Dimensions of
Bahā’ī
Soteriology: Some Notes on the Bahā’ī theology of the Salvific and
Redemptive role of Bahā'-Allāh.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Stephen Lambden.
BEING REVISED AND COMPLETED 2006
Turn to me and you are saved, all ends of the earth!
As I am
God and God alone, I swear by myself. . . that every knee
shall bow to me, and every tongue swear loyalty (Isa. 45:22-23.)
. . . the rules of my religion I send forth to light up
every nation (Isa. 2:4.)
I now appoint you to bring light to the
nations, that my salvation may reach the world's end” (Isa. 49:6.)
The word soteriology (Gk. sozein = "to save"; soter = "saviour",
"deliverer"; soteria, "salvation") indicates the theology of the
redemption and salvation of human beings. In Christian terms it is that
part of systematic theology which "seeks to interpret the saving work of
Jesus Christ" (Hopper, 1992:452). While Christology indicates the
doctrine respecting that Galilean messianic claimant viewed by millions
as Jesus the Christ (fl. 1st cent CE) and variously estimated
as being human yet "God"-divine, soteriology has to do with the saving
work, status and influence of Jesus Christ. Soteriology encompasses such
doctrines as atonement (loosely), the salvific consequences Christ's
death on the cross and its effect on the past and future status of
"sinful" individuals. This is related to the doctrine of justification
which has to do with God's act of declaring or making somebody
"righteous" through the "righteousness" of Christ" and to that of
sanctification (Lat. sanctificare) the making of someone pure or holy.
Closely related are questions include those of “repentance”, "sin" and
the "forgiveness of sin", the means of grace and man's final individual
destiny which constitutes personal eschatology.
These above and related concerns and teachings are central
to the faith and attendant theology of many Christians. Bahā'īs, in
communicating their own religion, their own "theology" of the (Per.)
maẓhar-i ilāhī (“Divine Manifestation” / “Divine Theophany”), have
done little to articulate Bahā’ī soteriological teachings. In Bahā’ī
dialogue the relationship of the seeking individual to God is often
completely bypassed in favour of a listing of socio-economic
perspectives and global solutions to world problems which (important
though they are) bypass the very rich soteriological and related Bahā’ī
doctrines. The latter doctrines pertain to and highlight the importance
of the abiding search for individual spirituality and intellectual
integrity within and without the universe of Bābī-Bahā'ī discourse.
In presenting their religion to the general public, contemporary
Bahā’īs have generally neglected soteriological scriptural texts. The
personal relationship of the individual with God through Bahā’-Allāh and
the interior dimensions of the Way to God, are not often in the
forefront of Bahā’ī religious proclamation. What Baha’-Allāh has
accomplished for collective or individual salvation, for the redemption
of humankind is not frequently articulated even though Baha’-Allāh
himself frequently voiced these teachings in innumerable scriptural
alwāḥ (“Tablets”) addressed to a wide variety of individuals, groups and
nations. For several decades, presentations of Bahā’ī doctrine have
frequently been impersonal and socio-economically oriented; somewhat
soulless and lacking in the mystical. Varieties of the `twelve
principles’ (important thought they undoubtedly are) are often
selectively set forth in a depersonalized manner.
This is unfortunate. Bahā’ī theological issues
need much more scholarly attention.
Bahā’ī dialogue sometimes appears too cerebral or impersonal. The desire
not to appear "evangelical" or to act like "born-again" Christian
preachers has consciously or unconsciously left many western Bahā’ī
communities unable to highlight the theology of the inner path of the
individual. There is, a good deal in Bahā’ī sacred scripture that
bears upon the question of individual and collective salvation. The
purpose of these notes will be to highlight and in a tentative manner
explore some neglected soteriological-theological areas of Bahā’ī
scholarship.
Bahā’īs need not be intimidated by the `born-again’ style, the
salvation-soteriological language of evangelical Christians. As it is
the case that "In, Protestantism, salvation is conceived basically in
terms of a restoration of a broken personal relationship [with CHRIST /
GOD]" (Harvey 1964:192), Bahā’īs would do well to assure their audience
of the claim to a renewal of personal relationships with God through
Bahā’-Allāh. He, like Christ, offered personal salvation to his devotees
though servitude to humanity in faith and spirituality. Bahā’ī
soteriology is closely related to Islamic – especially Shī`ī-Shaykhī --
theology and soteriology
Islamic soteriology
Bahā’ī soteriology has its most central roots in Islam or
more specifically in Shī`ī-Shaykhī Islam as it was expressed in 19th
century Qajar Iran. Concern with "sin" and personal salvation are not
very marked in Islam though the Qur'ān does include soteriological
terminology and Shī`ī Muslims make much of the salvific importance of
the immaculate persons of the (Twelver) Imams who are the loci of
salvation.
The doctrine of 'original sin' which became central to Christian thought
from the early centuries via the thought of Tertullian (d.c. 180 CE),
Augustine (d. 430 CE) and others, was never adopted within the Qur'ān or
mainstream Islamic thought Muslims adopted and sometimes articulated a
concept of fiṭrah (a qur'ānic term see Q. ADD) meaning
(loosely) "innate nature", the pristine, individual
proto-faith infused status of humans at the genesis of their existence.
This concept was generally adopted in line with various Qur'an texts and
ḥadīth statements attributed to the Prophet or the Shī`ī Imams. ADD
refs.
