The Kitab-I-Iqan; the Book of Certitude – Baha’u’llah
[CORRECTION 8-14-24: I mistakenly wrote, probably in each of my 5 posts on the Book of Certitude, that Shoghi Effendi wrote the introduction and Baha’u’llah the balance of the book. Shoghi Effendi only translated the entire Book of Certitude, he wrote none of it. Therefore, all the errors I pointed out in the 5 posts were made by Baha’u’llah.
The errors were basically that Baha’u’llah stated things about the Bible that are very inaccurate. Posts 2-5 focus on 4 errors. I think that post 1 was only an introduction to the series. I quit on post 5 due to lack of reader interest. I also believed that my point had been made: that the Book of Certitude differed widely from the Biblical account of the lives of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus.
I set the Bible text next to that of the Book of Certitude, the reader can see for him/her self the vast differences.
The question the reader needs to ponder is, are these two revelations from the same God?]
[Bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine.]
The current focus of these posts is on the introduction to the Book of Certitude, written [only translated] by the grandson of Baha’u’llah, Shoghi Effendi.
Effendi’s writing thus far seems to be focused on at least two goals: firstly, establishing that God sent into the world ‘manifestations’ of Himself who had been charged with the spiritual evolution of the world; and secondly, that all of these ‘manifestations’ of God have been initially rejected and opposed for various reasons, the greatest of which seems to be that the people they address are still clinging to traditions they were taught by preceding ‘manifestations.’
In reading his words, you will find that his extensive use of metaphors and flowery language makes his points very difficult to discern.
Posts 1-4 of this series, covered the following information:
- This post was the Introduction: my purpose in critiquing the Book of Certitude – to show how erroneously scriptures from the Bible were used to support the writer’s purposes.
- This second post critiqued Shoghi Effendi’s statements about Noah by setting beside his words, scriptures about Noah to show how vastly different these are, indicating that Effendi’s purpose was achieved by grossly twisting scripture.
- Post three was about Abraham. My critique was again, to show the vast difference between the Abraham of scriptures and the Abraham of Shoghi Effendi. I linked to the first post a 22-page document wherein I showed via using scriptures that God established a covenant with Abraham which came to fruition in the New Covenant established by the blood of Jesus in the New Testament. That is why the apostle Paul, in Romans and Galatians, stated that the true Christian is the one who believes God by faith, as Abraham did in Genesis 15:6.
- Post four covered Effendi’s statements about Moses, how they differ from scripture. Again, by reading Galatians of the New Testament, one may learn that God’s covenant with Moses had a purpose related to His end designs, the New Covenant via the blood of Christ (the 22-page document carefully follows the Old and New Testaments to show these things while it simultaneously completely undermines Baha’i ‘progressive revelation’ by showing that Abraham, Moses and Jesus all belong to Christianity, they were central figures in the revelation of God’s plan of redemption which began in Genesis 3; they were NOT the leaders of three different world religions).
All the above posts are under the CATEGORY, Baha’i Faith, in this blog.
This post covers only part of Shoghi Effendi’s comments about Jesus. Two or more posts will be required to deal with his comments about Jesus, as they are more numerous than his comments about the preceding biblical figures.
This post begins at paragraph 14 in the book, through paragraph 20.
Text from the Book of Certitude is pasted in from the PDF available at the Baha’i website linked in post 1 (which I linked at the bottom of this post for your convenience). If you download the PDF to your pc and copy and paste my posts, you can review them at your leisure.
Paragraph 14 is not posted below because within it Shoghi Effendi again articulated the argument as to why all the Manifestations are rejected or opposed, even though God has bestowed upon them complete, full knowledge, lacking nothing…. That was critiqued already in another post. If you are a Baha’i, then you ought to read all these posts to examine his errors. Knowing these ought to have some impact upon your own trust of the Baha’i Faith.
Paragraph 15 and 16 are also being skipped because Effendi therein only makes references to the Quran; I stated in earlier posts that I lack knowledge of that book to critique such references.
