Exploring The Bahai Faith: Belief In Trinity

The Baháʼí Faith is a monotheistic religion founded in the 19th century by Baháʼu'lláh. It teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Baháʼís believe in the oneness of God, the unity of religion, and the unity of humanity. They do not believe in the Trinity.

Bahá'ís believe in the oneness of God, not the Trinity

Bahá'ís believe that God is one, eternal, and the creator of all things in the universe. God is seen as having an unknowable essence, with Bahá'ís achieving an understanding of God through divine messengers or Manifestations of God. These Manifestations are founders of major world religions, including Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, is considered the most recent of these Manifestations, bringing a new revelation from God.

The Bahá'í Faith teaches that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, and that human understanding of God is achieved through the recognition of Manifestations and their revelations. Bahá'í teachings emphasise monotheism, with God often referred to by titles and attributes such as the All-Powerful or the All-Loving. These attributes are used to translate Godliness into human terms and to help Bahá'ís concentrate on developing their spiritual path.

Bahá'ís believe in the essential unity of all religions, seeing the world's major religions as fundamentally unified in their purpose but divergent in their social practices and interpretations. This belief in the unity of religion is closely tied to the Bahá'í belief in the oneness of God.

The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion, and Bahá'ís believe in the oneness of God, not the Trinity.

Bahá'u'lláh is the prophet and founder of the Bahá'í Faith

Bahá'u'lláh was born Mírzá Husayn-ʻAlí in Tehran, Iran, in 1817. He was born into an aristocratic family and was well-read and devoutly religious. At the age of 22, he turned down a position in the government, instead managing family properties and donating time and money to charities. At 27, he accepted the claim of the Báb and became one of the most outspoken supporters of the new religious movement. Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned and exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Bábi Faith. In 1863, Bahá'u'lláh first announced his claim to a revelation from God, and spent the rest of his life in further imprisonment in the Ottoman Empire.

Bahá'u'lláh wrote at least 1,500 letters, some book-length, that have been translated into at least 802 languages. He viewed humans as fundamentally spiritual beings and called upon individuals to develop divine virtues and further the material and spiritual advancement of society. Bahá'u'lláh died in 1892 near Acre. His burial place is a destination for pilgrimage by his followers, known as Bahá'ís, who now reside in 236 countries and territories and number between 5 and 8 million. Bahá'ís regard Bahá'u'lláh as a Manifestation of God in succession to others like Buddha, Jesus, or Muhammad.

Bahá'ís believe in the unity of humanity

> "The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."

Bahá'ís believe that since all humans have been created equal, they all require equal opportunities and treatment. This teaching promotes the unity of humanity and the idea that people should love the whole world, rather than just their nation. However, the teaching does not equate unity with uniformity. Instead, Bahá'í writings advocate for the principle of "unity in diversity", where the variety in the human race is valued.

Bahá'u'lláh's son, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, compared the human race to a flower garden, where the diversity of colours and forms makes the garden more beautiful. He stated that:

> "The world of humanity is like unto a rose garden and the various races, tongues and people are like unto contrasting flowers. The diversity of colours in a rose-garden adds to the charm and beauty of the scene as variety enhances unity."

Bahá'ís believe that unity will not be achieved through the suppression of differences, but through each person respecting the intrinsic value of other individuals and cultures. In this view, it is not diversity that causes conflict, but rather people's intolerance and prejudice towards it.

The Bahá'í teaching of the unity of humanity emphasises the unity of all people, transcending divisions of race, nation, gender, caste, and social class, while celebrating the diversity of the human race. This teaching is closely linked to another core principle of the Bahá'í Faith: the elimination of all forms of prejudice. 'Abdu'l-Bahá stated that the elimination of prejudice is essential for human well-being and world unity and peace.

Bahá'ís believe that humanity has gone through a process of progressive revelation, with various messengers of God, including Buddha, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, through whom humanity has grown collectively. Bahá'u'lláh wrote that society has been steadily organising itself with higher levels of unity, from the family to tribes, city-states, and nations. Bahá'ís believe that the next stage of collective growth is world unity and the organisation of society as a planetary civilisation.

Bahá'ís believe in the essential harmony of all religions

Bahá'ís believe in the essential harmony and unity of all religions, viewing every great faith as a link in a single, spiritual system. Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, taught that the religions of the world come from the same source and are successive chapters of one religion from God.

Bahá'ís believe that God sends divine educators, or Manifestations of God, to humanity to reveal divine messages. These Manifestations include Abraham, Zoroaster, Moses, the Buddha, Krishna, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, the Báb, and Bahá'u'lláh himself. Each of these figures is accepted by Bahá'ís as the founder of a major world religion, and their teachings are seen as providing the basis for the advancement of civilization.

Bahá'ís view Bahá'u'lláh as the latest divine messenger to found a major world religion and bring about a new age of human development. Bahá'u'lláh taught the oneness of humanity, the oneness of religion, the equality of men and women, the harmony of science and religion, and the establishment of a global system of governance.

The Bahá'í Faith is considered by Bahá'ís to be the religion sent from God for this day, though it is not seen as the final religion. Bahá'u'lláh wrote that there would not be another manifestation of God for at least 1,000 years.

Bahá'ís believe that religion is revealed in an orderly and progressive way by a single God. Religious history is interpreted as a series of dispensations, where each manifestation brings a somewhat broader and more advanced revelation. Specific religious social teachings may be revoked by a subsequent manifestation so that a more appropriate requirement for the time and place may be established. Conversely, certain general principles are seen as universal and consistent.

Bahá'ís assert that their religion is a distinct tradition with its own scriptures and laws, and not a sect of another religion.

Bahá'ís believe in progressive revelation

The teachings of each messenger are tailored to suit the needs of the time and place of their appearance. Baháʼís believe that God is generally regular and periodic in revealing His will to mankind through these messengers, who in turn establish a covenant and found a religion. This process of revelation is seen as both progressive and continuous, and therefore never-ceasing.

The differences in the revelation brought by each messenger are attributed to various worldly, societal, and human factors, and are in accordance with the "conditions" and "varying requirements of the age" and the "spiritual capacity" of humanity. As such, religious truth is seen as relative to its recipients and not absolute. While the messengers proclaimed eternal moral and spiritual truths that are renewed by each messenger, they also changed their message to reflect the particular spiritual and material evolution of humanity at the time of their appearance.

Baháʼu'lláh explained that the appearance of successive messengers was like the annual coming of Spring, which brings new life to the world that has neglected the teachings of the previous messenger. He also used the metaphor of the world as the human body, with revelation as a robe of "justice and wisdom".

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