# Dying for Our Sins

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Rachel Woodlock, Dying for Our Sins, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Dying for Our Sins
> 
> Rachel Woodlock
> 
> 1998
> 
> In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful!
> 
> This essay will address the Christian doctrine of the
> substitutionary atonement and consider whether such a doctrine has a place within a
> Bahá'í theological framework. It does not seek to harmonise traditional Christian
> interpretations of Biblical passages with Bahá'í scripture, rather it is limited to
> addressing whether such interpretations can be drawn from Bahá'í texts.
> 
> The Christian doctrine of atonement is the belief that humanity,
> having fallen into a state of separation from God, is in need of reconciliation. Whilst
> interpretation of this Christian tenet has varied over the centuries, the majority of
> Christians today believe this reconciliation was achieved by God incarnating Himself in
> the sinless person of Jesus Christ, who through the suffering of his life and eventual
> martyrdom, himself undertook the punishment humanity deserved as a consequence of its sins
> and thus settled the debt owed by man to God. (Matt 1:21; 20:28; 26:28; Heb 9:28; 1 John
> 2:2 etc).
> 
> The roots of this doctrine can be found within Jewish thought,
> and indeed Christian theologians point to the Old Testament use of animal sacrifices as
> atoning agents symbolically pre-empting the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ who is
> titled as the Lamb of God (John 1:29). However an explicit working of the doctrine did not
> appear in Christian theology until the fourth century.1
> 
> In summarising the argument of the great Catholic theologian St.
> Anselm, the Catholic Encylopedia says:
> 
> Anselm's answer to the question is simply the need of
> satisfaction of sin. No sin, as he views the matter, can be forgiven without satisfaction.
> A debt to Divine justice has been incurred; and that debt must needs be paid. But man
> could not make this satisfaction for himself; the debt is something far greater than he
> can pay; and, moreover, all the service that he can offer to God is already due on other
> titles. The suggestion that some innocent man, or angel, might possibly pay the debt
> incurred by sinners is rejected, on the ground that in any case this would put the sinner
> under obligation to his deliverer, and he would thus become the servant of a mere
> creature. The only way in which the satisfaction could be made, and men could be set free
> from sin, was by the coming of a Redeemer who is both God and man. His death makes full
> satisfaction to the Divine Justice, for it is something greater than all the sins of all
> mankind.2
> 
> St. Anselm’s position has since been challenged and modified
> but the fundamental concept of Jesus’ death paying for the sins of humanity has been
> retained throughout the doctrine’s permutations both within the Catholic and also
> Protestant churches.
> 
> Following on from this belief - that God incarnated as man
> suffered the penalty of death in payment for sins committed by humanity since the fall of
> Adam – is the concept of the exclusivity of Jesus’ atoning act. The book of
> Hebrews says:
> 
> So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto
> them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.3
> 
> As Christians believe Jesus’ death already paid the price
> for all sin, it naturally follows that there is no room for any other atoning figure.
> According to Christian belief, Jesus Christ is without parallel in religious history. As
> God incarnate, there is no other religious founder like him. Others such as the Buddha or
> Muhammad, or even the Jewish prophets such as Abraham and Moses, are considered to be
> under the stain of original sin "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of
> God"4. As such, they do not
> have the spiritual rank and standing that Christians give to Jesus Christ, and are not
> suitable candidates for the substitutionary atonement.
> 
> With the appearance of Islam, the doctrine of the substitutionary
> atonement with Jesus Christ as the central figure was not addressed. Mainstream Muslim
> theologians completely rejected belief in the death of Christ in accordance with a literal
> understanding of the Qur’anic verse:
> 
> That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son
> of Mary, the Apostle of God";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it
> was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no
> (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-
> Nay, God raised him up unto Himself; and God is Exalted in Power, Wise…5
> 
> Furthermore it rejected entirely the doctrines of incarnation and
> original sin – both necessary for the Christian comprehension of the subject.
> 
> It is important to note however, that the minority sect of
> Shi’ite Islam did develop a doctrine of atonement with the martyrdom of the Imam
> Husayn. As David Waines notes in his An Introduction to Islam:
> 
> [S]ince al-Husayn’s martyrdom was believed to have been
> divinely ordained, Karbala[6]
> became a symbol of Allah’s mercy and justice, through which the redemption and
> condemnation of mankind are achieved.7
> 
> Believed to be God’s chosen mediator for humanity, Husayn
> was given a role in Shi’ite belief almost unapproachable by any other figure.