Paragraph 17: And when the days of Moses were ended, and the light of Jesus, shining forth from the
dayspring of the Spirit, encompassed the world, all the people of Israel arose in protest against
Him. They clamored that He Whose advent the Bible had foretold must needs promulgate and
fulfill the laws of Moses, whereas this youthful Nazarene, who laid claim to the station of the
divine Messiah, had annulled the law of divorce and of the sabbath day—the most weighty of all
the laws of Moses. Moreover, what of the signs of the Manifestation yet to come? These people of
Israel are even unto the present day still expecting that Manifestation which the Bible hath
foretold! How many Manifestations of Holiness, how many Revealers of the light everlasting,
have appeared since the time of Moses, and yet Israel, wrapt in the densest veils of satanic fancy
and false imaginings, is still expectant that the idol of her own handiwork will appear with such
signs as she herself hath conceived! Thus hath God laid hold of them for their sins, hath
extinguished in them the spirit of faith, and tormented them with the flames of the nethermost
fire. And this for no other reason except that Israel refused to apprehend the meaning of such
words as have been revealed in the Bible concerning the signs of the coming Revelation. As she
never grasped their true significance, and, to outward seeming, such events never came to pass,
she, therefore, remained deprived of recognizing the beauty of Jesus and of beholding the face of
God. And they still await His coming! From time immemorial even unto this day, all the kindreds
and peoples of the earth have clung to such fanciful and unseemly thoughts, and thus have
deprived themselves of the clear waters streaming from the springs of purity and holiness.
[Critique of paragraph 17:
Divorce:
Jesus did not annul divorce, He said the following to the Pharisees in Matthew 19:4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Matthew 19:7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
Mat 19:9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” [Divorce was not annulled.]
[‘And I say to you’ is a phrase that occurs through His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, therein, He is correcting their concepts of the law and God’s design of it – the law of God judges the thoughts, feelings and actions. The Pharisees only believed it judged the outward actions, their error was great.]
The Sabbath Day:
Matthew 12:3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?
Mat 12:5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?
[Have you not read= Jesus counted the scriptures as God’s word carrying divine authority; the priests had to honor the Sabbath day differently than the people because they had to work.]
Mat 12:6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.
Mat 12:7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
Mat 12:8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Present day still expecting their Messiah:
Effendi’s argument that the Jews rejected Jesus because He did not come as they believed the Messiah would come to Israel, is correct, from the Holy Scriptures.
Revealers of light everlasting:
Effendi’s words refer to what Baha’is call ‘Manifestations of God;’ no such person occurred between Moses and Jesus; no such person ever occurred in the Bible with the exception of the incarnation of the Son of God spoken of in the books of Matthew 1 and Luke 2.
Also, the Bible refers to Moses as a prophet used by God to lead His people out of Egypt. Consider the following passages of scripture that explain Moses’ role in God’s work of redemption; he was called into service by God and he was terminated by God, per scripture.
Exodus 3:3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Exodus 3:7 Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Exodus 3:9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Scripture indicates: that God used Moses to deliver His own people from Egypt. Moses did not call them to be enlightened spiritually via his words… as ‘progressive revelation’ indicates. Nor was Moses the founder of the Jewish religion, or of a world religion.
During the wilderness wanderings of the people Israel, Moses disobeyed God by striking the rock twice to get water to flow from it after God told him to speak to the rock….
The significance of the Rock from which God made water flow:
1 Corinthians 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
Because Moses disobeyed God, He told Moses, he would not be permitted to enter into the ‘promised land’ with the nation Israel. The following passage speaks of that. That is, God terminated Moses office of prophet, leader of His people and gave that office to Joshua:
Joshua 1:1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. …8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Deuteronomy 32:49[God speaking to Moses] “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,
Deu 32:51 because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel.
Deu 32:52 For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Satanic fancy:
I was surprised to see that Effendi had used this phrase in paragraph 17; as I thought that Baha’is did not believe in Satan. The Bible speaks of Satan by one or another of his many names from Genesis through Revelation.
