Baháʼí teachings

Theological, social, and spiritual principles in the Baháʼí Faith

The Baháʼí teachings represent a considerable number of theological, ethical, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Baháʼí Faith by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by its successive leaders: ʻAbdu'l Bahá, Baháʼu'lláh's son, and Shoghi Effendi, ʻAbdu'l Bahá's grandson. The teachings were written in various Baháʼí writings. The teachings of the Baháʼí Faith, combined with the authentic teachings of several past religions (Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam), are regarded by Baháʼís as revealed by God. The Baháʼí teachings include theological statements about God, his prophets/messengers, and humanity, as well as ethical and social teachings including the equality of all human beings regardless of gender, race, nation, colour, or social class, the harmony of science and religion, gender equality, compulsory education, and the elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty, among others.

Three core assertions of the Baháʼí Faith, sometimes termed the "three onenesses", are central in the teachings of the religion. They are the Oneness of God, the Oneness of Religion and the Oneness of Humanity. They are also referred to as the unity of God, unity of religion, and unity of mankind. The Baháʼí writings state that there is a single, all powerful god, revealing his message through a series of divine messengers or educators, regarding them as one progressively revealed religion, to one single humanity, who all possess a rational soul and only differ according to colour and culture. This idea is fundamental not only to explaining Baháʼí beliefs, but explaining the attitude Baháʼís have towards other religions, which they regard as divinely inspired. The acceptance of every race and culture in the world has brought Baháʼí demographics diversity, becoming the second most widespread faith in the world, and translating its literature into over 800 languages.

The Baháʼí view of God is essentially monotheistic. God is the imperishable, uncreated being who is the source of all existence. He is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and almighty". Though transcendent and inaccessible directly, his image is reflected in his creation. The purpose of creation is for the created to have the capacity to know and love its creator. In Baha'i belief, although human cultures and religions differ on their conceptions of God and his nature, the different references to God nevertheless refer to one and the same Being. The differences, instead of being regarded as irreconcilable constructs of mutually exclusive cultures, are seen as purposefully reflective of the varying needs of the societies in which the divine messages were revealed. The Baháʼí teachings state that God is too great for humans to create an accurate conception of. In the Baháʼí understanding, the attributes attributed to God, such as All Powerful and All Loving are derived from limited human experiences of power and love. Baháʼu'lláh taught that the knowledge of God is limited to those attributes and qualities which are perceptible to us, and thus direct knowledge of God is not possible. Furthermore, Baháʼu'lláh states that knowledge of the attributes of God is revealed to humanity through his messengers. As our knowledge of things, even of created and limited things, is knowledge of their qualities and not of their essence, how is it possible to comprehend in its essence the Divine Reality, which is unlimited? Knowing God, therefore, means the comprehension and the knowledge of His attributes, and not of His Reality. This knowledge of the attributes is also proportioned to the capacity and power of man; it is not absolute. While the Baháʼí writings teach of a personal god who is a being with a personality (including the capacity to reason and to feel love), they clearly state that this does not imply a human or physical form.</blockquote>

Regarding biological unity the Baháʼí writings state that differences between various races, nations, and ethnic groups are either superficial (e. g. skin colour) or the result of differences in background or education. A basic Baháʼí teaching is the elimination of all forms of prejudice, which refers to not only the elimination of racial prejudice but also that of other forms of prejudice such as gender discrimination. The Baháʼí teachings state that while ethnic and cultural diversity will continue to exist, humanity's first allegiance will be with the human race rather than any subsidiary group such as race, nation, or ethnic group. There will be an end not only to war, but even to inter group rivalry. While the Baháʼí writings talk about the unity of the world and its peoples, unity is not equated to uniformity, but instead the Baháʼí writings affirm the value of cultural, national and individual diversity through the principle of "Unity in diversity," which states that while recognizing the unity of mankind, cultural diversity should be celebrated. It [the Faith] does not ignore, nor does it attempt to suppress, the diversity of ethnic origins, of climate, of history, of language and tradition, of thought and habit, that differentiate the peoples and nations of the world Its watchword is unity in diversity

The Baháʼí teachings state that there is but one religion which is progressively revealed by God, through prophets/messengers, to mankind as humanity matures and its capacity to understand also grows.</blockquote>

