The Baha'i Concept of Progressive Revelation

Baha'i Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel

 For our Religious Visit assignment I decided to study the Baha’i Faith.  After a few phone calls I had an interview set up with Sandy.  Instead of doing an interview Sandy had a presentation prepared for me.  During the course of the presentation I was most fascinated with the Baha’i concept of progressive revelation.  Progressive revelation means that God's will is revealed to mankind gradually as mankind matures and is better able to comprehend the purpose of God in creating humanity.  
According to the Baha’i, a prophet comes along every 1,000 years and brings a message understandable to the people.  Baha’u’llah was the last prophet so another Teacher is expected in approximately 800 years. In line with progressive revelation is the belief that all of the prophets are descended from one of the three wives of Abraham.  The wives of Abraham were Sarah, Hagar, and Keturah.  Moses and Jesus Christ were from the line of Sarah.  Krishna, Zoroaster, and Buddha are from the line of Keturah.  Muhammad and The Bab are descended from Hagar.  Baha’u’llah is descended from Keturah and possibly Sarah.  

The Baha’i faith teaches that as each prophet appears the message that is delivered is: 1) the same and 2) fits the culture at that time.  The very first prophet was Abraham, whose birth name was Abram. It has been proposed that Abraham was born around 2052 B.C.E. and lived 175 years.  He was descended from Shem, the son of Noah, and is the prophet on which Judaism, Christianity and Islam were founded.  According to the Old Testament and the Quran, Abraham is recognized as a prophet, patriarch, and messenger.   God changed Abram’s name to Abraham to signify that he would be the” father of nations”.  Through two of his many children, Ishmael and Isaac, Abraham became the father of many tribes.

Abraham

Christians believe that Jesus was a descendant of Abraham through Isaac, and Muslims believe that Muhammad was a descendant of Abraham through Ishmael.   The Baha’i Faith traces the genealogy of the prophets through the wives of Abraham: Sarah, Hagar and Keturah.  There is some debate of whether Abraham was actually married to Hagar or Keturah.  Most historical information references all three as wives. 
    

Sarah

Abraham’s beautiful first wife was Sarah, the daughter of a wealthy family and originally named Sarai.  When God created the covenant with Abram which changed his name to Abraham, Sarai’s name was also changed.  Sarah was barren so she gave her maidservant, Hagar, to Abraham as a wife so that Abraham would have children through Hagar.  On several occasions Hagar is referred to as a daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt or as one of Pharaoh’s harem.

Hagar

Abraham had his first son, Ishmael, through Hagar.  Sarah became jealous of Hagar’s pregnancy and mistreated her.  Many years later, Abraham had a second son, Isaac, through Sarah.  Sarah was afraid that Isaac would have to share his inheritance with Ishmael so she pressured Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away.  After the death of Sarah, Abraham found them and returned them to his household.  He also took to wife a concubine named Keturah. She bore him six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.  

Keturah

    

Krishna

The Hindu god Krishna, who the Baha’i believe is descended from Keturah, appeared next. Krishna’s message emphasizes detachment from materialism in order to achieve spiritual evolution.  The 'Song of God' or Bhagavad-Gita was first given to Arjuna around 1246 B.C.E by Krishna.  It is considered to be the 'gospels' of Hinduism. Another set of sacred texts in Hinduism are called the Vedas. They constitute six times the volume of the Bible and recount similar stories and figures; such as the coming of Adam, the flood of Noah, and the missions of Shem and Abraham. 

There is a relationship between the Vedas to the Holy Bible. This is due in part to the lineage of Krishna and the Indian people which the Baha’i trace back to Adam through Abraham's third wife Keturah.  Moses and the Israelites share a lineage tracing back to Adam through Abraham's first wife Sarah.  Moses is a prophet and prominent figure in Christianity, Islam and Judasim.  It is proposed he was alive circa 1391-1271B.C.E. 

Moses

Zoroaster, is the founder and prophet of Zoroastrianism, and is thought to be descended from Keturah.  He was born in ancient Iran and was also known as Zarathustra. Zoroaster is credited with the authorship of the Yasna Haptanghaiti as well as the Gathas, which are the basis of Zoroastrianism.  There is much debate on the timeframe of Zoroaster.  The estimated dates of his birth range from 6000 B.C.E. to 100 BCE.  One Greek text places him 300 years before Alexander the Great.  The language of some of the writings of Zoroastrianism lead scholars to believe he most likely would have been alive between 1500-1200 B.C.E.  The Baha’i Faith proposes his approximate birth was around 1,000 B.C.E. 
 

