Bahá'í apologetics - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Apologetics
Apologetics
Apologetics is the discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers...

is the branch of theology which seeks to defend a religion's tenets through reasoned argument. Bahá'ís

Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....

generally believe that the proof of the truth of the religion can be found through independent investigation. In Bahá'í thought, the validity of the various Manifestations of God, prophets in the Bahá'í writings that include Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

, Muhammad

Muhammad

Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

, Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

and Bahá'u'lláh

Bahá'u'lláh

Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...

among others, is reasoned through the power of the word of God, the revelation of divine verses, the characteristics of the prophets, the fulfillment of prophecy, and the teachings brought by the prophet; miracles, however, are not regarded as proof of divinity.

Many apologetic books have been written in response to attacks on the religion's history and teachings. The religion's founders themselves wrote several books in response to such questioning presenting proofs of their religion, among them are the Báb

Báb

Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází was the founder of Bábism, and one of three central figures of the Bahá'í Faith. He was a merchant from Shíráz, Persia, who at the age of twenty-four claimed to be the promised Qá'im . After his declaration he took the title of Báb meaning "Gate"...

's Seven Proofs and Bahá'u'lláh

Bahá'u'lláh

's Kitáb-i-Íqán
Kitáb-i-Íqán
The Kitáb-i-Íqán is one of many books held sacred by followers of the Bahá'í Faith; it is their primary theological work. One Bahá'í scholar states that it can be regarded as the "most influential Koran commentary in Persian outside the Muslim world," because of its international audience. It is...

. Later Bahá'í authors wrote prominent apologetic texts, such as Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl

Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl

' , or ' was the foremost Bahá'í scholar who helped spread the Bahá'í Faith in Egypt, Turkmenistan, and the United States. He is one of the few Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh who never actually met Bahá'u'lláh...

's The Brilliant Proof and Udo Schaefer

Udo Schaefer

Udo Schaefer is a German lawyer and a Bahá'í author.-External links:****...

et al.'s Making the Crooked Straight; and today there is an extensive library of such resources.

Schaefer's book was written to refute a polemic supported by the German Protestant Church. Scholarly reviews styled Schaefer’s book as “an important contribution to the critical study of the Bahá’í religion” “clarifying many misconceptions” and presenting “a picture of the Baha’i Faith that no future researcher in the field can afford to overlook”. Since its publication the German Protestant Church has revised its own relationship to the German Bahá’í Community and came back to dialogue.

This page attempts to provide a broad overview of some of the issues in question that may be considered challenging in nature. This page has been divided into sub-categories that go into more detail.

Central teachings

Bahá'í Faith and the unity of religion

The Unity of Religion is a core teaching in the Bahá'í Faith that states that there is a fundamental unity of many of the world's religions. The principle states that the teachings of the major religions are part of a single plan directed from the same God...

Bahá'ís believe in the fundamental agreement in purpose of all the major world religions. At the same time it is incontrovertible that there are many differences between the different religions. Naturally, a large amount of apologetic literature has been published on how these diverse points-of-view are reconciled in the Bahá'í teachings.

Bahá'í Faith and gender equality

One of the fundamental teachings of the Bahá'í Faith is that men and women are equal, and that the equality of the sexes is a spiritual and moral standard that is essential for the unification of the planet and the unfoldment of peace. The Bahá'í teachings note the importance of implementing the...

Bahá'ís assert that gender equality is an incontrovertible reality of the human condition. Certain teachings seem to favor one gender or the other in education, inheritance, and membership on the Universal House of Justice.

Bahá'í Faith and science

A fundamental principle of the Bahá'í Faith is the harmony of religion and science. Bahá'í scripture asserts that true science and true religion can never be in conflict. `Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion, stated that religion without science leads to superstition and that...

Bahá'ís believe that science without religion leads to materialism, and religion without science leads to superstition. The idea that these two seemingly opposite forces are in harmony is fundamental to Bahá'í teachings. This particular question is however not without problems.

Bahá'í Faith and auxiliary language

The Bahá'í Faith teaches that the world should adopt an international auxiliary language, which people would use in addition to their mother tongue. The aim of this teaching is to improve communication and foster unity among peoples and nations...

Bahá'ís call for a universal auxiliary language, meaning in addition to one's native tongue.

Issues discussed elsewhere

Baha'i statistics

Bahá'í statistics

Statistical estimates of the worldwide Bahá'í population are difficult to judge. The religion is almost entirely contained in a single, organized, hierarchical community, but the Bahá'í population is spread out into almost every country and ethnicity in the world, being recognized as the...

The administration of the faith has been criticised for the promulgation of inaccurate membership statistics.

Homosexuality and the Bahá'í Faith

Bahá'í teachings only permit sexual relationships between a married husband and wife.

Bahá'í divisions

The Bahá'í Faith has had challenges to leadership, usually, at the death of every head of the religion. The vast majority of Bahá'ís have followed a line of authority from Bahá'u'lláh to `Abdu'l-Bahá to Shoghi Effendi to the Custodians to the Universal House of Justice. Sects diverging from this...

The Bahá'í Faith has had several challenges to leadership.

Bahá'í/Bábí split

The Bahá'í/Bábí split occurred when most Bábís accepted Bahá'u'lláh as the messiah of the Báb's writings, leading them to become Bahá'ís, and leaving a remnant of Bábís who became known as Azalis...

The Bahá'í Faith identifies itself as the fulfillment of the Bábí Faith. The separation of the two, beginning in 1863, was accompanied by conflict and murders.

Political accusations against the Baha'i Faith

Bahá'ís have been accused of being agents or spies of Russia, Britain, the Shah, the United States, and of Zionism

Zionism

Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...

—each claim being linked to each regime's relevant enemy and justifying anti-Bahá'í actions. The last claim is partially rooted in the presence of the Bahá'í World Centre

Bahá'í World Centre

The Bahá'í World Centre is the name given to the spiritual and administrative centre of the Bahá'í Faith. The World Centre consists of the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh near Acre, Israel, the Shrine of the Báb and its gardens on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, and various other buildings in the area...

in northern Israel. The Shah of Iran and the Caliphate were responsible for the decision to banish Bahá'u'lláh to the prison city of 'Akká (in what was then Palestine) in the first place.

Bahá'u'lláh's family

Bahá'u'lláh was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He was born in 1817 to Khadíjih Khánum and Mírzá Buzurg of Nur , a Persian nobleman, and went on to be a leader in the Bábí movement, and then established the Bahá'í Faith in 1863...

Although polygamy is forbidden by Baha'i law, Bahá'u'lláh had three concurrent wives.

Bahá'í review

"Bahá'í review" refers to a requirement within the Bahá'í Faith, that members of this religion must secure the permission of a Bahá'í committee before publishing anything on the faith...

Bahá'ís wishing to publish books about the Bahá'í faith must first submit their work to their respective National Spiritual Assembly for approval through a review process. This process has not been without its critics.

External links

The Bahá'í Faith as Panopticon, by Juan Cole
Juan Cole
John Ricardo I. "Juan" Cole is an American scholar, public intellectual, and historian of the modern Middle East and South Asia. He is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. As a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, he has appeared in print and on...

, detailing his criticisms of the American Bahá'í community.
- The Myth of the Objective Observer, reviewing the above article
- Review of The Bahá'í Faith as Panopticon, also reviewing the above article

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