[CORRECTION, 8-14-24: in each of the 5 posts about the Book of Certitude, I mistakenly stated that Shoghi Effendi wrote the introduction and Baha’u’llah the balance of the Book. That is an error on my part. Shoghi Effendi MERELY translated the entire book, Baha’u’llah WROTE it. Therefore, all the errors I cite in the 5 posts about the Book of Certitude are attributed to Baha’u’llah. The errors are regarding Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Baha’u’llah’s statements differ widely from the biblical accounts of the lives of these 4 men.
So, if you read these 5 posts, please remember this error. I noted this correction of post 1 and post 5.]
Today I am beginning a series on the Kitab-i-iqan, The Book of Certitude of the Baha’i Faith. This initial post is an introduction; it is accompanied by post 2 [just after midnight] which shows the initial error regarding what Shoghi Effendi said about Noah. His words are compared with scripture from the Holy Bible.
This book was apparently written by the leader of the Baha’i Faith, Baha’u’llah; with the introduction written by Shoghi Effendi, his grandson.
My focus will be to cite the errors this work contains, regarding the Bible only; Shoghi Effendi also cited the Quran.
I am calling his statements erroneous because he speaks of biblical characters in ways that differ widely from the Bible. Examples will show these errors clearly.
I plan to take small portions of Effendi’s erroneous statements of bible scripture and set them alongside the words of scripture so that readers can see the significance of his errors.
This blog already contains a post, and a 22-page document written against the Baha’i Faith, linked below and also under the CATEGORY of Baha’i Faith. These show that Abraham, Moses and Christ are all of Christianity, not the founders of 3 world religions. That fact undermines the integrity of the Baha’i theory of ‘progressive revelation.
Those posts, and these, on the Kitab-i-iqan, are intended to warn Baha’is that they are in a false belief system.
I hope to write at least one post every 2-4 weeks as I read through the Book of Certitude.
I was a Baha’i for almost 5 years and left the faith in the early 1980s (See, ‘About Me’ in this blog for more). In college, I studied many of the religions that the Baha’i Faith claims to be part of the ‘progressive revelation’ of God which preceded their faith.
They claim that the Baha’i Faith is the most recent revelation from God to humankind.
In all of those studies, I was seeking God. I never found Him and I finally gave up searching and returned to my former way of living, hedonism … materialism, as I was conditioned in America.
A decade later, after I wrecked my life in the proverbial ditch, God revealed Himself to me via my first reading through the Holy Bible, I was converted at age 53-54.
After I’d read through the Bible several times, I realized that NO ONE can set out to find God and succeed.
God revealed Himself to every character of the Bible: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob; Moses, the prophets; the apostles…. See Genesis 12 and 15; Exodus 3 and Acts 9 for the most memorable revelations any person experienced; that of Abraham, Moses and the apostle Paul.
The apostle Paul’s was in many ways the most memorable for several reasons: he was a Pharisee and had a thorough knowledge of the Torah; he believed that his knowledge of scripture and way of life was pleasing to God; he was actively hunting down Christians to have them imprisoned and punished as heretics; he participated in the stoning of one of the early saints, Stephen.
Paul believed himself to be righteous and approved of God, That is, he was vehemently opposing Christ and His church; however, in his encounter with the risen Christ, He gave Paul a commission, making him the apostle of the Gentiles — after knocking him off his horse and blinding him with His effulgence. (See John 3:1-8 for more about how the Holy Spirit brings people to faith.)
[MY COMMENTS WILL BE IN RED LETTERS, WITHIN BRACKETS LIKE THIS SENTENCE: I will embolden portions of Baha’i text, mostly because those will be critiqued or explained. Any emboldening or underscoring is mine. If you use the following link to go to the Baha’i website, you can download a pdf copy of the Book of Certitude for yourself.]
Baha’i Library link:
https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/kitab-i-iqan/kitab-i-iqan.pdf?67f1ea9e
FROM THE BOOK OF CERTITIDE [PDF version]:
Foreword
This is one more attempt to introduce to the West, in language however inadequate, this book of
unsurpassed preeminence among the writings of the Author of the Bahá’í Revelation. The hope is
that it may assist others in their efforts to approach what must always be regarded as the
unattainable goal—a befitting rendering of Bahá’u’lláh’s matchless utterance.
—Shoghi
[The purpose of the emboldened sentence above is to emphasize how the grandson of Baha’u’llah viewed the book of Certitude. Consider that in light of the mistakes pointed out below.]
PART ONE
IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD, THE EXALTED, THE MOST HIGH.
No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all
that is in heaven and on earth. Sanctify your souls, O ye peoples of the world, that haply ye may
attain that station which God hath destined for you and enter thus the tabernacle which, according
to the dispensations of Providence, hath been raised in the firmament of the Bayán. [‘Bayan’ is defined
at the end of this post.]
