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1) The Promised Day
2) Is It Possible? 3) When Shall This Be? 4) Gathering the Folds 5) His New Name 7) The Day of Judgment Christianity & Baha'i Faith General Information on the Baha'i Faith Contact Us |
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In the middle of the 19th century, in Persia, east of the Holy Land, there appeared One Who claimed to be the Promised One of all religions. He was known by the title "the Glory of God." His Faith began in 1844, with the teachings of a Forerunner, who claimed to be the return of Elijah. Though He was a prince, He was imprisoned for following the Forerunner. While confined in a dungeon, the first of many revelations came to Him. He proclaimed them to the world in many books and letters, stating:
"The Revelation which, from time immemorial, hath been acclaimed as the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God, and the most cherished Desire of His Messengers, hath now, by virtue of the pervasive Will of the Almighty and at His irresistible bidding, been revealed unto men. The advent of such a Revelation hath been heralded in all the sacred Scriptures..." He taught the oneness of God, universal love and the brotherhood of all mankind. For this, He was imprisoned, tortured, and exiled from city to city for the final 40 years of His life. His final place of banishment, where He spent 24 years, was the prison-city of Akka, in the Holy Land. He invited the world's Christians to recognize Christ's return: "Followers of the Gospel, behold the gates of heaven are flung open. He that had ascended unto it is now come. Give ear to His voice calling aloud over land and sea, announcing to all mankind the advent of this Revelation- a Revelation through the agency of which the Tongue of Grandeur is now proclaiming: 'Lo, the sacred pledge hath been fulfilled, for He, the Promised One, is come!'" In announcing this Revelation to the kings and religious leaders of the earth in that time, He wrote to the Pope as follows: "O Pope! Rend the veils asunder. He who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds, and the decree hath been fulfilled by God, the Almighty, the Unrestrained... He, verily, hath again come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time... Beware lest any name debar thee from God..." His title "the Glory of God," when written in the language common to that part of the world, is "Baha'u'llah". Similarly, a follower "of the Glory" is a "Baha'i". The names "Baha'u'llah" and "Baha'i" are used in their original form throughout the world for consistency. As the name "Christ" is a title meaning "the Anointed One" in Greek, so also the name "Baha'u'llah" is a title meaning "the Glory of God" in Arabic. This is, by any count, an amazing claim. As Baha'is, we do not ask that people accept it without investigation -- we ask only that everyone follow Jesus's directions to "watch" (Matthew 24:43-44) and John's instructions: "Try the spirits, whether they are of God..." (I John 4:1) For if there is even the remotest chance of it being true, then we are now living in ...
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