Extinguished in them the spirit of faith:
The above statement by Effendi indicates that he believed in God’s sovereignty; that is something that anyone who reads through the Bible, and is given faith by God’s Spirit, will comprehend. Since God is sovereign, He gives faith, enabling belief in Himself, to whomever He chooses, as John 3:1-15 makes clear.
Effendi also speaks as though ‘seekers’ have the power to seek God, make themselves righteous…. The Bible attributes both those things to God the Holy Spirit.
Israel refused… words revealed in the Bible… coming revelation:
This statement by Effendi, also points to the fact that Israel did not believe God’s word regarding His prophesied Messiah, the one described on the pages of the Old Testament: see Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 for a clear description of the atoning work of the coming Messiah; those words describe Christ’s work.
Paragraph 18: In unfolding these mysteries, We have, in Our former Tablets which were addressed to a
friend in the melodious language of Ḥijáz, cited a few of the verses revealed unto the Prophets of
old. And now, responding to your request, We again shall cite, in these pages, those same verses,
uttered this time in the wondrous accents of ‘Iráq, that haply the sore athirst in the wilds of
remoteness may attain unto the ocean of the divine presence, and they that languish in the
wastes of separation be led unto the home of eternal reunion. Thus the mists of error may be
dispelled, and the all-resplendent light of divine guidance dawn forth above the horizon of human
hearts. In God We put Our trust, and to Him We cry for help, that haply there may flow from this
pen that which shall quicken the souls of men, that they may all arise from their beds of
heedlessness and hearken unto the rustling of the leaves of Paradise, from the tree which the
hand of divine power hath, by the permission of God, planted in the Riḍván of the All-Glorious.
[Critique of the underscored text above, specifically:
…flow from this pen that which will quicken the souls of men:
The following scriptures indicate that the souls of men must be firstly quickened by God the Holy Spirit:
In the Bible: John 3 and Ephesians 2; people are dead spiritually until the Holy Spirit gives them spiritual rebirth. One cannot, that is, read and be quickened unless he has already been reborn from above: regenerated; translated into the kingdom of light as it is called in Colossians.
That quickening work is done by God’s Holy Spirit, which may become clear to the reader in prayerfully considering the following scriptures:
John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” …6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
[To clarify: all are physically born into this world in a state of spiritual death. One cannot enter into the kingdom of God in that state, but must be given spiritual birth from above, by the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, as Jesus stated in beatitudes of Matthew 5, one is able to discover his own spiritual depravity, mourn his sin, seek and receive the true righteousness only given by God, via the merit of Christ….]
If you prayerfully consider the following scriptural passages, you may discover that spiritual rebirth begins with the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of every true believer of Jesus. You may go to Bible Hub (link below) to delve into these things via Bible commentaries, if you do not own a study Bible.
Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
Eph. 2:3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
The above is stated many places in the Bible, see, for example, Romans 1-5 where Paul establishes that all people, Jews and Gentiles, are sinners, that NONE can earn righteousness by following the commands of God (ch. 3) and that all are born in Adam, sinful; and anyone saved from God’s wrath against sin is done so by the grace of God because of Christ’s atoning work and His having lived a righteous life, following all the commands of God while He was on earth. That work of Christ is applied to believers by faith through God’s Holy Spirit.
Colossians 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ]
Paragraph 19: To them that are endowed with understanding, it is clear and manifest that when the fire of the love of Jesus consumed the veils of Jewish limitations, and His authority was made apparent
and partially enforced, He, the Revealer of the unseen Beauty, addressing one day His disciples,
referred unto His passing, and, kindling in their hearts the fire of bereavement, said unto them: “I
go away and come again unto you.” And in another place He said: “I go and another will come
Who will tell you all that I have not told you, and will fulfill all that I have said.” Both these
sayings have but one meaning, were you to ponder upon the Manifestations of the Unity of God
with divine insight.
[Critique on the underscored words in paragraph 19:
Effendi used the above underscored text to support his claim that God will be sending another ‘Manifestation’ of Himself to further instruct mankind; his aim is in accordance with the Baha’i theory of ‘progressive revelation.’ Additionally, paragraph 20 goes into this matter further.
