Baha'i

Notes

"The canonical texts of the Baháʼí Faith are the writings of the Báb, Baháʼu'lláh, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice, and the authenticated talks of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. The writings of the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh are considered as divine revelation, the writings and talks of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and the writings of Shoghi Effendi as authoritative interpretation, and those of the Universal House of Justice as authoritative legislation and elucidation. Some measure of divine guidance is assumed for all of these texts"

The Bab was a merchant in Iran in 1844 who claimed to be a messenger of God at the age of 25. The Bab is a predecessor or forerunner who paved the way for a future messianic figure. Baháʼu'lláh claimed, in 1863, to be this figure.

"Baháʼu'lláh's notable writings include The Hidden Words (Kurdistan: 1858), the Book of Certitude (Baghdad: 1862) and the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Akka: 1873), which all vary in themes.[4] His teachings revolve around the unity of God, of religion, and of mankind. God is seen to have sent a series of divine messengers that are unified in purpose, and draw humanity toward greater spiritual, moral, and intellectual truths.[5] Baháʼu'lláh's claim to be the most recent in this series is the basis for the faith's widespread recognition as the only independent world religion to emerge in the modern age, not being a sect of any other faith"

The principle writings of Writings of Bahá’u’lláh translated into English https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/

Patriarchy

Exists. The Bahá'í Faith, whose founder repeatedly refers to God as a male patriarch. (Abdu’l‑Bahá 1912).

Definitely exists. The Bahá'í Faith, whose founder repeatedly refers to God as a male patriarch. (Abdu’l‑Bahá 1912).. The highest legislative and doctrinal body, the Universal House of Justice, is exclusively male.

Bahá’u’lláh refers to god as Him in The Seven Valleys.

Good Versus Evil

"Glorified is He before Whom all the dwellers of earth and heaven bow down in adoration and unto Whom all men turn in supplication."

Heaven, Hell, Judgment, Justice, Punishment, and Reward

Officially, the Bahai deny this suggesting that hell is a state of disconnection. However in the writings of the Bab there are numerous references to hellfire, justice, judgment, and damnation. For example,

For example, this thread. "O King of Islám! Aid thou,... for God hath, in very truth, destined for thee, and for such as circle round thee, on the Day of Judgment, a responsible position in His Path. I swear by God, O Sháh! If thou showest enmity unto Him Who is His Remembrance, God will, on the Day of Resurrection, condemn thee, before the kings, unto hellfire"

"The Day is approaching when God will render the hosts of Truth victorious, and He will purge the whole earth in such wise that within the compass of His knowledge not a single soul shall remain unless he truly believeth in God, worshippeth none other God but Him, boweth down by day and by night in His adoration, and is reckoned among such as are well assured"

Victim Blaming

"Thus it is that certain feeble souls have confined the wide expanse of knowledge within the walls of self and passion, and beneath the cloak of ignorance and blindness, and have thereby veiled themselves from the light of the mystic Sun and the mysteries of the eternal Beloved. They have strayed far from the gem-like wisdom of the resplendent Faith of the Lord of the Messengers,38 have been shut out of the inner court of the All-Beauteous, and have been banished from the Kaaba of glory. Such is the worth of the people of this age!"

The Fool's Journey

The goal of the journey is union or "reunion"

Exists: "When death occurs in this world, the soul is separated from the body, and continues to progress in an eternal journey towards perfection."

In The Seven Valleys, Bahá’u’lláh discusses the person's journey of searching, through the Valley of Search, the Valley of Love where pain is required to advance, the Realm of Knowledge, where the "inner eyes" is opened and one converses directly with God, the First Station of Unity, where one experiences union/oneness, the City of Contentment, the Valley of Wonderment, where one wonders at the glory of creation, whereupon one finally reachers the Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness, where one "dies to the self and lives in God" (i.e, permanent and persistent Connection.

From Three Other Tablets

<ref>Bahá’u’lláh. “Three Other Tablets.” In The Call of the Divine Beloved: Selected Mystical Works of Bahá’u’lláh. Haifa: Bahá’í Reference Library, n.d. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/call-divine-beloved/.

Footnotes

References