THE essence of these words is this: they that tread the path of faith, they that thirst for the wine
of certitude, must cleanse themselves of all that is earthly—their ears from idle talk, their minds
from vain imaginings, their hearts from worldly affections, their eyes from that which perisheth.
They should put their trust in God, and, holding fast unto Him, follow in His way. Then will they
be made worthy of the effulgent glories of the sun of divine knowledge and understanding, and
become the recipients of a grace that is infinite and unseen, inasmuch as man can never hope to
attain unto the knowledge of the All-Glorious, can never quaff from the stream of divine
knowledge and wisdom, can never enter the abode of immortality, nor partake of the cup of divine
nearness and favor, unless and until he ceases to regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a
standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets.
[ The above underlined words are not errors, but I want to make some major points about them.
Regarding the last underlined portion above, I think that is a statement designed to criticize anyone who would question anything said in this book and others he wrote. I will point out his utter lack of supporting statements as we go along. He will make some vague allusion to some body of work that supports his statements, but say nothing more.
The Bible is very unlike that: God gave His servants credibility via miracles, and the fulfillment of prophecy, etc.
Regarding all the other underscored words: all religions other than Christianity, believe that followers CAN, are able, in their own strength, to see and correct such things as are underlined above. Most Christians also err, in that they too are busy doing just that, fixing themselves in their own strength.
They even believe that they can choose to follow Christ; that is, that they can see the spiritual kingdom of Christ and enter into it via their own reason.
The Bible states that no one do such things. In John 3, for example, Jesus told Nicodemus that it is the Holy Spirit that gives new spiritual birth, enabling a person to see that there is a spiritual kingdom.
The apostle Paul stated in Colossians 1:13 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. Please read through the New Testament for your own edification and to discover many more such examples.
Christ’s Spirit DELIVERS believers by giving them the SPIRITUAL NEW BIRTH; thereafter, they can see the kingdom of God and strive to enter into it. Humans are born in a state of spiritual death, and cannot see until the Holy Spirit gives them spiritual life.
The other point I want to make is that the born-again believer is instructed by the Bible to walk by faith. That means, to read the Bible, submit to its authority, and to seek obedience. God’s word and His Spirit working via that word; and by the prayers and strivings of the believer, all work together in the believer the blessed state of poverty of spirit. That state is followed by the blessed attitude of mourning for sin, meekness, hungering for righteousness… as found in Jesus’ description of His kingdom citizens in Matthew 5:3-12.
God will make it clear to the believer that he cannot make himself righteous; besides, the Bible tells us that man’s righteousness is as filthy rags to God; only Christ’s righteousness, imputed to the believer, at the time of his new spiritual birth, can qualify one to enter into heaven.
Regarding self-righteousness: Isaiah 64:6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. [NLT]]
[From the King James Version Bible, the above verse and other verses that discuss that topic: Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
References, based on the underlined words in the above verse from the KJV: are all: Isa_6:5, Isa_53:6; Job_14:4, Job_15:14-16, Job_25:4, Job_40:4, Job_42:5-6; Psa_51:5; Rom_7:18, Rom_7:24; Eph_2:1-2; Tit_3:3
all our: Isa_57:12; Zec_3:3; Php_3:9; Rev_3:17-18, Rev_7:13
we all: Isa_40:6-8; Psa_90:5-6; Jas_1:10-11; 1Pe_1:24-25
our iniquities: Isa_57:13; Psa_1:4; Jer_4:11-12; Hos_4:19; Zec_5:8-11]
[Bayan – defined from the glossary of my hard copy of the Book of Certitude: Baya’n – Literally, exposition, lucidity, eloquence, utterance: title given by the Bab to His Revelation and to two of His writings, one in Persia, the other in Arabic. The former is His chief doctrinal work. It is described in Shoghi Effendi’s God Passes By (pp. 24-25) as a monumental repository of the laws and precepts of the new Dispensation and the treasury enshrining most of the Bab’s references and tributes to, as well as His warning regarding, ‘Him Whom God will make manifest.’ …this Book, of about eight thousand verses, occupying a pivotal position in Babi’ literature, should be regarded primarily as a eulogy of the Promised One rather than a code of laws and ordinances designed to be a permanent guide to future generations.” The Arabic Bayan is described as “smaller and less weighty.” ]
Also: [Bayan (people of the): The followers of the Bab, known also as Babis. See also Bayan.]
LINK TO 22-PAGE PDF: Covenant with Bible refs.pdf 4.2.20
LINK TO INITIAL BAHA’I POST: https://sheeplywolves.com/bahai-progressive-revelation-shown-to-be-irrational/
Featured Image: https://www.bible.ca/creed-bahai-beliefs.htm
END OF POST 1