apple in the garden.
Yes, my belief about sin fits Christianity but deducts some aspects, namely the doctrine of original sin. I do not have time to go into a lot of detail right now, so I will just post some more passages from the Writings of Baha’u’llah that explain what I believe was the significance of Jesus’ mission and the cross sacrifice:
First, I do believe that Jesus offered Himself up as a ransom for the sins and iniquities of all the peoples of the earth.
“That which thou hast heard concerning Abraham, the Friend of the All-Merciful, is the truth, and no doubt is there about it. The Voice of God commanded Him to offer up Ishmael as a sacrifice, so that His steadfastness in the Faith of God and His detachment from all else but Him may be demonstrated unto men. The purpose of God, moreover, was to sacrifice him as a ransom for the sins and iniquities of all the peoples of the earth. This same honor, Jesus, the Son of Mary, besought the one true God, exalted be His name and glory, to confer upon Him. For the same reason was Ḥusayn offered up as a sacrifice by Muḥammad, the Apostle of God.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 75-76
Second, this passage explains the full significance of the cross sacrifice.
“Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.
We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.
Leprosy may be interpreted as any veil that interveneth between man and the recognition of the Lord, his God. Whoso alloweth himself to be shut out from Him is indeed a leper, who shall not be remembered in the Kingdom of God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. We bear witness that through the power of the Word of God every leper was cleansed, every sickness was healed, every human infirmity was banished. He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 85-86
I have to opt out when it comes to the dispute between Muslims and Christians regarding the accuracy of the Bible. I believe that the Qur’an is the Word of God and it is a lot more authentic than the Bible, but nevertheless, Baha’u’llah had some harsh words to say to the Muslims who said that the Bible had been corrupted, so this is what I go by. Addressing the Muslims, He wrote:
“We have also heard a number of the foolish of the earth assert that the genuine text of the heavenly Gospel doth not exist amongst the Christians, that it hath ascended unto heaven. How grievously they have erred! How oblivious of the fact that such a statement imputeth the gravest injustice and tyranny to a gracious and loving Providence! How could God, when once the Day-star of the beauty of Jesus had disappeared from the sight of His people, and ascended unto the fourth heaven, cause His holy Book, His most great testimony amongst His creatures, to disappear also?” The Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 89
“Our purpose in relating these things is to warn you that were they to maintain that those verses wherein the signs referred to in the Gospel are mentioned have been perverted, were they to reject them, and cling instead to other verses and traditions, you should know that their words were utter falsehood and sheer calumny. Yea “corruption” of the text, in the sense We have referred to, hath been actually effected in particular instances.” The Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 88
Personally, the entire idea of sacrifices is foreign to me because I have always been a Baha’i and we have no such beliefs as are found in the Bible. All the Manifestations of God, including Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab and Baha’u’llah sacrificed their lives for the Cause of God, and that is what I consider the real sacrifice. I see no need for animal sacrifices, this is based upon superstitious beliefs and it is animal abuse.
I do not have time to go into all this right now, but we can discuss it later if you want to. Briefly, Jesus was ‘a Messiah’ but Jesus was not ‘the Messiah’ the Jews were waiting for, and Jesus is not going to come back later and do the things the Jews require to fulfill the Messianic Age prophecies. Baha’u’llah was the Messiah and the Promised One of all the religions and He fulfilled the prophecies for the return of Christ. Some of the prophecies for the Messianic Age are starting to be fulfilled, but we are only 175 years into an age that is going to last thousands of years, so the fulfillment of many of the Messianic Age prophecies is yet to unfold.
Christians believe that all those prophecies will be fulfilled immediately when Jesus returns because they believe Jesus who is God is omnipotent so He can do anything; so they believe Jesus will wave a magic wand and make all the problems that humans have created in the world since the beginning of the Adamic Cycle of religion disappear immediately. Jews have a different belief. They believe all the Messianic Age prophecies will be fulfilled and the world will become a paradise during the lifetime of the Messiah, and the Torah will be restores. Both religions are unrealistic and wrong, moreover no scriptures say it will happen that way. I have asked them to provide such scriptures saying it will happen that way, but none have been forthcoming.
In brief, Baha’is believe that humans will build the Kingdom of God on Earth, following the blueprint instructions of Baha’u’llah; we also call that the New World Order. The Old World Order will have to come down before a new one can rise in its stead and we can already see that process unfolding all over the world. It has been going on since the Coming of Baha’u’llah.
So do you believe that all these events such as Noah’s flood described in the Old Testament actually took place, that it is historical fact?
Not compared to me.... I think you might have finally met your match.
The only reason these posts are not even longer is because I hit the 12,000 character limit!
I am going to continue answering your posts, in the order they were received.
