NWO Religion

Originally posted by Nygdan
My understanding of the Ba'hi is that its presented as a fufilment of Islamic prophecy, with the Bab being the "door" the communicates with the Mahdi. And from that fufilment the religion moved on into new territory.

Many religions in islamic territories are not permited to recruit new members (as this would mean converting muslims, which can be seen as an attack on islam). Do you think that the Ba'hai prophibitions against evangelizing are because of this? After all, the iranian government at the time persecuted the Ba'hais.

From what I understand, the faith is split into two groups, or, rather, the Ba'hai follow one man, and are seperate, and there is another 'prophet' of the bab, who has his own group that is only in Iran. What is the relationship between these groups? Are the others considered apostates or to be in error?

Would evangelizing them be 'proper'?

You are on the right track. We believe that Baha'u'llah is the one promised by other religions to reveal God's message in modern times. To us he is the return of Christ (I should say not Christ the individual, but the Christ figure that delivers God's message on Earth). The Bab (which does mean Door or Gate) is a kind of equivelant of John the Baptist. He claimed (and we believe) to be the Hidden Imam, the Mahdi. He also proclaimed the coming of another greater than himself, but also laid out his own laws. He is given a more elevated status than John as a messenger of God in his own right. Those that followed him (including Bah'u'llah at one time) were called Babi's. When Baha'u'llah claimed his position as the promised one of all religions (those coming from the messengers; Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Mohammed, Jesus, and The Bab) he abrogated the laws of his predecessor and wrote a new dispensation. There are those who still follow the laws laid down by the Bab. I can't say what their reasons are, but to each his own.

Right now, in Iran, the persecution of Baha'is has picked up considerably. Some of the Iranian members of my church talk about how Baha'i friends were arrested, tortured and even executed. The graves of some Baha'is were also desecrated.

I would say that the prohibition against evengelizing might be based on what was seen as a threat to the lives of His followers. It would make sense. It's also based on the teaching that we also must seek and learn for ourselves. We have no priests, monks or pastors. For my own part, I like the idea of non-proseltyzing because it can be a real turn-off for a lot of people. If they really wanted to know, they would ask. Cheers.