For Christian Missions class, I got to do an interview with a person who believed in one of major religions of the world. Here are the results from it:
My group’s travels took us to the end of the purple line. We were visiting a Baha’i temple, the only one on the North American continent. They said you could not miss it after you started walking a little ways, and they were right. This temple was monolithic—like a giant hot air balloon. Ornate would be a lesser term for this extremely rich building; fountains and pools gurgled on the front lawn. It is a nine-sided structure covered by a single, majestic dome (symbolizing the unity of all people and religions under God.) Magnificent and luxuriant, the temple has been declared one of the Seven Wonders of Illinois. Before ascending the long, steep flight of stairs, we entered the basement where the visitor center was located. There we met R’sash Bahaunda, one of the workers in the bookstore. Born in Israel he was raised in a Baha’i family; making the decision for himself to become a Baha’i at age fifteen. One becomes a Baha’i by recognizing Baha’u'llah as the messenger of God for this age, committing to follow his laws and teachings, and informing the Baha’i community of this commitment. Now, before going to bed each night, he thinks back on his day and examines all the sins he committed. He then figures out how he should act differently to avoid those sins the next day. He knows that no one is perfect, but we all progress to become better eventually. We are all free to make decisions, and eventually we will make better decisions—either in this life or the next.
Upon entering the building, we quickly noticed that many of the posters emphasized “unity” in the religion. All religions are said to be equal, because there is one god over all of them. God is unknowable except for what his messengers have revealed us—prophets such as Moses, Abraham, Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha, Zoroaster, and Baha’u'lla. This man named Baha’u'lla founded Baha’ism. He was born in Tyrananinan, or present-day Israel, in 1817, when many people then were waiting for a Messianic person to return. The Bab (pronounced Bob) was a catalyst to the religion of Baha’i. The Bab in 1844 claimed he was the “promised one,” and Baha’u'lla acknowledged this as true. Over 20,000 people got killed, including the Bab because of this controversial issue. Baha’u'lla, because of his revolutionary teachings (different than Muslim), was put in prison many times and then under house arrest. After Baha’u'llah made this claim that the Bab was the promised one, many people started following his teachings, and the Bahai faith came into existence. His name means “glory to god.” Baha’u'llah declared of himself, “He Who is the Ancient Beauty hath come…that He may quicken the world and unite its peoples. They, however, rose up against Him with sharpened swords…At one time they cast Him into prison, at another they banished Him, and at yet another hurried Him from land to land.”
As to what R’shash believes, he first discussed about our life and afterlife. Just as we don’t really know about the afterlife, so an unborn baby doesn’t know about the world into which it will soon enter. It can hear noises from that other world, and can sense that it is there, though it does not really know much about it. It may have really funny interpretations as to what all the strange noises could be. As we live our life, we make decisions and try to become better people, though no one is perfect. His view of his god is very vague—he doesn’t really know anything about his god except for what has been revealed to us by his god’s messengers. He knows he is a god of love because he created us. Though this world is full of suffering, his god still loves us because through suffering we grow in maturity and grow closer to “him,” or “it.” He doesn’t know if hell is real, only his god knows. When he prays, he offers two sets of prayers—the first set is asking for help (away from god), and the second set is about heaven (closer to god). In heaven, there are different levels. Some people will be closer to his god, and others will be farther away.
Next, he talked about the major problem in the world today. He said humanity has decided not to obey the laws. We are not following the religions of god. Jesus said to turn the other cheek, but we have lost our dignity. A big goal of Baha’ism is world peace and world government. The world will never “end,” but unity is coming soon. The goal of the Bahai faith is unity. He emphasized elimination of all forms of prejudice, equality between men and women, harmony of science and religion, spiritual solutions to economic problems, and universal education. We asked him how he interpreted Jesus’ words when he said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man can come to the Father except by Me.” He says that Jesus has returned in the spirit of Baha’u'lla. God’s law is everlasting, though with each new culture and age, the laws get adjusted to fit them.
After interviewing with this kind man, we ascended the stairs to the worship area of the temple. It had flowers in the front next to a pulpit, and many rows of pews arched in a semi circle. A few people sat there praying. There were even stairs to go to a balcony that spanned the circumference of the place. Overhead along the walls were many quotes of Baha’u'lla: “All the Prophets of God proclaim the same faith,” “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch,” “So powerful is unity’s light that it can illuminate the whole earth,” “O Son of Being! Walk in My statues for love of Me.” Above the entrance were also many writings: “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens,” “Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner,” “Thy Paradise is My love; thy heavenly home is reunion with Me.” The Baha’i religion has no clergy. Instead, elected councils carry out its affairs. On the designated times of meeting, then, anyone of any faith can come and read words from one of God’s messengers. They also have a choir composed of men who sing only the words of God.
