One religious group to originate in the past two centuries that
has not received enough attention from evangelical Christians is
the Baha'i World Faith.[1] Baha'is believe that all of the world's
major religions are progressive revelations from God, each designed
for its particular historical era. The Baha'i religion teaches that
Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, Muhammad, and
the Bab (the Persian founder of a nineteenth-century religious
movement which laid the foundation for Baha'ism) were all prophets
or manifestations of God for their time.[2] However, Baha'u'llah,
the founder of the Baha'i religion, the successor of the Bab, and
the most recent manifestation, is the one who should now be revered
and obeyed.
Baha'u'llah's greatest teaching was the oneness and unity of
mankind. According to Baha'u'llah, every race, both sexes, and the
great religious truths all come from one God. While Christians may
appreciate some of the humanitarian and peace doctrines of the
Baha'is, they take issue with the Baha'i claim to compatibility
with their faith; for Baha'ism denies several essential Christian
doctrines.
Since the publication of my Christian response to the Baha'i
World Faith, _Baha'i_ (Bethany House, 1985), I have had several
encounters with both Baha'is and non-Baha'is who have questioned
my position on a number of key issues regarding the relationship
between Baha'ism and Christianity. For example, in a detailed
critique of my book, Steve McConnell, a non-Baha'i from Bellevue,
Washington, asked me, "Could Christianity's conception of God
withstand the cursory logical tests to which you subject the
Baha'i's God?"[3] McConnell contends that it is unfair for me to
argue that because the Baha'i manifestations of God give us
contradictory concepts of God (monotheism, polytheism, pantheism,
etc.), the Baha'i view of God must be false. After all, he insists,
the Christian conception of God has its own logical problems....
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