From the Arabic triliteral root N-J-W comes the verb
نجا
najā
/ (II) najjā = "to escape, be delivered" while from the verb is formed
the noun
نجاة
najāt = "deliverance”, “salvation". This verbal noun najāt
("salvation") occurs only once in the Qur'ān. God, through the Prophet
Muhammad, calls the people "to salvation" while they call him "to the
Fire" of hell (Qur'ān 40:41[44]). The verb najjā ("to deliver,
rescue…), however, is quite common occurring around 40 times (see Kassis,
837-839). This doubtless reflects the Christian rooted concern with
issues soteriological.
Shī`ī Soteriology
In Imami Shī`ī Islam, the recognition of the divinely appointed Imam is
viewed as fundamental to the wellbeing of humanity and to the attainment
of individual salvation. Individual salvation demands recognition of the
locus of Reality in the person of the successors of the Prophet Muhammad
who are known as the Imams; for twelver Shī`ī Muslims the line of twelve
Imams extending from the first Imam `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661) up
till the awaited twelfth messianic Imam or Qā’im (“Ariser”), named Imam
Muhammad al-Mahdī believd to have been born in the mid 8th
century CE and existing today in ghaybat (“occultation”) pending his
Christ-like eschatological second coming or “return”.
In the oration ascribed to the first Shī`ī Imam and fourth Sunnī Caliph,
`Alī son of Abū Ṭālib known as the Khuṭbah al-ṭutunjiyya (“Sermon of
the Gulf”), a distinctly Shī`ī soteriology is expressed in the following
third paragraph:
O People! turn ye
repentantly unto my party (shi`ah, Shī`ī Islam) and adhere to a pledge
of fealty unto me. Be persistent in the [Imami Shī`ī] religion (al-dīn)
with the excellence of certainty (bi-ḥusn al-yaqīn). Adhere
steadfastly to the successor [legatee] (waṣī) [= Imam `Alī
himself] of your Prophet (nabī, Muhammad) through whom is your
salvation (najat). By virtue of his love (ḥubb), on the
[eschatological] Day of Assembling (yawn al-hashr), is your safe
haven [place of
salvation] (manjāt)” (K-ṭutunjiyya cited Rajab al-Bursī, Mashāriq anwār,
166).
Having said
this `Alī, as the locus of salvation, makes numerous elevated claims.
They include a Christ-like `I am’ saying rooted in the Gospel of John:
“I am the hope and I am the
One hoped for (cf. Q. 15:3; 18:46).
فأنا الامل والمأمول
I am the one who is
stationed over the two Gulfs (wāqif `alā al-ṭutunjayn)
انا الواقف على الطتنجين
I am the one who beholds
the "two Easts" and the "two Wests"
(al-maghribayn
wa'l-mashriqayn)
(cf. Q. 55:17)….
“I am the Truth”
اناعليوثوثا
(`-L-Y-U-TH-U-TH-A = Gk.
Έγç
..[ή]
άλήθgια
, ego eimi
aletheia ) (John 14:6a).
■ Early Qajar dialogue and
Christian soteriology.
In the
early-mid Qajar period a number of European Protestant missionaries and
orientalists wrote anti-Islamic tracts in which Muhammad and the Qur’an
were denigrated and the need for salvation through Christ alone
underlined. Henry Martyn (d. 1812) the English translator of the New
Testament into Persian and the German polemicist Carl Gottlieb Pfander
(c.1805-1865) in particular, penned several works in which evangelical
Jesus-centered Christian perspectives about sin, salvation and judgment,
were propagated amidst anti-Islamic polemic. Translated early into
Persian (1831) and other languages, the latter’s Miftāḥ al-asrār (“Keys
to the mysteries”) was very much on these lines and called for Shī`ī
responses as did Pfander’s better known Mīzān al-ḥaqq (The Balance of
Truth) (Persian, 1836,1839…). Shī`ī mujtahids responded with treatises
about the taḥrīf (“corruption”) of the Bible and the importance of
imamocentric faith and salvation through the Islamic wilāya
(“providence”) centered in the Prophet Muhammad and his infallible
successors the rightly guided Imams.
ADD
■ Bābī-Bahā’ī Soteriology.
This word
نجات
"salvation" (Ar. najat) and related Arabic and Persian
words are very much present in the voluminous Arabic and Persian Bābī
and Bahā’ī scripture. In fact the presence of weightly soteriological
concepts consonant with a new era of judgment and divine guidance are
common. A few examples from the writings of the Bāb and Bahā’-Allāh will
follow with occasional notes.
■ The Bāb QA 68:275,
"God hath written salvation (al-najāt) for such as ride the Ark (al-fulk)
with you…" (cf. Qur'ān 7:62[64];10:73 [74];26:119;
In Persian Bayān V:5 we read,
"Seek ye refuge in God from whatsoever might lead you astray from the
Source of His Revelation and hold fast unto His Cord, for whoso holdeth
fast unto His allegiance, he hath attained and will attain salvation
(najāt) in all the worlds" (Per. 58-9; trans. SWB: 85)
The Persian Bayān of the Bāb has clear soteriological dimensions… ADD
ADD EGB Index LXXXIX Salvation:
"action in accordance with the precepts of the Bayān suffices to secure
------ [salvation] of the Day of Resurrection, VI,8; what ----is VI,15;
how good ----is, VII,2."
ibid,p.LVII on Bāb:"salvation is obtained by belief in him V,11.
