If you already believe in one prophet—Buddha, Moses, Christ, Muhammad—can you believe in others?
The
Baha’i teachings answer that question with an emphatic and enthusiastic Yes! In just one example of this primary Baha’i principle,
Abdu’l-Baha
gave a powerful and controversial 1912 address challenging the Jewish
members of Washington, D.C.’s largest synagogue, the Eighth Street
Temple, to recognize and acknowledge Jesus Christ. He started his famous
address this way:
God is one, the effulgence of God is one, and humanity
constitutes the servants of that one God. God is kind to all. He creates
and provides for all, and all are under His care and protection. The
Sun of Truth, the Word of God, shines upon all mankind; the divine cloud
pours down its precious rain; the gentle zephyrs of His mercy blow, and
all humanity is submerged in the ocean of His eternal justice and
loving-kindness. God has created mankind from the same progeny in order
that they may associate in good fellowship, exercise love toward each
other and live together in unity and brotherhood.
But we have acted contrary to the will and good pleasure of
God. We have been the cause of enmity and disunion. We have separated
from each other and risen against each other in opposition and strife.
How many have been the wars between peoples and nations! What bloodshed!
Numberless are the cities and homes which have been laid waste. All of
this has been contrary to the good pleasure of God, for He hath willed
love for humanity. –
Abdu’l-Baha,
The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 402-403.
Abdu’l-Baha told the congregation much of that bloodshed and war was waged over religion:
Most regrettable of all is the state of difference and
divergence we have created between each other in the name of religion,
imagining that a paramount duty in our religious belief is that of
alienation and estrangement, that we should shun each other and consider
each other contaminated with error and infidelity. In reality, the
foundations of the divine religions are one and the same. The
differences which have arisen between us are due to blind imitations of
dogmatic beliefs and adherence to ancestral forms of worship. – ibid, p. 403.
Abdu’l-Baha then praised all the prophets for proclaiming teachings of justice, mercy and love:
Even as God is pronounced to be just, man must likewise be
just. As God is loving and kind to all men, man must likewise manifest
loving-kindness to all humanity. As God is loyal and truthful, man must
show forth the same attributes in the human world. Even as God exercises
mercy toward all, man must prove himself to be the manifestation of
mercy. In a word, the image and likeness of God constitute the virtues
of God, and man is intended to become the recipient of the effulgences
of divine attributes. This is the essential foundation of all the divine
religions, the reality itself, common to all. Abraham promulgated this;
Moses proclaimed it. Christ and all the Prophets upheld this standard
and aspect of divine religion. – ibid, p. 403.
Then, to the delight of the Jewish congregation, Abdu’l-Baha effusively praised the teachings of Moses:
Inasmuch as Moses through the influence of His great
mission was instrumental in releasing the Israelites from a low state of
debasement and humiliation, establishing them in a station of prestige
and glorification, disciplining and educating them, it is necessary for
us to reach a fair and just judgment in regard to such a marvelous
Teacher. For in this great accomplishment He stood single and alone.
Could He have made such a change and brought about such a condition
among these people without the sanction and assistance of a heavenly
power? Could He have transformed a people from humiliation to glory
without a holy and divine support?
None other than a divine power could have done this.
Therein lies the proof of Prophethood because the mission of a Prophet
is education of the human race such as this Personage accomplished,
proving Him to be a mighty Prophet among the Prophets and His Book the
very Book of God. This is a rational, direct and perfect proof. – ibid, p. 406.
Abdu’l-Baha took the audience through a short history of
the Jewish people and their struggles, and then said “I now wish you to
examine certain facts and statements which are worthy of consideration:”
During
the time that the people of Israel were being tossed and afflicted by
the conditions I have named, Jesus Christ appeared among them. Jesus of
Nazareth was a Jew. He was single and unaided, alone and unique. He had
no assistant. The Jews at once pronounced Him to be an enemy of Moses.
They declared that He was the destroyer of the Mosaic laws and
ordinances. Let us examine the facts as they are, investigate the truth
and reality in order to arrive at a true opinion and conclusion. For a
completely fair opinion upon this question we must lay aside all we have
and investigate independently. This Personage, Jesus Christ, declared
Moses to have been the Prophet of God and pronounced all the prophets of
Israel as sent from God. He proclaimed the Torah the very Book of God,
summoned all to conform to its precepts and follow its teachings… It is
evident, then, that Christ was a friend of Moses, that He loved and
believed in Moses; otherwise, He would not have commemorated His name
and Prophethood. This is self-evident. Therefore, Christians and Jews
should have the greatest love for each other because the Founders of
these two great religions have been in perfect agreement in Book and
teaching. Their followers should be likewise. – ibid, pp. 407-408.
Finally,
Abdu’l-Baha asked his Jewish listeners to accept Christ and the subsequent prophets, as well. This caused quite a stir in the synagogue:
Today all Christians admit and believe that Moses was a
Prophet of God. They declare that His Book was the Book of God, that the
prophets of Israel were true and valid and that the people of Israel
constituted the people of God. What harm has come from this? What harm
could come from a statement by the Jews that Jesus was also a
Manifestation of the Word of God? Have the Christians suffered for their
belief in Moses? Have they experienced any loss of religious enthusiasm
or witnessed any defeat in their religious belief by declaring that
Moses was a Prophet of God, that the Torah was a Book of God and that
all the prophets of Israel were prophets of God? It is evident that no
loss comes from this. And now it is time for the Jews to declare that
Christ was the Word of God, and then this enmity between two great
religions will pass away. For two thousand years this enmity and
religious prejudice have continued. Blood has been shed, ordeals have
been suffered. These few words will remedy the difficulty and unite two
great religions. What harm could follow this: that just as the
Christians glorify and praise the name of Moses, likewise the Jews
should commemorate the name of Christ, declare Him to be the Word of God
and consider Him as one of the chosen Messengers of God? – ibid, p. 408.
David Langness
writes and edits for BahaiTeachings.org and is a journalist and
literary critic for Paste Magazine. He and his wife Teresa live in the
Sierra foothills in Northern California.
http://bahaiteachings.org/should-jews-believe-in-jesus-the-bahais-say-yes