However, the Biblical meaning of these words, from the context in which they are stated are about Jesus sending His Spirit to instruct and guide His followers. Consider the following biblical text from John 16 [I think this is what Effendi was paraphrasing; readers should study the entire chapter]:
John 16:1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.
John 16:4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
John 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
John 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Joh 16:15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Jesus High Priestly prayer:
John 17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
John 17:8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
Paragraph 20, part A: Every discerning observer will recognize that in the Dispensation of the Qur’án both the Book and the Cause of Jesus were confirmed. As to the matter of names, Muḥammad, Himself, declared:
“I am Jesus.” He recognized the truth of the signs, prophecies, and words of Jesus, and testified
that they were all of God. In this sense, neither the person of Jesus nor His writings hath differed
from that of Muḥammad and of His holy Book, inasmuch as both have championed the Cause of
God, uttered His praise, and revealed His commandments. [Part A of paragraph 20]
[Critique on the above underscored text:
The Cause of Jesus; His mission and purpose for coming into this world:
The plan of redemption declared in the Bible begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation. It begins with God making a reference to a coming redeemer in Genesis 3; then God calls out a people to Himself, beginning with Abraham in Genesis 15.
God’s plan of redemption is the only way in which a sinner may escape the eternal wrath of God the Father against the sin that violates His holy law: one who believes in Jesus by faith may obtain forgiveness of his / her sins by confessing them to God, and by partaking of God’s MEANS of grace. [Means of grace: Bible reading; prayer; hearing the gospel preached; taking the Lord’s Supper; fellowship with believers around God’s word, as in prayer meetings.]
God’s mercies because of Christ’s atoning work and His having lived a righteous life on earth wherein He earned merit that is transferred to those who believe in Him by faith; these things become available to a believer by way of covenant.
God’s covenant agreement with Abraham was the foundation upon which God made further covenant -related revelations to Israel by Moses. In the following scriptures, God spoke of His New Covenant via the blood of His Son:
Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
[See Jeremiah 31:31-40; and Ezekiel 36:22-38 for a more complete description of Old Testament descriptions of the New Covenant.]
The New Covenant alluded to by Jesus as He celebrated His last Passover with His disciples:
Matthew 26:26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
All humans are born in sin, per the Bible, Genesis 3; and God’s plan of redemption unfolds on the pages of scripture from that point, through Revelation 20.
God made a covenant with Abraham after having called him out of the Pagan land of Ur in Genesis 12. That covenant was added to by God, via the laws He gave to Moses in Exodus 20ff. Those dealings of God with Abraham and Moses pointed towards the final covenant that would be ratified via the blood of Jesus in the New Testament. (The 22-page document I wrote for Baha’is outlines all of that. Therefore, there is to be NO revelation from God to mankind after the Bible, see the last words in Revelation 22 below.)
Effendi stated above that neither the person nor the writings of Muhammad and Jesus differ:
The person of Christ is God the Son, according to scripture. He is not merely a prophet, as Muhammad called himself; and as Islam believes Jesus to be. Consider the following scriptures:
Matthew 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Matthew 3:16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
[Jesus had to be baptized because He had to live his life out as a Man, and be subject to God’s commandments, obeying them without sin. I’m sure there is more to it than that, but I am only a student of the Bible, not a theologian. See Romans 5 for the apostle Paul’s words on the matter.]
The apostle Paul’s words about Christ’s blood:
Acts 20:27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
Matthew 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
In Islam and all religions except Christianity, the follower / believer / seeker must earn their own righteousness by keeping commands, by obeying rules…. Christianity is the only religion in which one becomes righteous by a declaration of God as Abraham did in Genesis 15:6. That work is presently carried out secretly by God’s Holy Spirit, as in John 3:1-8. The believer’s righteousness comes to him / her by the faith they have in the finished work of Christ. [See Romans and Galatians for a better understanding.]