“Now consider the Revelation of the Bayan. If the followers of the
Qur'án had applied to themselves proofs similar to those which they
advance for the non-believers in Islam, not a single soul would have
remained deprived of the Truth, and on the Day of Resurrection everyone
would have attained salvation” (the Bab, SWB: 119)
In the above extract, as elsewhere in his writings, the Bāb makes
acceptance of his person and revelation the key to eschatological
salvation.
ADD HERE
■ Alwāḥ (Scriptural Tablets) of Bahā’-Allāh
In part due to Shī`ī and Christian influences, soteriological language
and motifs are quite common in the numerous Arabic and Persian alwāḥ
(scriptural Tablets) of Bahā’-Allāh. In his Lawḥ-i iḥtirāq “(The
Tablet of Conflagration”), popularly known as the “Fire
Tablet”, for example, Bahā’-Allāh utilizes the motif of the “Ark of
salvation” when he supplicates God during a period of extreme
difficulty (the during the early Acre or West Galilean period c.
1871-2):
“Bahá is drowning in a sea of tribulation: Where is the Ark of Thy
salvation (ADD) O Savior of the worlds?”
The Lawḥ-i Haft Pursish (Tablet of the Seven Questions)
O [Zoroastrian] HIGH priests! Ears have been given you that they may
hearken unto the mystery of Him Who is the Self-Dependent, and eyes that
they may behold Him. Wherefore flee ye? The Incomparable Friend is
manifest. He speaketh that wherein lieth salvation. Were ye, O high
priests, to discover the perfume of the rose-garden of understanding, ye
would seek none other but Him, and would recognize, in His new vesture,
the All-Wise and Peerless One, and would 106 turn your eyes from the
world and all who seek it, and would arise to help Him. (Baha'u'llah,
The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah, p. 105)
In his Lawḥ-i Haft Pursish (Tablet of the Seven
Questions) addressed to the Zoroastrian Ustād Javān Mard,
"salvation" (najat) is related to that "wisdom" which is born of
spiritual insight. In response to a fourth question about his latter-day
advent as the expected Zoroastrian messianic Shāh Bahrām, Bahā’-Allāh
states that it is "insight" (bīnā'ī) which leads to "wisdom"
(dānā'ī) and results in that true faith which is salvation.
"Keenness of wisdom (dānā'ī-yi khirad; lit. `the wisdom of
wisdom') he further teaches, derives from "insightful vision" (bīnā'ī-yi
baṣar) (see Daryā-yi -Danish, 68f). Similar
statements are found, among other places, at the end of Bahá'u'lláh's
first Ṭarāz (Ornament) where we read, "in the estimation of men of
wisdom (sāḥibān-i ḥikmat) keenness of understanding (again,
dānā'í-yi khirad) is due to keenness of vision" (see Tablets of
Baha’u’llah 35 and the Persian original)..
From the Lawḥ-i haft pursish :
"The fourth question: "Our books have announced the [future] appearance
of Shāh Bahrām with manifold signs for the guidance of mankind" :
O friend! "Whatsoever hath been announced in the Books hath been
revealed and made clear. From every direction the signs have been
manifested. The Omnipotent One [yazdān] is calling, in this Day,
and announcing the appearance of the Supreme Heaven [mīnū-yi a`ẓam]"
(PDC: 77)." The world is illumined by the lights of His appearance, yet
rare indeed are the eyes endowed with insight. Ask of the one true God
to bestow insight upon His servants. Insight leadeth to wisdom (dānā'ī)
and hath ever been the cause of salvation. Keenness of wisdom (dānā'ī-yi
khirad) is derived from insightful vision. Were the peoples of the
world to gaze with their own eyes, they would see that the world is, in
this Day, illumined with a new radiance. Say: the Day-Star of Wisdom
(khurshīd-i dānā'ī) is manifest and the Sun of Knowledge (āftāb-i
dānish) evident. Happy the one who attaineth thereunto, who seeth
clearly and hath recognised Him" ( trans. Shahriar Razavi , BSB 7:3-4
[June 1992] pp. ADD)
Some further soteriologically significant passages:
O concourse of divines!
Be fair, I adjure you by God, and nullify not the Truth with the things
ye possess. Peruse that which We have sent down with truth. It will,
verily, aid you, and will draw you nigh unto God, the Mighty, the Great.
Consider and call to mind how when Muhammad, the Apostle of God,
appeared, the people denied Him. They ascribed unto Him what caused the
Spirit (Jesus) to lament in His Most Sublime Station, and the Faithful
Spirit to cry out. Consider, moreover, the things which befell the
Apostles and Messengers of God before Him, by reason of what the hands
of the unjust have wrought. We make mention of you for the sake of God,
and remind you of His signs, and announce unto you the things ordained
for such as are nigh unto Him in the most sublime Paradise and the
all-highest Heaven, and I, verily, am the Announcer, the Omniscient. He
hath come for your salvation, and hath borne tribulations that ye may
ascend, by the ladder of utterance, unto the summit of understanding....
