Baha\'i Idolatry

 

By: Larry Rowe

 

I\'ve read all the available Baha\'i texts, many times: \"The door of the knowledge of the Ancient of Days being thus closed in the face of all beings,\"

Mmmmmm. Don\'t know if Baha\'u\'llah could be much clearer about the way he saw the human relationship with the divine, or I should say the lack of a possible relationship, except vicariously through him. To place oneself between humanity and god in this manner is one thing, my opinion of it is not very high, it is a delusional attempt to place a human limit on the divine when the divine can never be so limited. Baha\'u\'llah even went so far as to identify himself with god him/herself:

Such a man hath attained the knowledge of the station of Him Who is \"at the distance of two bows,\" Who standeth BEYOND the Sadratu\'l-Muntaha. Whoso hath failed to recognize Him will have condemned himself to the misery of remoteness, a remoteness which is naught but utter nothingness and the essence of the nethermost fire. Such will be his fate, though to outward seeming he may occupy the earth\'s loftiest seats and be established upon its most exalted throne. (Baha\'u\'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha\'u\'llah, p. 70)

**** which delusion is made quite evident from the fact that there was a major Baha\'i school of thought which from such words of Baha\'u\'llah\'s believed him to be god incarnate. Not only did Baha\'u\'llah put this idolatrous concept forward, when Baha\'is debated this concept and questioned this idolatry Baha\'u\'llah went so far as to say that it was OK for Baha\'is to believe he was god incarnate.

* This fact as well his statement that if a person fails to recognize his personal spiritual station they will automatically be remote from god is to me is the height of human hubris, human vanity. -------- *

It was perhaps owing to this inadequacy that, at one stage during the ministry of Bahá\'u\'lláh, there were two major schools of thought among the believers concerning His station. Some believed Him to be the Supreme Manifestation of God, while others went further than this. When Bahá\'u\'lláh was asked about His station, He confirmed that as long as individuals were sincere in their beliefs, both views were right, but if they argued among themselves or tried to convert each other, both were wrong. This indicates that man because of his finite mind will never be able to understand the true station of the Manifestation of God. The criteria are sincerity and faith. Knowing man\'s limitations, God accepts from him what he is able to achieve.

(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha\'u\'llah v 1, p. 303)

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