Baháʼís believe God to be generally regular and periodic in revealing His will to mankind through messengers/prophets, which are named Manifestations of God. Each messenger in turn establishes a covenant and founds a religion. This process of revelation, according to the Baháʼí writings, is also never ceasing, which is contrary to many other belief systems that believe in a finality of their prophet/messenger. The general theme of the successive and continuous religions founded by Manifestations of God is that there is an evolutionary tendency, and that each Manifestation of God brings a larger measure of revelation (or religion) to humankind than the previous one. The differences in the revelation brought by the Manifestations of God is stated to be not inherent in the characteristics of the Manifestation of God, but instead attributed to the various worldly, societal and human factors;

The earliest forms of religion are seen, in many of the Baháʼí Writings, to be like early school. In this view humanity, like a child, has been maturing with a greater ability to grasp complex ideas as it grows in years and passes school. Each time a divine messenger appears, the message was given at levels appropriate to humanity's degree of maturation. There is a distinction between a Greater Covenant which is made between every messenger from God and his followers concerning the next dispensation, and a Lesser Covenant that concerns successorship of authority within the religion after the messenger dies. In Baháʼí belief, this covenant is seen to be expressed in prophecy in the religious scripture of each religion, and each Manifestation of God, such as Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and Baháʼu'lláh, prophesied the next Manifestation. In return, the followers of each religion are seen to have a duty to investigate the claims of the following Manifestations.

The Baháʼí Faith affirms gender equality; that men and women are equal. Baháʼu'lláh noted that there was no distinction in the spiritual stations of men and women. ʻAbdu'l Bahá wrote that both men and women possess the same potential for virtues and intelligence, and compared the two genders and the progress of civilization to the two wings of a bird where each wing is needed to provide flight. In this sense, the equality of the sexes is seen as Baháʼís as a spiritual and moral standard that is essential for the unification of the planet and the unfoldment of world order, and in the importance of implementing the principle in individual, family, and community life. While the Baháʼí teachings assert the full spiritual and social equality of women to men, there are some aspects of gender distinctiveness or gender differentiation in certain areas of life. In terms of Baháʼí administration, all positions except for membership on the Universal House of Justice are open to men and women. No specific reason has been given for this exception, but ʻAbdu'l Bahá has stated that there is a wisdom for it, which would eventually become clear. while the world average of women serving on national assemblies had reached rates of 39%.

The harmony of science and religion is a central tenet of the Baháʼí teachings. The principle states that that truth is one, and therefore true science and true religion must be in harmony, thus rejecting the view that science and religion are in conflict. ʻAbdu'l Bahá asserted that science without religion leads to materialism, and religion without science leads to superstition; The Baháʼí teachings focus on promoting a moral and spiritual education, in addition to the arts, trades, sciences and professions. Baháʼu'lláh wrote that the spiritual capacities of each individual could not be achieved without spiritual education, and thus children needed to have spiritual/religious education from an early stage. He also stressed the importance of secular education in that one's work and vocation is socially important. The Baháʼí teachings state it is the obligation of the parents to provide for the education of their children, and that special importance should be given to the education of girls. the Baháʼí teachings see improved communication between peoples throughout the world as a vital part of world unity and peace. The Baháʼí teachings see the current multiplicity of languages as a major impediment to unity, since the existence of so many languages cuts the free flow of information and makes it difficult for the average individual to obtain a universal perspective on world events. Baháʼu'lláh taught that the lack of a common language is a major barrier to world unity since the lack of communication between peoples of different languages undermines efforts toward world peace due to misunderstandings of language; he urged that humanity should choose an auxiliary language that would be taught in schools in addition to one's own native language, so that people could understand one another. He stated that until an auxiliary language is adopted, complete unity between the various parts of the world would continue to be unrealized. Baháʼu'lláh stressed, however, that the auxiliary language should not suppress existing natural languages, and that the concept of unity in diversity must be applied to languages. ʻAbdu'l Bahá noted both poverty and extreme wealth disallowed for a compassionate society, as poverty demoralized people and extreme wealth overburdened people. Baháʼu'lláh wrote that rich should take care of the poor, as the poor are a divine trust. The Baháʼí writings state that, to truly investigate truth, we must abandon our prejudices and that, since the essential Truth underlying reality is one, independent investigation will also be a powerful step towards the oneness of humanity. Regarding whether or not the use of reason is a valid tool for the independent investigation of truth, Bahá'í scholar Ian Kluge argues that the religion prescribes a form of 'moderate rationalism'. He describes his interpretation of the Bahá'í teachings, writing that, "reason can tell us some things but not others; it has the ability to provide some knowledge but it also has limits". He summarises this with the phrase "reason is necessary but not sufficient". Abdu'l Baha writes that reason and the powers of the intellect are "fortified into true conclusions and perfect knowledge" only when combined with "the illumination of the Holy Spirit". Baháʼís are encouraged to meditate and reflect daily on the Baháʼí writings in what has been termed "an eternal or unending process" of seeking the truth. Shoghi Effendi asserts that Baha'u'llah "does not ask us to follow Him blindly" and encourages Baháʼís to "Read His words, consider His teachings, and measure their value in the light of contemporary problems". Abdu'l Baha further emphasises that “God has given us rational minds for this purpose, to penetrate all things, to find truth”. Wolfgang Klebel emphasises the harmony of the intellect and the heart in his interpretation of the Baháʼí teachings, writing that "Clearly we need both, a pure heart and clear mind" and that unless the heart is pure, it could "contaminate logical reason or even pervert it". A special emphasis is given to the heart in the Baha'i writings on independent investigation. The Baháʼí writings frequently ask the seeker of truth to “Ponder this in thine heart" and Abdu'l Baha writes, “May your hearts become clear and pure like unto polished mirrors in which may be reflected the full glory of the Sun of Truth”. The heart is also seen as the arena in which apparent contradictions are dispelled. The Báb writes that “That which is beyond these two extremes, which is the Middle Path can be comprehended by naught save the heart. God hath created the heart to understand His unity and transcendence, and it is through the heart that Divine Unity can be witnessed at the level of action.” While it is assumed by some that there is an opposition between heart and mind or faith and reason, Baháʼís believe that these are false dichotomies based on inadequate descriptions of both faith and reason. For example, Baha'u'llah redefines faith stating that "The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds” and Abdu'l Baha further comments that "sincerity is the foundation stone of faith. That is, a religious individual must disregard his personal desires and seek in whatever way he can wholeheartedly to serve the public interest". Abdu'l Baha also writes that, “If religion is opposed to reason and science, faith is impossible; and when faith and confidence in the divine religion are not manifest in the heart, there can be no spiritual attainment.”