Peruse, with fairness and justice, that which hath been sent down. It
will, verily, exalt you through the truth, and will cause you to behold
the things from which ye have been withheld, and will enable you to
quaff His sparkling Wine. 79 (Baha'u'llah, The Proclamation of
Baha'u'llah, p. 77)
WE, verily, have come for your sakes, and have borne the misfortunes
of the world for your salvation. Flee ye the One Who hath sacrificed His
life that ye may be quickened? Fear God, O followers of the Spirit
(Jesus), and walk not in the footsteps of every divine that hath gone
far astray... Open the doors of your hearts. He Who is the Spirit
(Jesus) verily, standeth before them. Wherefore keep ye afar from Him
Who hath purposed to draw you nigh unto a Resplendent Spot? Say: We, in
truth, have opened unto you the gates of the Kingdom. Will ye bar the
doors of your houses in My face? This indeed is naught but a grievous
error. (Baha'u'llah, The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah, p. 91)
ADD
■ The Lawḥ-i ibn-i dh'ib (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf).
In his last major work the Lawḥ-i ibn-i dh'ib (Epistle to the
Son of the Wolf, c. 1891 CE) Bahā’-Allāh at one point alludes to
Qayyūm al-asmā’ LVII when he addresses the antagonistic Muslim cleric
Shaykh Muhammad Taqī Najafī (d.1914):
"O Shaykh! Seek thou the shore of the Most Great Ocean, and enter, then,
the crimson Ark which God hath ordained in the Qayyúm-i-Asmā for the
people of Bahā. Verily, it passseth over land and sea. He that entereth
therein is saved (NJW), and he that turneth aside perisheth" (ESW 164,
trans. Shoghi Effendi, 139).
■ The Kitāb-i `ahd (Book of the Covenant)
The final lines of Bahā’-Allāh’s Persian Kitāb-i `ahd
(Book of the Covenant) or (more correctly) (Ar.) al-Kitāb al-`Ahdī
(lit. “The Book of My Covenant”) contains an explicit and important
reference to Bahā’ī soteriology:
"That which is conducive to the regeneration of the world (hayāt-i `ālam)
and the salvation of the peoples and kindreds of the earth (najāt-i
umam) hath been sent down from the heaven of the utterance of Him
Who is the Desire of the world. Give ye a hearing ear to the counsels of
the Pen of Glory. Better is this for you than all that is on the earth.
Unto this beareth witness My glorious and wondrous Book." (TB:223).
■ The Crucifixion and Sacrifice of Jesus and the "Crucifixion" and
Sacrifice of Bahā’-Allāh.
From at least the time of his Arabic Jawāhir al-asrār (Gems of the
Mysteries) and Persian Kitāb-i īqān (The Book of Certitude) (1861-2 CE),
Bahā-Allāh, unlike mainstream Sunnī and Shī`ī Muslims, cited and
commented upon biblical texts and accepted the historicity of the
crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth (d. c. 32 CE). He referred to Jesus in
his Book of Certitude as a “Youthful Nazarene” (ADD refs.) and pictured
him as one pre-existent and eternal who existed in a state of sublime,
eternal and spiritual sovereignty subsequent to his actual, historical
crucifixion and apparent “death” on the cross. Bahā'-Allāh's rejection
of trenchant biblical taḥrīf ("falsification") from the early 1860s
meant that he affirmed Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross. In his
Kitāb-I īqān
Jesus’ crucifixion and ascension in the Qur’an (4:156-8).
وَقَوْلِهِمْ
إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا ٱلْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا
قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ
ٱخْتَلَفُواْ فِيهِ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ مَا لَهُمْ بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ
إِلاَّ ٱتِّبَاعَ ٱلظَّنِّ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِيناً
بَل
رَّفَعَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَزِيزاً حَكِيماً
The above somewhat ambiguous verses of the Qur’an (4:156-8]) have been
translated by Arberry as follows (transliteration added):
“…[156b] and for their [Jewish] unbelief, and their uttering against
Mary a mighty calamity, [157] and for their saying, `We slew (qatalnā)
the Messiah (al-masīḥ), Jesus son of Mary (`Īsā ibn Maryam), the
Messenger of God (rasūl Allāh) – yet they did not slay him (mā qatalū-hu),
neither crucified him (wa mā ṣalabū-hū), only a likeness of that was
shown to them (shubbiha lahum). Those who are at variance concerning him
surely are in doubt regarding him; they have no knowledge of him, except
the following surmise;
And they slew him not of a certainty (wa mā ṣalabū-hū ), [158] —no
indeed; God raised him up ( rafa`-hu Allāh `ilay-hi) to Him; God is
Almighty, all-Wise. “
The above qur’anic verses are interpreted by many Muslims to mean that
Jesus was not literally crucified several traditions having it that the
unclear
شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ
(interpretations
and translations of this phrase vary considerably)
indicates that another was crucified in his place (e.g. Judas Iscariot).
Bahā’ī sources do not follow this post-qur’anic Islamic position but
accept the literal truth of the crucifixion and understand Q. 157 in a
way that does not contradict the biblical accounts of the death of Jesus
upon the cross. `Abd al-Bahā’ has interpreted Q. 4:157 in the following,
non-literal way:
“In regard to the verse, which is revealed in tile Qur’ān [Koran], That
His holiness, Christ, was not killed and was not crucified [=Q. 4:157],
by this is meant the Reality of Christ. Although they crucified this
elemental body, yet the merciful reality and the heavenly existence
remain eternal and undying, and it was protected from the obsession and
persecution of the enemies, for Christ is Eternal and Everlasting” (from
a `Tablet of AB*’ June 8th 1911 to Thornton Chase cited in
English in Star of the West, Vol. 2, No. 7, p. 13).