Zoroaster

Zoroaster proposed that there were two dueling deities.  Ahura Mazda is the god of all that is good and light, and his rival Angra Mainyu is the god of evil and darkness. It is said that the two will battle until judgment day and Ahura Mazda will annihilate Angra Mainya and all of the wickedness in the world.   

Zoroaster described the human condition as the mental struggle between aša (truth) and druj (lie). The purpose of life is to sustain aša. This occurs through active participation in life and the exercise of “good thoughts, good words, and good deeds”.  He prophesied his return in exactly 1,000 years saying, "In a thousand years look to the western sky. You will see a great star, follow it and you will find me, there, in a manger”. The Baha’i believe the three Magi (from the Christian Nativity) were Zoroastrian king-priests looking for the reincarnation of their prophet which they found in the infant Jesus. 
  

Siddhartha Gautama Buddha was a spiritual leader who lived in India during 563-483 B.C.E., on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.  The teachings were an oral tradition passed down and finally written 400 years after his death.  Buddhism is non-dogmatic.The world "Buddha" roughly means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one."  He is believed to be descended from Keturah. 

Buddha

   

While Gautama Buddha is the primary figure in Buddhism, he is also associated with Hinduism, Taoist-Buddhism, and as Saint Josaphat in the Christian religion. Most Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha to be a teacher who shared his insights to help end ignorance, craving, and suffering in order to help his followers to attain the state of Nirvana.

Jesus Christ

 Jesus Christ was descended through the line of Sarah and thought to have been born between 7-2 B.C.E. and was crucified in approximately 30-36 A.D.  Jesus is fundamental to the New Testament of the Christian faith and brings a message of love and salvation.  Islam and Baha’i both recognize him as a “messiah”, but not as an incarnation of God.  Jesus is completely rejected by Judaism.  Some Buddhists even regard Jesus as an enlightened one.  
  

Muhammad

Muhammad (570-632) was born in Mecca and is descended from Hagar.  He is considered a great messenger and prophet of God.  The Quran is the central religious text of Islam and represents the words of God revealed to Muhammad through the archangel Gabriel.  Although Western scholars regard Muhammad as the founder of Islam, Muslims believe that the monotheistic faith was not created by a human but was revealed by God.  They believe he is the restorer of the uncorrupted original faith of Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses.  

The Báb (1819-1850) was the messenger who proclaimed the coming of Baha’u’llah.  His name means “The Gate” and he is a descendent of Muhammad through both parents, indicating he is from the line of Hagar.  Baha’is believe that the Báb was also the spiritual return of Elijah and John the Baptist, that he was the Ushídar-Máh referred to in the Zoroastrian scriptures, and the forerunner of their own religion.

    

Baha'u'llah

The concept of progressive revelation culminates in Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Baha’i Faith.  He is descended from Keturah and possibly Sarah.  Baha’u’llah taught that all of these teachers and prophets are recognized as true and their message is the same.  The Baha’i believe in the premise of one religion, one humanity, and one God.  Their purpose is to unite the world. 

 

Works Cited

The Baha’i Faith Website. http://www.bahai.org/. (Accessed 08MAY12)

Bible History Online. http://www.bible-history.com/index.php (Accessed 08MAY12)

The History of Abraham. http://www.bible-history.com/old-testament/abraham.html. (Accessed 08May12)

Wikipedia on Abdul-Baha. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%60Abdu%27l-Bah%C3%A1. (Accessed on 08MAY12)

 Wikipedia on Abraham. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham. (Accessed 08MAY12)

Wikipedia on The Bab. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1b. (Accessed 08MAY12)

Wikipedia on Bahaullah. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h. (Accessed 09MAY12)

Wikipedia on Buddha. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha. (Accessed 08MAY12)

Wikipedia on Hagar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagar (Accessed 08MAY12)

Wikipedia on Jesus Christ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus. (Accessed 08MAY12)

Wikipedia on Keturah. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keturah. (Accessed 08MAY12)

Wikipedia on Krishna.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna. (Accessed 08MAY12)

Wikipedia on Moses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses. (Accessed 08MAY12)

Wikipedia on Muhammad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad. (Accessed 08MAY12)

Wikipedia on Sarah. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah. (Accessed 08AMY12)

Wikipedia on Zoroaster. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroaster. (Accessed 08MAY12)