Maybe I should have been clear in the beginning, not sure. I do not believe
in any christian teaching. I'm just going by my experiences in various Churches, Southern Baptist, Northern Baptist (they are different, I noticed), Pentecostal (where I got baptized first), Presbyterian, JW for a couple of times and dialogue with them, Episcopalian, (I got to go to Latin Mass once, that was different in and of itself), and, of course, Roman Catholic.
I thought is was excellent to have a list of differences perceived or otherwise between an American conservative Christian and Baha'is. Christians like to look at the differences, Baha'is the points of agreement, but both have their place. We have had that discussion.
Shrugs. Nothing wrong with seeing similarities. It's not a christian thing, it's cultural. My issue is why is it negative as some Bahai say it is not the fact that we differ/or that I use the word. I'll change differences to diversity and opinions.
For many (not all) Christians, Jesus is physically God incarnate. So viewing God as being an essence that is separate from God presents problems to a Christian worldview. However there are strong arguments that can be made from scripture and the gospels that this fundamental Christian view is not biblically based, and historically we see this belief was widely established with the Nicene Creed during the 4th century, that carried the weight of Emperor Constantine's imperial degree, lest anyone dare to disagree. There are however Christians that have a similar outlook to the Baha'is that Jesus is not God incarnate.
I mentioned that the divinity of christ is still an overall belief regardless of how one defines the relationship between christ and his father.
That's a perspective the Christian's use to reinforce the exclusivity of their claims that only through Christ can we come to God. Baha'is argue all the Manifestations of God suffered for the sake of humanity. Baha'u'llah was tortured and spent 40 years of His life in prison or exiled. Christ's sacrificing His life is an essential part of the Christian faith, but The Bab sacrificed His life too.
Of course Bahai has diverse opinions. Just explaining that atonement is very important in christianity. Without it, there is no reason for the gospels to exist.
Baha'is reject the doctrine of original sin, where we are all paying the price for Adam's alleged crime of disobeying God by eating an apple from the tree of life.
I don't agree with original sin. I did put temptation to sin that I read the Jews believe while most christians believe in original sin. Regardless, there is a consequence of sin that can only be forgiven by blood.
God can forgive sins as with other Manifestations of God, not just Jesus. The language of sin, forgiveness, and redemption though the language is different is present in both Judaism and the Baha'i Faith. The language used is simply man made theology to justify an exclusivity that Christ never intended.
Of course this is Bahai belief. In Christianity (since we're talking about diversity rather than unity at the moment) forgiveness of sins is a cornerstone tenant. It makes sense why Bahai would have diverse opinions. So much is interconnected that if you don't believe in one thing, other things fall apart.
The Catholics are big on the original sin. It is a man made doctrine that Christ never taught. I know you don't believe in it.
I don't believe in sin at all. I read Jews believe in temptation to sin. Catholics believe in original sin. That's why I mentioned both so the conversation won't digress on denominational opinions. Besides the point.
Jesus never taught that He rose from the dead. He did refer to the miracle of Jonah, but this can be understood in a variety of ways. I agree that for most Christians, the resurrection is seen as essential part of their theology. To take it has being literally true is major weakness in their theology, but we are all free to chose what we believe. The problem comes when Christians try to present the rational basis behind an event that did not, and could not have happened.
Raising from the dead is an experience in Catholicism and, edit, some baptist and pentecostal churches. I've been to protestant Churches, been a bible-thumper, I guess you can say for a short period of my teenage life. My brothers told me I talked about nothing else at the time. Wore their ears out. It's not what's written but what's experienced. If god was dependent on what people wrote in the book, who, when, and why, I don't see how any god of abraham believers can believe anything and call it judaism, christian, islam, or bahai even.
The triune god is another creation from the Nicene Creed and Constantine's legacy. Once again, nothing to do with what Christ taught, but we all believe as we believe.
I think it's you guys have another perspective than Catholic's interpretation of it. Here is what I said:
Regardless the interpretation, you need to believe in the divinity of jesus and his literal role in salvation in order to see how the father/creator, son, and holy spirit are one with differing roles.
People fuss over the definitions. I disagree with the trinity but the relationship with all three are in scripture no matter how we both interpret it.
The resurrection of Christ and Divinity of Christ are unique beliefs to Christianity alone. Forgiveness, like love isn't. These are the two most obvious differences between the conservative Christians and Baha'is.
This has to do with expression. If you say you have christian beliefs, a christian will associate forgives and love with christ rather than an independent emotion that most faiths support.
Evil is absence of good, like darkness is absence of light. It could also be seen as separation from God. Its remedy is to draw closer to Him and apply His teachings to our lives. We don't need a literal Satan or Lucifer, but Christians love to talk about him.
What exactly is evil? I know darkness is an absence of light but these words like evil I never got. I never incorporated them into my faith because they are very foreign.
The only miracle the Baha'i writings reject is the resurrection of Christ. All the other miracles may well have happened but their significance is the spiritual message they convey, not a proof of prophethood.
Shrugs. Just stating what I know and experience.
Baha'is of course believe Christ has returned. Christians have a wide diversity of beliefs around the return of Christ and what it means. One example is believing that His return will be accompanied by miraculous signs such as appearing on clouds that can be seen everywhere in the world and the stars literally falling from heaven. Good luck with that.
This sounds similar to Islam, I think. Did christ already returned in Islam?