Such interpretations allows for deep salvific senses to be given to the
crucifixion of Jesus. For Bahā’īs Jesus death on the cross was of cosmic
soteriological import not something which never took place. Jesus the
maẓhar-I ilāhī (Manifestation of God) never ceased to be or “died”
away around 33 CE., but from the moment of his physical death eternally
lived and lives on for the enlightened betterment and spirituality of
humankind.
In various alwāḥ (scriptural Tablets) `Abd al-Bahā’ has stated that the
eternal reality of Jesus bestows salvation from the unseen kingdom of
God where he ever shines resplendent. For Bahā’īs Jesus did not die on
the cross but his Logos-like Reality was “lifted up” to God. From the
“many mansions” of the unseen realms through the power of the Holy
Spirit , he continues to inspire to spirituality and to the progress of
civilization.
There follows some annotated passages from select writings of
Bahā’-Allāh which bear upon this theme.
■ The `Tablet to a Christian Priest of Constantinople’ (Lawḥ qissīs-i
naṣrānī SL).
The
early (-mid.). Edirne [Adrianople]
(c. 1864-6?)
Tablet of
Bahā'-Allāh written in response to one of the
قسيسين نصارى
"Priests of the Christians" of Constantinople [Istanbul]) (referred to as the madīnat al-kabīra
“Great City”)
may have been addressed to ADD IDENTITY
… It
is cited in the Tablet printed in the 1893 compilation Iqtidarat va
chand lawh-i digar… (Powerful Realities and select other Tablets…)
, pp. 78-104 and in the Kitāb-I badī` and elsewhere. Cole has
translated and entitled
the Iqtidarat Tablet the "Tablet to the Son" (Lawḥ-i Ibn ) though this
phrase occurs in the `Tablet to the Priest of Constantinople’ cited
therein not in the Tablet he translated.
This
`Tablet
to a Christian Priest of Constantinople’
includes
two well-known passages relating to the crucifixion of Jesus which have
close parallels
or recensions in
the
Kitāb-i badī` as well as other Arabic and Persian Tablets of Bahā'-Allāh
from the Edirne and later West-Galilean (`Akkā= Acre) periods;
including, for example, his early Edirne Kitāb al-asmā' (Book of Names)
ADD refs. (pp.91-95 in Persian). These paragraphs relating to the
crucifixion of Jesus are found in Iqtidarāt, 91and ADD (and INBA 38:
[328], etc). and versions of these texts were included in English
translation in Gleanings XXXVI and XLVII. What follows are the texts
translated by Shoghi Effendi (as identified and printed in the
Persian-Arabic 1984 original language edition of Gleanings entitled
Muntakhabātī az athār-I ḥadrat-I Bahā’-Allāh = section 36 and 47 pp.
62 and 72) which is followed by the often paraphrastic English
translation of Shoghi Effendi along with a few added transliterated
additions:
First
Gleanings XXXVI (36)
In the slightly rewritten-paraphrased translation of Shoghi Effendi this
text reads as follows (as printed in Gleanings XXXVI):
"Know thou that when the Son [of Man or Mary or God] (al-ibn = Jesus) .
. . yielded up His breath to God the whole creation wept with a great
weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused
into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples
of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the
sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath
unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence
exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the
quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and
resplendent Spirit" (Baha'u'llah GWB XXXVII / 85-86; 1892: 93). Cf Cole
trans. Add URL
This important passage does not interpret the effect of Jesus'
crucifixion as an act of atonement. It does not focus upon the
forgiveness of “sin”. Rather, it presents Jesus' selfless sacrificial
death as an event of supreme cosmic importance generating earthly
capacity for creativeness on many levels. It is not merely focused or
centered on tokens of individual salvation but on the consequences of
the global empowerment and regeneration of all things; through the power
of inspiration in both the areas of the arts and sciences. For
Bahā'-Allāh Jesus died a regenerative sacrificial death, a kind of
martyrdom, the redemptive power of which regenerated all things. The
"death" of the Son of Man-Mary-God on the cross so diffused the divine
grace that a greater capacity for progress was universally realized in
accordance with human capacity.
And
secondly Gleanings XLVII (47)
In the again slightly rewritten-paraphrased translation of Shoghi
Effendi this text reads (as printed in Gleanings XLVII) as follows:
O Jews! If ye be intent on crucifying once again Jesus, the Spirit [تصلبواالروح
]
of God, put Me to death, for He hath once more, in My person, been made
manifest unto you. Deal with Me as ye wish, for I have vowed to lay down
My life in the path of God. I will fear no one, though the powers of
earth and heaven be leagued against Me.
Followers of the Gospel! (malā’-al-injīl) If ye cherish the desire to
slay Muhammad, the Apostle of God, seize Me and put an end to My life,
for I am He, and My Self is His Self (lit. `This is his essence (dhāt-ihi).
Do unto Me as ye like, for the deepest longing of Mine heart is to
attain the presence of My Best-Beloved in His Kingdom of Glory. Such is
the Divine decree, if ye know it.