> 
> The Bahá'í holy texts on the other hand reaffirmed both the
> death of Christ by symbolically interpreting "An-Nisa" 4:157-8 and the doctrine
> of the atonement between God and man but in a dramatically different way than it had
> previously been argued by mainstream Christian or even Muslim religious thinkers.
> 
> Bahá'í scripture maintains that God has sent many revelators of
> His will known as Manifestations, one of whom is Jesus Christ8. Others named include Adam9, Krishna10,
> Noah11, Abraham12, Moses13, Zoroaster14,
> the Buddha15, Muhammad16, the Báb17 and Bahá'u'lláh18. However the Bahá'í texts tell us there have been other Manifestations
> whose names are lost to history19.
> 
> According to Bahá'í belief, these various Manifestations of
> God, from before Adam to the latest - Bahá'u'lláh, all occupy two stations. The first is
> one of essential unity; in that they all manifest the attributes of the one God to
> humanity20, are the exponents of
> one Cause21, they all call
> humanity to its salvation22,
> they are all the manifestations of the Creative Word23, they are all the appearance of the Primal Will24.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh writes in the Kitáb-i-Iqán:
> 
> These Manifestations of God have each a twofold station. One is
> the station of pure abstraction and essential unity. In this respect, if thou callest them
> all by one name, and dost ascribe to them the same attribute, thou hast not erred from the
> truth. Even as He hath revealed: "No distinction do We make between any of His
> Messengers!" For they one and all summon the people of the earth to acknowledge the
> Unity of God, and herald unto them the Kawthar of an infinite grace and bounty.25
> 
> In this station, there is no distinction between Jesus or
> Muhammad, Krishna or Moses.
> 
> For they are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one being,
> one revelation. They are all the manifestation of the "Beginning" and the
> "End," the "First" and the "Last," the "Seen" and
> the "Hidden" - all of which pertain to Him Who is the Innermost Spirit of
> Spirits and Eternal Essence of Essences.26
> 
> However the Manifestations all occupy a station of distinction in
> the mortal world. Bahá'u'lláh explains:
> 
> The other station is the station of distinction, and pertaineth
> to the world of creation, and to the limitations thereof. In this respect, each
> Manifestation of God hath a distinct individuality, a definitely prescribed mission, a
> predestined revelation, and specially designated limitations. Each one of them is known by
> a different name, is characterized by a special attribute, fulfils a definite mission, and
> is entrusted with a particular Revelation.27
> 
> In their human personalities, all the Manifestations were
> different people, living at different times, with specific messages to bring to the
> peoples to whom they were sent. However it is important to note that the differences
> between them are not due to their own innate spirituality, but rather due to the needs and
> exigencies of the times in which they lived. Jesus was not a better soul than Muhammad or
> vice versa: they simply lived at different times and in different contexts. Bahá'u'lláh
> says:
> 
> It is clear and evident, therefore, that any apparent variation
> in the intensity of their light is not inherent in the light itself, but should rather be
> attributed to the varying receptivity of an ever-changing world.28
> 
> and in a letter written on his behalf, Shoghi Effendi says:
> 
> As regards your questions concerning the station of Jesus Christ,
> and His return as explained in the Gospel. It is true that Jesus referred to Himself as
> the Son of God, but this, as explained by Bahá'u'lláh in the Iqán, does not indicate
> any physical relationship whatever. Its meaning is entirely spiritual, and points out to
> the close relationship existing between Him and the Almighty God. Nor does it necessarily
> indicate any inherent superiority in the station of Jesus over other Prophets and
> Messengers. As far as their spiritual nature is concerned all Prophets can be regarded as
> Sons of God, as they all reflect His light, though not in an equal measure, and this
> difference in reflection is due to the conditions and circumstances under which they
> appear.29
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá addresses this subtle point in Some Answered
> Questions. He points out that if Jesus were placed in the same time and conditions as
> those in which Muhammad lived, then he too would have took up arms to fight against
> oppression. That Jesus and Muhammad acted differently was dependent not on their own
> morality, but rather the specific conditions in which each lived.30
> 
> [W]e must follow and adore the virtues revealed in the messengers
> of God whether in Abraham, Moses, Jesus or other prophets but we must not adhere to and
> adore the lamp. We must recognize the sun no matter from what dawning-point it may shine
> forth, be it Mosaic, Abrahamic or any personal point of orientation whatever, for we are
> lovers of sunlight and not of orientation. We are lovers of illumination and not of lamps
> and candles.31
> 
> And so we come to the first difficulty in considering whether the
> Christian doctrine of atonement has a place within Bahá'í belief. Fundamental to the
> Christian approach, is the belief that Jesus is paramount amongst religious founders, that
> only he is worthy to pay for our sins, and yet Bahá'í scripture specifically states that
> humanity must not make such a distinction between the spirituality of the various
> Messengers of God.
