Featured Why doesn’t God communicate directly to everyone?

Criticism of beliefs is fine but criticism can be delivered in a courteous manner. It takes some discipline but once one gets the hang of it, it becomes natural.

Facetiousness is making fun and it unnecessary to get one's point across. In fact, it loses the audience so the point is entirely missed. Direct communication works best.

 

Anyone can talk to God and God hears them, but I do not believe that God talks back.

 

I certainly agree that Jesus laid the foundation and Jesus was the Herald of the Kingdom that was to be built later.

The following chapters are from the book entitled Christ and Baha'u'llah

The Kingdom in the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Jesus Christ, Herald of the Kingdom . . . . . . 20

Where in the Bible is there an actual Plan for building the Kingdom of God on earth?
Baha’u’llah formulated a Plan and wrote the blue-print instructions by which humans will build the Kingdom.
The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh

Anyone of the same mind can help in the Kingdom. They do not have to be Baha’is.

 

What is it about my posts that indicate this to you?

• Is it the fact that I keep telling people that the faith of no man can be conditioned by anyone except himself?
  
• Or the fact that I tell people it is not my responsibility to present evidence to them when I am asked to do so constantly?
  
• Or is it the fact that I share information about my religion, just like other religious people do?

Sharing information about my religion so people will know about it is not the same thing as trying to convert them.
It is quite arrogant for people to think they know what my motives are. I never think about anyone else's motives but my own. It is none of my business and a waste of my time.

 

Thanks for those verses. Clearly, Jesus laid the “foundation” for the future Kingdom of God on earth by spiritualizing humanity, and without this foundation the Kingdom would not be possible. Jesus was also the Herald of the Kingdom, the Harbinger who came to announce the coming of the Kingdom.

From: Christ and Baha'u'llah

The Kingdom in the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Jesus Christ, Herald of the Kingdom . . . . . . 20

With all due respect, those verses refer to the Kingdom of God that is within you and the Kingdom of God that is in heaven, not the earthly Kingdom of God. That Kingdom had to exist within the hearts of man in order to prepare them to build the actual Kingdom of God on earth.

What I am referring to is an actual “physical” Kingdom of God in the material world, a sociopolitical system. I am referring to a new government and a new society.

Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

 

It might seem that way to you, but that is not what my motives are. I have a responsibility to make known the message of Baha'u'llah, but I have no responsibility to convince anyone that it is true.

I do not care if other people believe in my religion. I bear no responsibility for what other people believe. Baha'u'llah wrote that everyone is responsible for their own beliefs.

Sure, I will correct false information posted about my religion because that is my responsibility, but I am not trying to overcome objections to my religion. I do care if anyone objects to my religion, but if they object they should be objecting to what the religion really teaches, not to false information some people post about it.

 

You are correct. The New Testament is about a spiritual kingdom, but in the Old Testament the prophecies that refer to the Messiah talk about a physical kingdom that will be established on earth:

Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Jesus never promised to return to earth.

John 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

John 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

Jesus said that He had finished the work that God gave Him to do and He was no more in the world and He was going to the Father. This indicates that Jesus never planned to return (I am no more in the world) and there was no need to return since He finished the work God gave Him to do.

Then in the next chapter you have these verses:

John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

These two verses negate that Jesus is the King of this world, or that Jesus will ever come to this world to rule it, and they fit perfectly together with John 17:4 and John 17:11. Jesus came into this world to (1) glorify God (glorified thee on the earth) and (2) that I should bear witness unto the truth. He did that so there is no more reason for Jesus to be IN this world again. That is why Jesus said “I am no more in the world.”

 

I agree these are only stories, not anything that God actually said or did. Some of the official Bahai positions on the Bible indicate that what I believe is correct.

From Letters Written on Behalf of the Guardian:

...The Bible is not wholly authentic, and in this respect is not to be compared with the Qur'an, and should be wholly subordinated to the authentic writings of Bahá'u'lláh.
(28 July 1936 to a National Spiritual Assembly)

...we cannot be sure how much or how little of the four Gospels are accurate and include the words of Christ and His undiluted teachings, all we can be sure of, as Bahá'ís, is that what has been quoted by Bahá'u'lláh and the Master must be absolutely authentic. As many times passages in the Gospel of St. John are quoted we may assume that it is his Gospel and much of it accurate.
(23 January 1944 to an individual believer)

When 'Abdu'l-Bahá states we believe what is in the Bible, He means in substance. Not that we believe every word of it to be taken literally or that every word is the authentic saying of the Prophet.
(11 February 1944 to an individual believer)

We cannot be sure of the authenticity of any of the phrases in the Old or the New Testament. What we can be sure of is when such references or words are cited or quoted in either the Quran or the Bahá'í writings.
(4 July 1947 to an individual believer)

Except for what has been explained by Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, we have no way of knowing what various symbolic allusions in the Bible mean.
(31 January 1955 to an individual believer)

From letters written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice:

The interpretation of biblical prophecies has long been the subject of controversy and speculation among religious scholars. As Bahá'ís, we know that we must turn to the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi for authoritative guidance in these matters. When a subject has not been mentioned or explained in the Sacred Writings, we are free to consult other books and to consider the opinions of scholars if we wish to do so.

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 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