Followers of Muhammad! If it be your wish to riddle with your shafts the
breast of Him Who hath caused His Book the Bayán to be sent down unto
you, lay hands on Me and persecute Me, for I am His Well-Beloved, the
revelation of His own Self, though My name be not His name. I have come
in the shadows of the clouds of glory, and am invested by God with
invincible sovereignty. He, verily, is the Truth, the Knower of things
unseen. I, verily, anticipate from you the treatment ye have accorded
unto Him that came before Me. To this all things, verily, witness, if ye
be of those who hearken. O people of the Bayán! If ye have resolved to
shed the blood of Him Whose coming the Báb hath proclaimed, Whose advent
Muhammad hath prophesied, and Whose Revelation Jesus Christ Himself hath
announced, behold Me standing, ready and defenseless, before you. Deal
with Me after your own desires." (GWB XLVII pp. 100-101 trans. SE
[original added])
Bahā’-Allāh clearly identifies himself as the return of Christ ready to
suffer as Jesus did the first time.
■
The Sūrat al-rūḥ (The Surah of the Spirit) ( c. 1866).
This medium length Arabic epistle of Bahā'-Allāh to an as
yet unidentified `Alī was written from Edirne (Adrianople) around the
spring of 1866. It takes its name from the mention of Jesus, al-rūḥ (the
Spirit) towards its beginning. Bahā'-Allāh mentions that which
personified "Satan" (al-Shayṭān = Mīrzā Yaḥyā ?) had cast into the
hearts of such as had opposed God, most likely meaning antagonistic (Azalī
inclined) followers of the Bāb. It appears that he responds in the Sūrat
al-rūḥ to Muslim-Azalī notions about the fate of Jesus twisted so as
to imply that Bahā'-Allāh would be "forgotten" after his death.
"And among the polytheists are such as assert, `When the Spirit (al-rūḥ
= Jesus) died was his name perpetuated in the [earthly] dominion? for it
was reckoned that there existed only a set number of those who believed
[in him] and were possessed of manifest certainty. Say: By God! The
Spirit (al-rūḥ = Jesus) never died! Nay, rather he bestowed immortality
on all such as entered beneath his shadow. Thus indeed was this matter
if you are among such as [truly] comprehend. He [Jesus] never prided
himself about anything of whatsoever he created betwixt the heavens and
the earth. For all this was created through his Logos-Speech (qawl) [ as
you would realize] if you be among such as judge aright. If he prided
himself over anything it was his pride over his own Logos-Self (nafs);
not in anything aside from it. All who dwell within the kingdoms of the
heavens and of the earth and within the Omnipotent realm of the Command
and of creation (jabarūt al-amr wa'l-khalq) took pride in it (Jesus'
Logos-Self, as you would realize ) should you be numbered among the
truly wise." (Athar-i qalam-i a`lā, 4:124).
■ The Sūrat al-mulk (The Surah of the Dominion) (1866) AQA-K: 1-70.
In the course of an address to the `Inhabitants of Constantinople'
[Istanbul] and elsewhere in his Sūrat al-mulk (Surah of the
Dominion) Bahā'-Allāh expresses his Christ-like desire to sacrifice
himself for the sake of God:
"I have offered up my soul (rūḥī) and my body (jasadī) [as a sacrifice]
befor God, the Lord of all the worlds" (S-Muluk, 24 GWB LXVI: XX
adapted).
Cf. S-Muluk: 30
ADD FURTHER PASSAGES
■ The
Kitāb-i
Badī`
(“Wondrous [Revolutionary] Book”, 1867 CE).
Arguing against an Azalī-Bābī view of the legitimacy of dissimulation on
the part of Jesus and other messengers of God in his lengthy Persian
Kitāb-i Badī` (1867 CE), Bahā’-Allāh includes the following Arabic
words pertinent to Jesus and the cross that his opponent might progress
“from the Kawthar (Fount) of the Bayān of the Beauty of the
All-Merciful to the [Bahā’ī] Orchard of Splendours” even specifically
mentioning Jesus’ being nailed upon his beloved cross:
“When he [Jesus] saw the cross (al-ṣalīb), he [willingly] bore it
through his own self (bi-nafsihi) (cf. NT ADD). Then he embraced it,
saying 'Come hither, O my dear cross! I have awaited thee for thirty and
three years, diligently enquiring after thee for I desire to die
fastened [upon thee] with nails (mufattish an `alayk) out of
love for my sheep (ḥubb an li-aghnāmī).” (K-Badi`, mss. 209)
In his Kitāb-i Badī` Bahā’-Allah states
that “the specific text of the Book” (naṣṣ-i kitāb = Bible-New
Testament) has it that every day in the [Jerusalem] Temple the Christian
“Cause of God” (amr-Allāh) was publicly taught by a fearless Jesus. In
saying this he was evidently attempting to counter those who were happy
with Mīrzā Yaḥyā as one fearfully hiding away from society. Mīrzā Mihdī
Gilānī, Bahā’-Allāh’s Azalī opponent, as specifically notes in the
Kitāb-i badī`, held that Jesus was secreted away in places of retreat (maqarrhā).
This Bahā’-Allāh regards as a supremely unjust estimate of Jesus. Hence
his writing the above Arabic paragraph about Jesus and his welcoming of
the cross. In a subsequent paragraph Bahā’-Allāh also continues by
paraphrasing the Arabic into Persian and stating:
“Give ear unto that which he [Jesus] said at the moment when all the
Jews had gathered to kill that Holy One [Jesus]. When the cross was
presented and the blessed eye fell upon it he [Jesus] said, `Come! Come!