> 
> Know thou assuredly that the essence of all the Prophets of God
> is one and the same…To prefer one in honor to another, to exalt certain ones above
> the rest, is in no wise to be permitted.32
> 
> The Christian belief in the innate superiority of Jesus over any
> other religious figure is argued by two claims33. Firstly that Jesus, by virtue of the fact of his miraculous birth, is
> free from the stain of original sin, and secondly that Jesus never committed any voluntary
> sin.
> 
> The Catholic Encyclopedia quotes an early creed describing the
> Christian belief in Jesus’ sinless nature due to his miraculous birth:
> 
> "We believe . . . in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
> begotten of God the Father . . . that is, of the substance of the Father . . . in Him Who
> for us men and for our salvation came down and was made Flesh, that is, was perfectly
> begotten of Mary ever Virgin by the Holy Spirit; Who became Man, that is, took perfect
> human nature, soul and body and mind and all whatsoever is human save only sin, without
> the seed of man; not in another man, but unto himself did He form Flesh into one holy
> unity [eis mian hagian henoteta]; not as He breathed and spoke and wrought in the
> prophets, but He became Man perfectly; for the Word was made Flesh, not in that It
> underwent a change nor in that It exchanged Its Divinity for humanity, but in that It
> united Its Flesh unto Its one holy totality and Divinity [eis mian . . . heautou hagian
> teleioteta te kai theoteta].'34
> 
> and describes Jesus’ inability to sin:
> 
> The effect of the Incarnation on the human will of Christ was to
> leave it free in all things save only sin. It was absolutely impossible that any stain of
> sin should soil the soul of Christ. Neither sinful act of the will nor sinful habit of the
> soul were in keeping with the Hypostatic Union.35
> 
> However the Bahá'í Writings specifically deny that Jesus’
> divine and sinless nature was due to his lack of a natural father.
> 
> The honor and greatness of Christ is not due to the fact that He
> did not have a human father, but to His perfections, bounties and divine glory. If the
> greatness of Christ is His being fatherless, then Adam is greater than Christ, for He had
> neither father nor mother.36
> 
> The Bible says "[f]or all have sinned, and come short of the
> glory of God"37 but for
> Bahá'ís this description does not apply to the various Manifestations of God such as
> Abraham or Zoroaster any more than it applies to Jesus Christ. 'Abdu'l-Bahá says:
> "[f]or these Holy Souls [the Manifestations] are pure from every sin and sanctified
> from faults."38
> 
> They are all pure and sinless, not by virtue of the physical
> conditions surrounding their advents, but because the spiritual nature of the
> Manifestation of God is different from that of the ordinary human. Whilst they share with
> us the human condition: that is they are born, live out their lives on earth, suffer
> weaknesses such as hunger and illness, enjoy human emotions such as love, and eventually
> they suffer physical death (see endnote 30) - nevertheless they have a different spiritual
> nature than the rest of humanity. "The Prophets, unlike us, are pre-existent"39 and are "pure from sin".40
> 
> The reason given in Bahá'í scripture for the appearance of
> Manifestations of God, is that without some sort of intermediary, humanity would be unable
> to access God who is considered to be completely transcendent. Each chosen representative
> manifests God to the degree that humanity is able to receive the message he is commanded
> to bear. So one Bahá'í interpretation of Jesus’ claim to exclusivity "no man
> cometh unto the Father but by me"41, is that he was pointing to the notion of the Manifestation being the
> sole source of access to God, rather than to his own individual being. The "me"
> in John 14:6 is not the "me" of Jesus, but the "me" of the Christ, the
> Primal Will.