So, now looking back on our experience, I slowly tried to digest all that this sweet man told us. Baha’u'llah suffered much at the hands of his people, and the Bab was even put to death for his claims of being God’s messenger. These can be compared to the suffering Christ and his followers endured. Both were shunned by their people, who at that time where looking for a Messiah figure. However, the Bab’s death didn’t pay for our sins, and he did not rise from the dead. The only messenger of God who conquered death was Jesus Christ, God’s only Begotten Son. Compared to Jesus, then, this Bab was just a guy with a big ego. He failed if he was trying to save us from evil, and I’m pretty sure that the good kind of unity is impossible while sin still exists in the world today.
Also, he believes his god is unknowable, what we know is only revealed to us through his prophets. It was evident and very admirable to see that R’shash had so much faith. He said he knows his god loves him even when though there is suffering in the world. Though he has no personal relationship with his god, he has faith that his god exists and loves him. The people who believe in Bahai seek to become closer to their god. It seems, though, that this is impossible if their god is unknowable except for what his messengers have revealed about him. Looking at what these messengers have revealed, it is clear that they contradict one another in many ways. How then could these people know their god through the messengers if the data the messengers give are different from each other? What Muhammad wrote about Allah is very different than what Buddha wrote, etc. Yet this Baha’i religion seeks to combine all these religions into one big one, allowing all the differences to be explained as how man interprets the one god. Every single person, he says, has a different view on who this god is, and he may be right or not. He will not know until he ends up in the afterlife. Even then, however, he will have to progress with his own works to become closer to this god. Christianity believes that as we mature in the faith, we become closer to God. However, this type of “closeness” is different than what R’shash means by “closeness.” When Christians become close to God, it is a personal relationship. Dialogue and an intimate love occurs between man and his Creator. To the Baha’i some element of goodness is necessary to be close to god. To the Christian, perfection is necessary to come into God’s presence. He cannot stand the slightest speck of sin. To come into His presence, then, requires something that both the Baha’ist and the Christian lack—perfection. This can only come through another source, and that source is Jesus. If both religions are right, how then could God allow sin and not allow sin? That is a puzzling question. I would venture to say they cannot both be true at the same time. If we merely picked one path and declared, “Well, that’s my perspective,” what if we were wrong? There has to be some absolute truth in the matter. It is one thing if we all believe in unity and relative truth, but is that what God believes in? Let’s not live life repeating a saying that merely sounds comforting—that as long as we’re sincere, we’ll go to heaven through any religious path. Also, we do not have to live life in fear of the future, hoping and wishing what we believe is true; hoping we are not wrong.
To summarize everything I have learned about Baha’i, the goal of this religion is unity. Their leader is called Baha’u'llah, though they do not have pastors or any sort of clergy in their service. It is a works-based religion, meaning in order to be saved man must perform good deeds. No one is perfect according to Baha’i, but we become closer and closer to perfection (God) every day if we make good decisions and improve our actions. There are two prayers to pray every day: a prayer for help (being away from God), and a prayer concerning heaven (being closer to God.) I found that this religion, then, seems to have a great thirst to know God; however, this is sadly impossible for them. How tragic, to hunger for something that cannot satisfy! They hope they will know god in the afterlife, but still, they say, “Only god knows. That could just be my interpretation of the afterlife.” They know it exists as a newborn senses the world outside its mother’s womb, but that is the shallow extent to their knowledge. I am saddened to acknowledge that this religion, though new, is the fastest growing one presently. It is a vague religion which seeks to know something that is ultimately unknowable. Praise Yahweh for revealing Himself to us and allowing us to be in a personal relationship with Him, a great God who is all-powerful, most glorious, our Redeemer, our Friend, our Prince of Peace, our Counselor, our Father, etc., etc. Yes, He is so wonderful that we will never truly comprehend all that He is in this life. However! We will be able to know God for eternity in the next. Let’s not become too comfortable with Bahai, though a one-world government, perfect peace, and unity are wonderful idealistic ideas. They actually will soon come true according to Christians. And if the Christians are right, then the Baha’i faith is vanity—it will amount to nothing. Let’s be certain of our future, and take comfort by having a firm grasp on who God is: He is Spirit: infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. (Westminster Confession of Faith)
