How do you know that? Why would God confuse us with each religious teaching in one age that contradicted the last? This to me, is nonsense.
The actual scriptures of the various religions do not contradict each other. They are simply renewed in every age and some of the teachings and laws are updated to accommodate the needs of humanity in the new age.
Since there is no mention of future dispensations, I would like to know how its not confusing to have a rabble of different religions all crammed into a one size fits all belief system?
There is mention of future Dispensations, even if they are not referred to as such. The entire Bible, OT and NT, is chock full of prophecies that say what will happen in the future.
There is no such thing as a one size fits all religion, there are simply new religions revealed by Manifestations of God in every new age, and these are the religions God wants humanity to adhere to in that new age. However, what has happened is that people have refuse to relinquish the religion they believe in and look at the new religion
The God of the Bible never borrowed ideas or practices from religions outside of the one he prescribed....it was humans who did that. It corrupted his truth and he was not happy about it. There can only be one truth. All roads do not lead to Rome.
Of course God would not want anyone following anything but the Bible during the Dispensation of the Bible, because the Bible was the One Truth that everyone should be adhering to during that Dispensation.
Truth from God is revealed successively throughout the ages, as mankind needs it and is able to understand it. Back in the days of Jesus, humanity was unable to bear what Baha’u’llah revealed. That is why Jesus said:
John 16:12-13 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
If you know about Jesus' parables, then you would also know that "weeds" of false Christianity were to be sown by the devil after the death of Jesus and his apostles. These "weeds" were to grow along with the "wheat", in the same field (the world) right up until the end of the current system of things. It was then that a final separation was to be made and God would send his angels to gather the weeds up and dispose of them permanently. Only then would the genuine wheat be gathered. (
Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43)
I agree that weeds have grown up in Christianity, but that is what happens over time with any religion, most followers fall away from the teachings of the Prophet. That is why those teachings need to be renewed from age to age.
There is more than one way of interpreting those verses. I believe that “the end of the world” refers to the end of the religious cycle we were living in, the Prophetic Cycle, also called the Adamic Cycle. That religious Cycle ended with Muhammad, and that is why He was called “the Seal of the Prophets.” The Bab and Baha’u’llah ushered in a new religious the Baha’i Cycle, or the Cycle of Fulfillment, because it is during this religious Cycle that all the Bible prophecies will be fulfilled; not all at once but over time.
I believe that the Harvest Time has come and it was ushered in by the Bab and Baha’u’llah, since Baha’u’llah was the return of the Christ Spirit and the Comforter Jesus promised to send. Jesus was the first Comforter, Baha’u’llah was another Comforter.
John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
So, since Jesus set His Own Spirit, those who recognize Baha’u’llah are the wheat and those who reject Him are the chaff, because rejecting Baha’u’llah is akin to rejecting Jesus. In the following passage WE refers to Jesus and Baha’u’llah as the same Spirit of God who came in different human attire.
“WE, verily, have come for your sakes, and have borne the misfortunes of the world for your salvation. Flee ye the One Who hath sacrificed His life that ye may be quickened? Fear God, O followers of the Spirit (Jesus), and walk not in the footsteps of every divine that hath gone far astray… Open the doors of your hearts. He Who is the Spirit (Jesus) verily, standeth before them.” Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, p, 92
“O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of Jesus, the Spirit of God, "I go away, and come again unto you"? 2 Wherefore, then, did ye fail, when He did come again unto you in the clouds of heaven, to draw nigh unto Him, that ye might behold His face, and be of them that attained His Presence? In another passage He saith: "When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth." 3” The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 191
Ummmm....who said?
You sure do put a lot of faith in a man who made claims that he could never back up.
And you can back up the claims of Jesus? Do you have any testimony outside of the Bible to even prove that Jesus existed, let alone all that has been attributed to Him? To try to use the Bible to prove the Bible is circular reasoning, as my atheist friends love to say.
I
do have testimony outside of what Baha’u’llah wrote that validate the existence of Baha’u’llah and what He did on His Mission.
The Christ of the first century had impeccable credentials.....and he fulfilled hundreds of prophesies about his lineage, his place of birth and the manner of his death. Baha'u'llah had nothing in the Hebrew scriptures to indicate that another "Christ" was even necessary, let alone had other 'scripture" to write.
Jesus fulfilled “some” of the OT prophecies but certainly not all of them, so how do you explain that? If you do not believe that
the same man Jesus in the same body will someday return to Earth and fulfill the remainder of those prophecies, how will they ever be fulfilled? If they are never fulfilled that makes God into a liar.
Isaiah 53 is just one chapter that precludes Jesus: Isaiah 53:3, 4, and 5 could refer to Jesus, but Isaiah 53:8, 9, and 10 cannot refer to Jesus. Jesus was not taken from prison and from judgment. Jesus did not make his grave with the wicked and the rich. Jesus did not see His seed. The days of Jesus were cut short, they were not prolonged.
Logically speaking, the only way that Jesus could be the Messiah would be if Jesus fulfilled these prophecies upon His Return. This is just the tip of the iceberg concerning prophecies that were fulfilled by Baha’u’llah and not Jesus.
Where is it written that Ishmael or Islam would have anything to do with the second coming of the Christ?
Baha'u'llah has no credentials....nothing to identify him as one that was expected to come.
But Baha’u’llah fulfilled all the prophecies for the Second Coming, as is carefully delineated in the book entitled
Thief in the Night by William Sears. He was a Christian all his life and he carefully researched all the prophecies for seven years and only after he was completely satisfied that they had been fulfilled did he become a Baha’i. The book provides incontrovertible evidence that the prophecies for the Second Coming have been fulfilled. The remainder of the OT prophecies which I refer to as the Messianic Age prophecies are either in the process of being fulfilled or they will be fulfilled during this age.
The Bible completely contradicts his claims because as it says in
John 17:11 that you quoted..." And now
I am no more in the world".....
In a little while the world will see me no more'. (
John 14:19)
These were claims made by Jesus because Jesus never planned to return to Earth in the same body, as most Christians believe (Acts 1:10-11). He planned to send His Spirit which would be manifested in another human temple with another name (Revelation 2:17, Revelation 3:12).
Christ was never coming back in the flesh. When mankind was to see Jesus again it was to be at the end of this age, with an angelic army to exact vengeance on those who misrepresented his God and led the majority of people down the wrong track. (
Matthew 7:13-14) The trouble is, they went willingly.
Well, it is a welcome relief that you at least do not believe that the same Jesus is going to return in the same body, because I consider that a ridiculous belief. There is no oxygen in heaven, so Jesus could not have ascended in the same body and lived there for 2000 years only to return on a poufy cloud.
What did the Christians and others do to misrepresent God and lead the majority of people down the wrong track? What form do you think the angelic army will take? Will they be in human form?
I believe that God may get His vengeance if people do not turn to Him by the appointed time:
“We have a fixed time for you, O peoples. If ye fail, at the appointed hour, to turn towards God, He, verily, will lay violent hold on you, and will cause grievous afflictions to assail you from every direction. How severe, indeed, is the chastisement with which your Lord will then chastise you!” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 214
God has one name that is his alone....forever. He has no need to change his unique name. If you have to ask "Why should it matter what name God has?" then you clearly have no idea of its importance. Allah is not Yahweh.
No, I guess I do not understand the importance of the name by which we refer to God. However, logically speaking, there cannot be more than one God, because God is one and alone, exalted above all of Creation, Omnipotent and Omniscient. People might have different conceptions of God or call God by different names, but God is still God.
God is referred to as the Lord throughout the Bible, what about that?