> 
> To every discerning and illuminated heart it is evident that God,
> the unknowable Essence, the Divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every human
> attribute, such as corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress and regress…The
> door of the knowledge of the Ancient of Days being thus closed in the face of all
> beings…hath caused those luminous Gems of Holiness [the Manifestations of God] to
> appear out of the realm of the spirit, in the noble form of the human temple, and be made
> manifest unto all men, that they may impart unto the world the mysteries of the
> unchangeable Being, and tell of the subtleties of His imperishable Essence…These
> attributes of God are not, and have never been, vouchsafed specially unto certain
> Prophets, and withheld from others. Nay, all the Prophets of God, His well-favored, His
> holy and chosen Messengers are, without exception, the bearers of His names, and the
> embodiments of His attributes. They only differ in the intensity of their revelation, and
> the comparative potency of their light.42
> 
> This brings us to an essential Bahá’í theme described in Gleanings
> from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh p64-69: the idea that God chooses to
> allow humanity knowledge of Him through the appearance of the Manifestation of God.
> Without this gift given freely by God’s grace which humanity cannot earn by its own
> actions, humanity would perish. This is the fundamental purpose of the appearance of all
> the Prophets of God. This is the reason why Jesus was sent into the world: to bring
> humanity into reunion with God through revealing teachings by which humans can develop
> their spiritual potential.
> 
> All praise to the unity of God, and all honor to Him, the
> sovereign Lord, the incomparable and all-glorious Ruler of the universe, Who, out of utter
> nothingness, hath created the reality of all things, Who, from naught, hath brought into
> being the most refined and subtle elements of His creation, and Who, rescuing His
> creatures from the abasement of remoteness and the perils of ultimate extinction, hath
> received them into His kingdom of incorruptible glory…
> 
> Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein,
> He…chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to
> love Him …
> 
> And since there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the
> one true God with His creation…He hath ordained that in every age and dispensation a
> pure and stainless Soul be made manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven…
> 
> These Essences of Detachment, these resplendent Realities are the
> channels of God's all-pervasive grace. Led by the light of unfailing guidance, and
> invested with supreme sovereignty, They are commissioned to use the inspiration of Their
> words, the effusions of Their infallible grace and the sanctifying breeze of Their
> Revelation for the cleansing of every longing heart and receptive spirit from the dross
> and dust of earthly cares and limitations. Then, and only then, will the Trust of God,
> latent in the reality of man, emerge, as resplendent as the rising Orb of Divine
> Revelation, from behind the veil of concealment, and implant the ensign of its revealed
> glory upon the summits of men's hearts…
> 
> Through the Teachings of this Day Star of Truth every man will
> advance and develop until he attaineth the station at which he can manifest all the
> potential forces with which his inmost true self hath been endowed. It is for this very
> purpose that in every age and dispensation the Prophets of God and His chosen Ones have
> appeared amongst men, and have evinced such power as is born of God and such might as only
> the Eternal can reveal.43
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá reaffirms this central Bahá'í doctrine:
> 
> God has sent forth the Prophets for the purpose of quickening the
> soul of man into higher and divine recognitions.44
> 
> and gives the example of Christ:
> 
> The purpose of the appearance of the Manifestations of God is the
> training of the people. That is the only result of Their mission, the real outcome. The
> outcome of the whole life of Jesus was the training of eleven disciples and two women. Why
> did He suffer troubles, ordeals and calamities? For the training of these few followers.
> That was the result of His life. The product of the life of Christ was not the churches
> but the illumined souls of those who believed in Him. Afterward, they spread His
> teachings.45
> 
> All the Prophets of God, including Jesus Christ, appeared in the
> world for the education of humanity, to develop immature souls into maturity, to transform
> the ignorant of mankind into the knowing, thereby establishing love and unity through
> divine education and training.46
> 
> Shoghi Effendi also describes the essential design of the
> religions that the Manifestations founded:
> 
> …the fundamental purpose of all religions - including our
> own - is to bring man nearer to God, and to change his character, which is of the utmost
> importance.47
> 
> The Christian doctrine of the substitutionary atonement holds as
> its central theme, the belief that the purpose of the advent, life and death of Jesus
> Christ was to pay for the sins of humanity; that this was the chosen method for humanity
> to be allowed forgiveness and achieve oneness with God.