For thirty and three years I have awaited and yearned for you”. (mss.
209-210).
In the light of this the Azalī apologist Mīrzā Mihdī Gilānī has not been
able to comprehend the true, elevated station (maqām) of Jesus. There
have been differences of opinion regarding the implications of the
Gospel and other accounts of the last days of Jesus. Bahā’-Allāh argues
that the Gospels-Injīl have it that Jesus, “that Ancient [Pre-Existent]
Guileless One (sādhij-i qidam), was hung on the cross and that Jesus,
“the Spirit” (al-rūḥ) was resigned to the Will of God. After 36 (3X12
hours or loosely 3 days) Bahā’-Allāh further summarizes and adds that
Jesus “came alive” (zindih shud) and was lifted up to heaven (ascended
to heaven). Islamic tradition of the “people of the Furqān [=Qur’ān]”
(Muslims) he also notes, assert that Jesus was taken up to heaven before
all of this; before his suffering on the cross. Bahā’-Allāh claimes that
God had informed him of the reality of this matter. Most of the
people, however, remain unaware of the truth of these events.
In the Kitāb-i badī` Bahā'-Allāh also shows his close
relationship with the ascended, celestial Jesus when he represents Jesus
as addressing him so to underline his fervent eschatological,
sacrificial yearning:
`And at this moment this Spirit (al-rūḥ = Jesus) addresseth thee [Bahā'-Allāh]
and says [speaking as you]: `Come! Come ye hence! O Concourse of
deniers [of the truth of Bahā'-Allāh] with your swords, your spears and
your arrows! I indeed do ardently yearn [for death, the cross] just as
He [Jesus] had ardently yearned. By He in whose hand is the Self of
Ḥusayn! Nay My very Being! exceedingly strong is my yearning and great
indeed is my expectation [for sacrificial death] but you fail to
comprehend" (K-Badī` mss, 210).
It is important to note that in the above passage Bahā'-Allāh equates
his Logos-like Being as the Person-Self of Ḥusayn, a component of his
own personal name like that of the martyred third (Twelver) Imam. Like
Jesus Ḥusayn wa a major Shī`ī Islamic paragon of sacrifice or martyrdom.
Like Jesus and the third Imam Ḥusayn who was martyred at Karbala in 680
CE., Bahā'-Allāh yearned for sacrifical martyrdom, for "death" upon the
cross of this transient, mortal world. In many scriptural Tablets
Bahā'-Allāh equates himself with Imam Ḥusayn whose eschatological
"return" he claimed to be.
In the Kitāb-I badī` we also read of Bahā'-Allāh's claim to be
the return of Jesus and invites the Jews to crucify him (تصلبوه
) once again:
"He [Bahā'-Allāh] at every moment addresses the concourse of the Jews (malā'
al-yahūd) [saying]: `O Concourse of vipers! By God! The Promised One
(al-maw`ūd) hath come unto you. This is assuredly the Spirit (al-rūḥ =
Jesus). If ye be intent on crucifying him [yet again] then accomplish
that which ye desire and be not of those possessed of patience'
In similar fashion in his Kitāb-i badī` Bahā'-Allāh also addresses to
Christians and Muslims:
The he [Bahā'-Allāh] addresses the Concourse of the Gospel [Christians]
(malā' al-injīl) and says: `If ye be intent on disputing with Muhammad,
the Apostle of God then this is assuredly Muhammad among you. So carry
out what you desire to do to him for he hath indeed laid down his spirit
[life] in the path of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.'
(Mss. K-Badī`, 93).
■ The Lawḥ-i Sultān addressed to Naṣir al-Dīn Shāh
In
his largely Persian Lawḥ-i Sultān (c. 1868 [70]) addressed to the Qajar
ruler Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh (d. 1896), Bahā'-Allāh at one point dwells on
the rejection of past prophets. He makes mention of his suffering and
yearning desire for sacrificial crucifixion:
"I have seen, O Sháh, in the path of God what eye hath not seen nor
ear heard.... How numerous the tribulations which have rained, and will
soon rain, upon Me! I advance with My face set towards Him Who is the
Almighty, the All-Bounteous, whilst behind Me glideth the serpent. Mine
eyes have rained down tears until My bed is drenched. I sorrow not for
Myself, however. By God! Mine head yearneth for the spear out of love
for its Lord. I never passed a tree, but Mine heart addressed it saying:
`O would that thou wert cut down in My name, and My body crucified upon
thee, in the path of My Lord!' (text AQA-K: 195 trans. SE cited PDC:42).
ADD PASSAGES
"The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with chains that mankind
may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made a
prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold that the whole world may
attain unto true liberty" (GWB:XX).
Among the many soteriologically oriented themes in the writings of BA*
is his identification with the crucified Jesus. Like Jesus he was
“crucified” by the peoples of the world and their corrupt rulers for the
sake of humankind and its attaining salvation or true eternal life. The
following passages from diverse alwāḥ (scriptural Tablets) express
aspects of this typological soteriology and its present day,
eschatological implications:
`Abd al-Bahā’ taught that all the messengers or manifestations of God
sacrificed themselves for the sake of humanity. They accepted the
“cross” of sacrifice and persecution for progress and salvation of
humankind:
“Consider
to what extent the love of God makes itself manifest. Among the signs of
His love which appear in the world are the dawning points of His
Manifestations. What an infinite degree of love is reflected by the
divine Manifestations toward mankind! For the sake of guiding the people
They have willingly forfeited Their lives to resuscitate human hearts.
