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What do Bahá'í believe?
The short answer
The Bahá'í Faith teaches that God is one and unknowable in his essence, and that he has revealed himself progressively through a series of Manifestations, including Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and, most recently, Bahá'u'lláh, the founder, whose writings, including the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, are its scripture. Each religion is one chapter of a single unfolding faith, suited to its age. Scripture honours the earlier messengers, and answers that in these last days God has spoken in his Son, finally, and that Jesus is the way, not one chapter among others.
The fuller answer
The Bahá'í Faith began in nineteenth century Persia. Its founder, Bahá'u'lláh, is regarded by Bahá'ís as the latest Manifestation of God, a perfect mirror of God's attributes for this age, in a line that includes Krishna, Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad and the Báb. His writings, above all the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the book of laws, and many tablets and letters, form its scripture. From that root grow its best known teachings: the oneness of God, of religion and of humanity, the abolition of prejudice, equality of men and women, universal education, and a world commonwealth of nations. Religions differ, on this account, because each Manifestation spoke to the capacity of his time.
On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.
Hebrews 1:1-2 (BSB)
The opening of Hebrews agrees with half of that picture and then closes the door the rest needs open. God did speak long ago, at many times and in many ways, by the prophets. Progressive revelation, up to a point, is a biblical idea. But the writer continues: in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. The Son is not presented as the latest in a continuing series. He is the heir of all things, the radiance of God's glory, through whom the ages were made. A series that continues past him must explain why the text calls his speaking last days speech, final in kind.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6 (BSB)
Jesus' own claim is the second difficulty. He says he is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through him. Bahá'í teaching honours Jesus sincerely as a Manifestation and accepts his virgin birth, while treating his death as not an atonement and his resurrection as largely symbolic. The Jesus of the Gospels will not fit the honour offered. He claims an exclusivity that a later Manifestation cannot absorb without contradicting him, because his claim is precisely that there is no successor who will stand beside or beyond him as another way to the Father.
Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12 (BSB)
Peter's sentence after the resurrection is the apostolic version of the same point. Salvation is found in no one else, and there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Bahá'í friends are often admirable neighbours: peaceful, principled, devoted to unity. The conversation to have is the honest one, about Jesus himself rather than about unity in the abstract. Ask whether a Manifestation who says no one comes to the Father except through him can be honoured by a faith that adds names beside his, and read John's Gospel together to let him press the question himself.
Sources
- Berean Standard Bible (BSB)
- Bahá'í writings: the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the tablets
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