> 
> Yet the Bahá'í texts say that the fundamental purpose for the
> appearance of Christ was so that human beings might develop their spiritual potential and
> thus enter into reunion with God48. This was achieved through recognition of Christ as a Manifestation of
> God, and through the belief and practice of his teachings. As such, the meaning of the
> word atonement as it figures in Bahá'í scripture rests upon the belief that humanity is
> united with God through the teachings he sends via his Manifestation; that through the
> voluntary acceptance and practice of these teachings, humanity develops the ability to
> reunite with its Creator.
> 
> The very name of the doctrine "atonement" is derived
> from a medieval Latin word meaning to "unite". The Oxford dictionary defines the
> original "onement" (from which the word atonement later developed) as:
> "[t]he fact of being made into one; physical union; mental or emotional union,
> agreement."49 It was much
> later that the word came to carry the meaning of payment due for an offence, which the
> Christian doctrine emphasizes.
> 
> In a passage describing Muhammad, but germane to this point,
> Bahá'u'lláh writes that through active belief in Muhammad the remission of sins was
> achieved:
> 
> The following is an evidence of the sovereignty exercised by
> Muhammad, the Day-star of Truth. Hast thou not heard how with one single verse He hath
> sundered light from darkness, the righteous from the ungodly, and the believing from the
> infidel? … Whosoever acknowledged His truth and turned unto Him, his good works
> outweighed his misdeeds, and all his sins were remitted and forgiven. Thereby is the truth
> of these words concerning Him made manifest: "Swift is He in reckoning." Thus
> God turneth iniquity into righteousness, were ye to explore the realms of divine
> knowledge, and fathom the mysteries of His wisdom. In like manner, whosoever partook of
> the cup of love, obtained his portion of the ocean of eternal grace and of the showers of
> everlasting mercy, and entered into the life of faith – the heavenly and everlasting
> life. But he that turned away from that cup was condemned to eternal death. By the terms
> "life" and "death," spoken of in the scriptures, is intended the life
> of faith and the death of unbelief. The generality of the people, owing to their failure
> to grasp the meaning of these words, rejected and despised the person of the
> Manifestation, deprived themselves of the light of His divine guidance, and refused to
> follow the example of that immortal Beauty.50
> 
> Furthermore Bahá'í scripture specifically denies as
> superstition, the notions that Christ’s death was a necessary payment for the
> inheritance of original sin or that it was a necessary payment for the inherited human
> ability to sin. 'Abdu'l-Bahá says:
> 
> [The churches] teach that because of Adam's sin all His
> descendants have, likewise, committed transgression and have become responsible through
> inheritance; that, consequently, all mankind deserves punishment and must make
> retribution; and that God sent forth His Son as a sacrifice in order that man might be
> forgiven and the human race delivered from the consequences of Adam's transgression.
> 
> We wish to consider these statements from the standpoint of
> reason. Could we conceive of the Divinity, Who is Justice itself, inflicting punishment
> upon the posterity of Adam for Adam's own sin and disobedience?51
> 
> Yet, the Bahá'í texts do make certain statements that at a
> superficial reading appear to confirm the doctrine of the substitutionary atonement. In
> particular Bahá'u'lláh, describing the intended sacrifice of the son of Abraham, the
> crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the martyrdom of the Imam Husayn, says:
> 
> The purpose of God, moreover, was to sacrifice him as a ransom
> for the sins and iniquities of all the peoples of the earth.52
> 
> furthermore Shoghi Effendi writes that Bahá'u'lláh’s son
> Mirza Mihdi was "offered up as a ransom by Bahá'u'lláh for the quickening of the
> world and its unification".53
> 
> So what is the purpose of Jesus’ death, according to
> Bahá'í scripture? The question is answered succinctly by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Jesus accepted
> to be crucified so that his teachings could become known and therefore elevate humanity.
> He knew that his mission would attract persecution, yet because he loved humanity and
> desired that everyone might have God’s teachings, he willingly accepted the abuse and
> torture heaped upon him. As explained before, it is only through the belief and practice
> of the teachings of God that humanity can attain reunion and atonement with God: so Jesus
> was willing to suffer that humanity might have access to these teachings.