At the age of fifteen, children brought up in a Baháʼí family are enjoined to investigate different spiritual traditions and are free to choose whether or not they want to remain a Baháʼí. Bahá'ís are forbidden from communicating with Covenant breakers and discouraged from reading their literature. Additionally, when Bahá'ís publish independent scholarship, the Bahá'í administration requires them to submit their writing for "Baháʼí review," wherein Baháʼís submit their material for vetting before it is published to ensure credibility from the administration's understanding, a practice which has been criticized by Juan Cole.

The Bahá'í writings contain many references to spiritual qualities and values that individuals should strive to develop. The elements of good character include, among others, trustworthiness, truthfulness, faithfulness, sincerity, purity of motivation, service, justice, moderation, cleanliness, dignity and avoiding backbiting, balanced by reason and knowledge. God is described in the Baháʼí writings a single, personal, inaccessible, omniscient, omnipresent, imperishable, and almighty God who is the creator of all things in the universe. The existence of God and the universe is thought to be eternal, without a beginning or end. The Baháʼí teachings state that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, or to create a complete and accurate image of, by themselves. Therefore, human understanding of God is achieved through his revelations via his Manifestations. In the Baháʼí religion God is often referred to by titles and attributes (e. g. the All Powerful, or the All Loving), and there is a substantial emphasis on monotheism. The Baháʼí teachings state that the attributes which are applied to God are used to translate Godliness into human terms and also to help individuals concentrate on their own attributes in worshipping God to develop their potentialities on their spiritual path. Through recognition and obedience, service to humanity and regular prayer and spiritual practice, the Baháʼí writings state that the soul becomes closer to God, the spiritual ideal in Baháʼí belief. When a human dies, the soul passes into the next world, where its spiritual development in the physical world becomes a basis for judgment and advancement in the spiritual world. Baháʼís' believe in the eternal life of the soul rather than reincarnation. Heaven and Hell are taught to be spiritual states of nearness or distance from God that describe relationships in this world and the next, and not physical places of reward and punishment achieved after death.

Key to the function of Baháʼí organization is the principle of consultation. This refers to the method of non adversarial discussion and decision making which is described in the Baháʼí writings, and which is used in all levels of Baháʼí administration. Consultation strives to move beyond a decision making process that accepts the majority view, to one that aims to discover truth through universal participation and disciplined cooperation.