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Revelation 22:18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. 20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. ]
[The plagues are promised to those who break God’s covenant: see Deuteronomy 28, and Leviticus 26. Therein they are called curses and are clearly described in each of these long chapters.]
Paragraph 20, part B:
Thus it is that Jesus, Himself, declared: “I go away and come again unto you.” Consider the sun. Were it to say now, “I am the sun of yesterday,” it would speak the truth. And should it, bearing the sequence of time in mind, claim to be other than that sun, it still would speak the truth. In like manner, if it be said that all the days are but one and the same, it is correct and true. And if it be said, with respect to their particular names and designations, that they differ, that again is true. For though they are the same, yet one doth recognize in each a separate designation, a specific attribute, a particular character. Conceive accordingly the distinction, variation, and unity characteristic of the various Manifestations of holiness, that thou mayest comprehend the allusions made by the Creator of all names and attributes to the mysteries of distinction and unity, and discover the answer to thy question as to why that everlasting Beauty should have, at sundry times, called Himself by different names and titles.
[Critique of paragraph 20 part B:
Effendi stated: “I go away and come again unto you.” He used Jesus’ words from the Bible and put his own spin on them, in terms of Baha’i theories / tenets.
It is clear that he put a Baha’i spin on Jesus’ words from his concluding remarks: …various Manifestations of holiness… why that everlasting Beauty… called Himself by different names and titles:
He is referring to Baha’i ‘progressive revelation’ which is their foundational tenet upon which they justify that Baha’u’llah is the current ‘Manifestation’ of God with the authority to provide spiritual guidance, teaching… to mankind.
[My original blog post on Baha’i progressive revelation explains those things succinctly; it is linked at the bottom of this post.]
The Bible, which, by the way is not yet fulfilled in its prophecies, denies that any ‘manifestation’ from God will appear after Christ.
Consider the following scriptures which indicate that the covenant established in Christ’ blood is the final word from God; and that what remains to occur is Christ’s return and His judgment of the world:
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore [disciples, Christians, Missionaries…] and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus’ words below, from Matthew 25, are about His ending of the age with divine judgment [please go to Mathew 25 and read the entire chapter, even the book of Matthew, to get a clear sense of His words, as I did not include all verses in that passage]:
Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left… 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
[For a conceptualization of His throne, see Ezekiel 1 and Daniel 7; Revelation also speaks of the throne.]
[Therefore, since Jesus’ judgment is eternal, there can be NO ‘manifestation’ after Jesus.]
The words below speak of the Son being the last word from God the Father:
Hebrews 1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
… Hebrews 1:6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” 7 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.” 8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
Scripture from the book of Acts wherein the apostle Paul spoke to the Athenians of Jesus’ judging of the world:
Acts 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, [the Greeks had idols everywhere, Paul is referring to those idols in this context] 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
26 And he made from one man [Adam] every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, [of their sins]
31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” ….
I could put in many other examples from both Testaments about Jesus and judgment. Please read the New Testament; Baha’is claim it as part of their own revelation….
I have inserted just enough scripture above to let the reader know that Baha’i progressive revelation is a fiction created by them. The real God of the Bible spoke via scriptures. Prayerfully consider what is above and ask God for the faith to comprehend.
In my 22-page document, I introduce it with a very brief discussion about faith and how that was given to me. It is an hour read that explains much that is absent from these 5 posts. Baha’is should read it for the welfare of their own souls.
Link to post 1 of this series which contains the link to Baha’i Book of Certitude and my 22-page document against progressive revelation: https://sheeplywolves.com/bahai-faith-book-of-certitude-huge-errors-regarding-the-citing-of-scripture/
Link to post on PROGRESSIVE REVELATION: https://sheeplywolves.com/bahai-progressive-revelation-shown-to-be-irrational/
Link to 22-page document on Bible covenants that undermines Baha’i progressive revelation: Covenant with Bible refs.pdf 4.2.20
Link to Bible Hub, for many Bible versions, Bible commentaries and dictionaries: https://www.biblehub.com/