> 
> In order to understand the reality of sacrifice let us consider
> the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. It is true that He sacrificed Himself for our
> sake. What is the meaning of this? When Christ appeared, He knew that He must proclaim
> Himself in opposition to all the nations and peoples of the earth. He knew that mankind
> would arise against Him and inflict upon Him all manner of tribulations. There is no doubt
> that one who put forth such a claim as Christ announced would arouse the hostility of the
> world and be subjected to personal abuse. He realized that His blood would be shed and His
> body rent by violence. Notwithstanding His knowledge of what would befall Him, He arose to
> proclaim His message, suffered all tribulation and hardships from the people and finally
> offered His life as a sacrifice in order to illumine humanity - gave His blood in order to
> guide the world of mankind. He accepted every calamity and suffering in order to guide men
> to the truth.54
> 
> Bahá'í scripture makes several illuminating comments about the
> purpose of the life and death of Jesus Christ. They include describing the aim of
> Jesus’ appearance in the world to educate humanity55; that he unified divergent peoples and proclaimed peace56; that he established a divine civilisation57; that his "essential teaching was the
> unity of mankind and the attainment of supreme human virtues through love"58; that he was willing to die in order to
> raise the call of unity and love59; and that he died on the cross for the purpose of achieving the unity of
> humanity60.
> 
> But was it only Jesus that was sacrificed for our sake? According
> to the Bahá'í texts, all the Manifestations and Prophets of God suffered for us and
> because of us. Jesus’ sacrifice was in his willingness to undergo any suffering, and
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá affirms that in a like manner Abraham (for example) made the same sacrifice
> as Jesus.
> 
> In reality, Abraham sacrificed Himself, for He brought heavenly
> teachings to the world and conferred heavenly food upon mankind.61
> 
> He says that each and every Manifestation and Prophet suffered to
> atone us.
> 
> Consider to what extent the love of God makes itself manifest.
> Among the signs of His love which appear in the world are the dawning points of His
> Manifestations. What an infinite degree of love is reflected by the divine Manifestations
> toward mankind! For the sake of guiding the people They have willingly forfeited Their
> lives to resuscitate human hearts. They have accepted the cross. To enable human souls to
> attain the supreme degree of advancement, They have suffered during Their limited years
> extreme ordeals and difficulties. If Jesus Christ had not possessed love for the world of
> humanity, surely He would not have welcomed the cross. He was crucified for the love of
> mankind. Consider the infinite degree of that love. Without love for humanity John the
> Baptist would not have offered his life. It has been likewise with all the Prophets and
> Holy Souls. If the Báb had not manifested love for mankind, surely He would not have
> offered His breast for a thousand bullets. If Bahá'u'lláh had not been aflame with love
> for humanity, He would not have willingly accepted forty years' imprisonment… all the
> divine Manifestations suffered, offered Their lives and blood, sacrificed Their existence,
> comfort and all They possessed for the sake of mankind.62
> 
> All the Prophets of God have been sent to free us from sin:
> 
> Evil is imperfection. Sin is the state of man in the world of the
> baser nature, for in nature exist defects such as injustice, tyranny, hatred, hostility,
> strife: these are characteristics of the lower plane of nature. These are the sins of the
> world, the fruits of the tree from which Adam did eat. Through education we must free
> ourselves from these imperfections. The Prophets of God have been sent, the Holy Books
> have been written, so that man may be made free.63
> 
> In conclusion, we can see that the concept of atonement, as it is
> understood in the Bahá'í texts, denies the idea that God requires the payment of a blood
> sacrifice in order for the forgiveness of sins to be achieved; it rejects belief in the
> inherent supremacy of Jesus over other religious founders and discards the notion that
> only Jesus suffered and died for humanity’s sake.
> 
> As such it cannot reasonably be argued that the traditional
> Christian doctrine of the substitutionary atonement has a place within Bahá'í theology
> as the Bahá'í texts instead promote the belief that God has sent an unending stream of
> chosen Messengers - united in aim, purpose and spiritual station - to bear His revelation
> at the cost of their own lives; that belief in these Manifestations constitutes belief in
> God Himself, and that the practice of their teachings achieves the remission of sins and
> atonement with God.
