Sean: Reflecting on the Bahai Faith dinner

Well, that was interesting...

To preface all of the below bullet points, and without going into great detail (I'll leave that for other folk and other sections of this blog... like certain pages etc. More to come), we had Brad Pokorny and his wife and son come to Speakeasy last Thursday night. The dinner was delicious, and the conversation was riveting (that's becoming a common theme!).

To get yourself acquainted with the Bahai faith, check out their website.

The things that "stuck"...

This is probably easiest to be listed in bullet point, and I may go into it in further detail below. I'm only giving myself 15 minutes to write this post, so not sure how far I'll get.

1. Progressive Revelation
2. Afterlife
3. Purpose of living
4. Understanding of the divine
5. Not "really" a universalist religion/faith
6. Role of the Holy Spirit
7. Holy Trinity not a part of it
8. Role of martyrdom
9. Truth Seeking
10. No evil entity/power (aka Satan does not exist)

1) Progressive Revelation "Redefining Authority in the Historical perspective"

This is probably the concept that attacks me the most. I use the word "attacks" because it gets right at the heart of my investigation into my own Christian faith. I look at the Bible as Divine Revelation and inspiration. I see Christ, within that context, as being a historically true human being who was also Divine. (Wholly human and holy Divine). Christ himself was part of the Divine's revelation to human-kind. Christ was a fulfillment of prior prophecies. And he foretold future events, as well as other prophets throughout the past few millenia.

Thus, the claim that Bahá’u’lláh (pronounced "Ba-how-oo-luh") was the next step in the Divine's self-revelation to mankind is a much more interruptive one than the typical universalist claim that all religions are one (or that all religions attempt to seek the Divine).

Basically, and this is without checking primary sources, Baha'u'llah himself fulfills prophecies and is, in some sense, the Second coming of Christ. Each time the Divine speaks through its (his? her?) prophets, throughout history, it is to refine what has come before.

Simply put; if the claim of Baha'u'llah's Divinity is True, then what follows is a restructuring and reexamination of Christian Scripture, taking all of those interpretive issues and giving authority to Baha'u'llah's writings and teachings in order to understand them.

Does it make sense why this is so jarring to me? The issue of homosexuality
in the Christian church has been hotly debated for decades now. Traditionally, Protestants (from the time of the Reformation) have sought the Bible as the ultimate authority (while, funnily enough, relying on highly intelligent and willful, perhaps inspired, writers to help decipher... that's another discussion though.). Others seek their clergy or respective Church authority's for clarification on major and minor issues.

Now, those who follow the Bahai faith claim that authority is vested throughout these Scriptures (actually affirming multiple Scriptures of many of the world's faiths) but ALSO primarily in the writings of Baha'u'llah. His writings are thought of as Divinely authoritative, and NOT just some other wise sage or knowledgable scholar. Not even as a major prophet. But Divine Himself.

2) Afterlife "Like a Baby in the Womb"

In the notes that I took, the analogy was used when asked "What about an afterlife?". That analogy was "This life is to the next as a baby's time in the womb is to birth." How this extends or unpacks is that while in the womb, we are developing parts that are not useful at all in the womb. Or, certainly not necessary for survival there-in. Much the same is said about this current life in this plane of existence. 

Thus, our goal is to live life trying to develop the traits that will help us in the next plane of existence. Whatever happens next, the ultimate goal is unity with the Divine. 

Similarly, we can have suffering in this life if we underdevelop in the womb, or if something major harms and scars us and delays development. That would mean that, after death of the physical body and passage into the next round of whatever, we experience a greater amount of suffering than if we were conscious of turning towards and seeking the Divine.

Well, this appeals to my sentimentality for a few reasons. One is that I've, for the longest time, rejected outright the notion of Hell and Heaven as physical places where we go after we die. While I've speculated otherwise, I at some time picked up along the way the thought that Heaven was unity with the Divine, and Hell was complete separation from Him/It/She. Hence when Christ cries out on the Cross "My God My God why hast thou forsaken me," he was actually experiencing Hell, the complete separation from God. And who knows what happened during those three days, but I've heard it suggested that he was in Hell battling with Satan. [I wish I could do a footnote that shows up on the side of this page, because it would say "Let's be honest, Christ never actually said flowery language like that. Okay, maybe he did, but it would have been in Aramaic probably."]

Although, that last part (about battling Satan) is not considered possible in the Bahai faith. 

For sake of time... Summary of "How I'm Feeling"

I can't take the time to go into the rest of those subheadings yet. But here's the deal... ever since Thursday night's discussion, I've been very very weary of claiming anything as a Christian. So strange how that happens. There's a lot more to go into here. But reading the Bible, trying to figure out a strict theology based off of Biblical truths, and living in accordance with Biblically-inspired principles has suddenly become a very cautious thing for me. 

And that's mildly upsetting. Mildly because I was just starting to get into this "I feel strongly that I am a Christian and here is what God wants me to do, and I endeavor to live in Christian community doing many big things in the name of Christ and of God." It'd be devastating if it weren't for "well, Christ is still vastly important. We just have a more intricate understanding of the Divine now..."

Not saying that I am Bahai. But saying that I need to investigate further before being a gung-ho Christian. Which is exactly what Speakeasy is supposed to be about. And it's exactly why I'll be launching into my own book and project this summer.

Gotta stop for now!

We'll see how else this blog develops and evolves. Other members of Speakeasy will be posting occasionally with their thoughts. I'm intrigued to follow along and comment back and forth with them. Feel free to comment on what's here already.

Needless to say, powerful things at play.

Faithfully,

~Sean E Matthews