They have accepted the cross. To enable human souls to attain the
supreme degree of advancement, They have suffered during Their limited
years extreme ordeals and difficulties. If Jesus Christ had not
possessed love for the world of humanity, surely He would not have
welcomed the cross. He was crucified for the love of mankind. Consider
the infinite degree of that love. Without love for humanity John the
Baptist would not have offered his life. It has been likewise with all
the Prophets and Holy Souls. If the Bāb had not manifested love for
mankind, surely He would not have offered His breast for a thousand
bullets. If Bahā'u'llāh had not been aflame with love for humanity, He
would not have willingly accepted forty years' imprisonment… all the
divine Manifestations suffered, offered Their lives and blood,
sacrificed Their existence, comfort and all They possessed for the sake
of mankind.
■
Crucifixion = Martyrdom
“Consider how all the Prophets of God were persecuted and what hardships
they experienced. His Holiness Jesus Christ endured affliction and
accepted martyrdom upon the cross in order to call men to unity and
love. What sacrifice could be greater? He brought the religion of love
and fellowship to the world. ..” ( AB cited SW, Vol. 17, p. 285)
“Martyrdom makes the spirit of utter dedication to the service of God so
real that it ignites in other hearts a like flame of divine devotion.
The martyrdom of Christ on the cross conquered and changed the hearts of
untold millions.” (From an Essay of Faḍil-i Mazandarani in SW, Vol.
14, p. 173)
APPENDICES AND MISCELLANY
“What an infinite degree of love is reflected by the divine
Manifestations toward mankind! For the sake of guiding the people they
have willingly forfeited their lives to resuscitate human hearts. They
have accepted the cross. To enable human souls to attain the supreme
degree of advancement, they have suffered during their limited years
extreme ordeals and difficulties. If His Holiness Jesus Christ had not
possessed love for the world of humanity, surely he would not. have
welcomed the cross. He was crucified for the love of mankind. Consider
the infinite degree of that love. Without love for humanity, John the
Baptist would not have offered his life. It has been likewise with all
the prophets and holy souls. If His Holiness the Bab had not manifested
love for mankind, surely he would not have offered his life for a
thousand bullets. If His Holiness Baha'u'llah had not been aflame
with love for humanity he would not have willingly accepted forty
years' imprisonment.” (AB* cited from SW, Vol. 17, p. 39).
“In the parable of "The Lord of the Vine yard" (Matt. xis 33) Christ
spoke of the prophets of God who were rejected by the world. He spoke of
the coming of 'The Son" who would be rejected and slain. (Here Jesus was
prophesying of His own rejection by the world and of His crucifixion.
Then Jesus speaks of this "Latter day" coming, saying: "When the Lord,
therefore, of the vineyard carne th what will He do unto those husband
men "They say unto him, lie will miserably destroy those wicked men and
will let out His vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render Him
the fruit in their seasons." This is one of the holy prophecies wherein
is promised the coming of the Mighty Manifestation of God to the Earth,
and the establishment of His Kingdom triumphant upon earth.” (SW, Vol.
4, p. 269).
FROM AN
ADDRESS BY 'ABDU'L BAHA IN NEW YORK
"THE
DIVINE prophets came to establish the unity of the Kingdom in human
hearts. All of them pro claimed the glad tidings of the divine bestowals
to the world of mankind. All brought the same message of divine love to
the world. His Holiness Jesus Christ gave his life upon the cross for
the unity of mankind. Those who believed in him likewise sacrificed
life, honor, possessions, family, everything, that this human world
might be released from the hell of discord, enmity and strife. His
foundation was the oneness of humanity. Only a few were attracted to
him. They were not the kings and rulers of his time. They were not rich
and important people.
Some of them were catchers of fishes.” (Star-West, 15:254)
■
APPENDIX
`Abd al-Bahā’
on the discovery of the cross
Several books have recently been written about the claimed discovery of
the `true cross' of the crucifixion by Helena, the Christian mother of
converted Roman Emperor Constantine (275-337). In a number of talks and
tablets AB* commented on this tradition.
ADD TABLETS AND TEXTS
“…But at the time of the departure of the Blessed Beauty there were at
least a hundred thousand souls who would sacrifice their lives for him.
These same thoughts that you have now were also prevalent in Christ's
time and so little did they care for him that it is not even known where
he was buried.
And three hundred years later, when St. Helen [the mother of
Constantine the Great] went to the Holy Land, some people, thinking of
their own personal benefit, went to her and said, 'We dug the ground
here and found the cross on which they crucified his holiness, Christ
This was the foundation of the tomb of Christ. It is not even known
where the tombs of Mary and the disciples are. The Catholics say that
the tombs of Paul and Peter are in Rome. Others say that they are in
Antioch. (AB* in SW, Vol. 9, p. 23)
Select
Bibliography
Harvey, Van A
Hopper, Jeffery,
-
1992
`Soteriology' in Musser, Donald, W. & Joseph L. Price eds. A New
Handbook of Christian Theology' Cambridge: Lutterworth Press,
452-456.
Kassis, Hanna.
·
1983 A Concordance of the
Qur'an. University of California Press : Berkeley, Los Angeles,
London.