> 
> Footnotes
> 
> 1 Karen Armstrong, History of God, p104
> 
> 2 http://www.knight.org/advent/cathen/02055a.htm
> 
> 3 Bible, "Hebrews" 9:28
> 
> 4 Bible, "Romans" 3:23
> 
> 5 Qur’an, "An-Nisa" 4:157-8
> 
> 6 The battle in which Husayn was killed.
> 
> 7 David Waines, An Introduction to Islam, p161-2
> 
> 8 Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Iqán, p. 64
> 
> 9 The Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Báb,
> p126
> 
> 10 Shoghi Effendi, Buddha, Krisna, Zoroaster, p20
> 
> 11 The Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Báb,
> p126
> 
> 12 ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p449
> 
> 13 ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p366
> 
> 14 ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p197
> 
> 15 ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p197
> 
> 16 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Secret of Divine Civilization, page
> 99
> 
> 17 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Will and Testament, page 19
> 
> 18 Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, page 161
> 
> 19 Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of
> Bahá'u'lláh, p. 142
> 
> 20 Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Iqán, p. 103
> 
> 21 Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Iqán, p. 159
> 
> 22 Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Iqán, p. 152,
> Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 55
> 
> 23 Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Iqán, p. 51,
> Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 76-7
> 
> 24 The Báb, Selections from the Bab, p126
> 
> 25 Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Iqán, p. 152
> 
> 26 Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of
> Bahá'u'lláh, p54
> 
> 27 Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Iqán, p. 176
> 
> 28 Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of
> Bahá'u'lláh, p79
> 
> 29 From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an
> individual believer, November 29, 1937 and quoted in Lights of Guidance, p492
> 
> 30 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 20
> 
> 31 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity, p.16
> 
> 32 Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of
> Bahá'u'lláh, p78
> 
> 33 It should be noted that as well as the claims to innate
> superiority, the Christian belief in Jesus’ literal resurrection (and therefore
> triumph over death to which the rest of humanity must submit) also differentiates him from
> any other religious figure. The Bahá’í texts deny a literal reading of the
> resurrection and instead emphasise the spiritual victory of Jesus’ resurrection
> through the body of the believers. The same status of victory over death is therefore
> argued for all Manifestations of God and is not exclusive to Jesus.
> 
> "The resurrections of the Divine Manifestations are not of the body. All Their
> states, Their conditions, Their acts, the things They have established, Their teachings,
> Their expressions, Their parables and Their instructions have a spiritual and divine
> signification, and have no connection with material things." `Abdu'l-Bahá, Some
> Answered Questions, p103. See also: Shoghi Effendi, High Endeavours, p69-70 and
> Multiple Authors, Lights of Guidance, #1649
> 
> 34 http://www.knight.org/advent/cathen/07706b.htm
> 
> 35 http://www.knight.org/advent/cathen/07706b.htm
> 
> 36 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 89
> 
> 37 Bible, "Romans" 3:23
> 
> 38 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p170
> 
> 39 Shoghi Effendi, High Endeavours, p72
> 
> 40 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p170
> 
> 41 Bible, "John" 14:6
> 
> 42 Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of
> Bahá'u'lláh, p46-48
> 
> 43 Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of
> Bahá’u’lláh, p64-69
> 
> 44 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p300
> 
> 45 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p437
> 
> 46 `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal Peace, p40
> 
> 47 Shoghi Effendi, A Chaste and Holy Life, p61
> 
> 48 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p109
> 
> 49 Excerpted from The Oxford Interactive Encyclopedia.
> Developed by The Learning Company, Inc. Copyright (c) 1997 TLC Properties Inc. All rights
> reserved.
> 
> 50 Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Iqán, p. 111-4
> 
> 51 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p449
> 
> 52 Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of
> Bahá'u'lláh, p76
> 
> 53 Shoghi Effendi, Bahiyyih Khanum, p63
> 
> 54 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p450
> 
> 55 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p85
> 
> 56 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p97
> 
> 57 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p11
> 
> 58 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p5-7
> 
> 59 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p234
> 
> 60 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p5
> 
> 61 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p451
> 
> 62 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> p256-7
> 
> 63 `Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p177-8
> 
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> 
> Views17495 views since posted 1998; last edit 2025-03-07 08:40 UTC;
> 
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