Abdu'l-Bahá on Christ and Christianity: Introduction
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During His second trip to France between January and March 1913, 'Abdu'l-
Bahá met with Pasteur Monnier and a group of professors, clerics 
and theological students in Monnier's theological seminary in Paris. On the 
evening of February 17th 1913, 'Abdu'l-Bahá presented the 
Bahá'í teachings on Christ and Christianity to this group. 
Pasteur Monnier was a distinguished Protestant theologian, vice-president 
of the Protestant Federation of France and professor of Protestant 
theology in Paris.  

Fortunately a Persian transcript of the interview was made and within 
three years an English version appeared in print. The book in which it 
appears, Abdul Baha [sic] on Divine Philosophy, is a collection 
of unsourced letters and talks of 'Abdu'l-Bahá first published in 
Boston in 1916. It was last printed in New York around 1918 and 
consequently the contents of this interview have been inaccessible to 
most of the Bahá'í world. In response to a question about 
the authenticity of the interview, the Universal House of Justice have 
written, "The fact that an original record of the interview exists 
indicates that it is authentic. The translation, however, is an early one 
and may need to be revised. You would be advised, therefore, to consult the 
original text should any questions arise from the text" (from a letter 
on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the editor, dated 16 April 
1993). The Bahá'í Studies Review has reprinted this 
remarkable dialogue here with a set of new footnotes, containing revised 
translations made by Dr Khazeh Fananapazir from the original Persian 
which appears in the compilation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's talks in the 
West, Khitábát.  

The interview consists of 'Abdu'l-Bahá answering five of Pasteur 
Monnier's questions. The first of these questions concerns the nature of 
Christ. In response 'Abdu'l-Bahá makes the statement that the 
Bahá'í belief in Christ is exactly what is recorded in the 
Gospels, with its meanings explained. Here then the framework is set, a 
common ground automatically established - two believers in the Gospels 
discussing its interpretation. It is striking how 'Abdu'l-Bahá 
emphasises the importance of reason in this process - He says about John 
1:1 (In the beginning was the Word . . .), "we give an explanation 
which is accepted by reason" and later in His commentary on John 
10:30 (The Father is in me), He argues, "This we must understand 
through logical and scientific evidences". He had also developed this 
theme a few weeks earlier in a talk, "If religion were contrary to 
logical reason then it would cease to be a religion and be merely 
superstition. . . . I say unto you: weigh carefully in the balance of reason 
and science everything that is presented to you as religion. If it passes 
the test, then accept it, for it is truth! If however, it does not conform, 
then reject it, for it is ignorance!" (Paris Talks 143, 144). 

In this brief introduction, two issues will be examined from the 
interview, the issues upon which the remainder of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's 
explanations rest. 'Abdu'l-Bahá focuses on the Prologue of the 
Gospel of St. John in His discussion of the nature of Christ: "In the 
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was 
God". His interpretation leaves the audience in no doubt that Christ 
is glorified from a Bahá'í perspective, and this glory 
derives from His incarnation of all divine attributes and virtues (see also 
Some Answered Questions 206-7, Selections 60). 'Abdu'l-
Bahá says that the reality of Christ is the "depository of the 
infinite divine virtues". From a study of the original Greek of this 
verse, some modern biblical scholars have come to the same conclusion - 
John 1:1 is describing Christ as the expression or manifestation of God. 
The Greek of the last clause is kai theos en ho logos. The so-called 
Authorized Version has it as: "And the Word was God". This 
would suggest that 'Christ' and 'God' were interchangeable. However, as 
the late Bishop John Robinson explains in the classic Honest to God, 
the Greek more accurately implies that Christ is the "complete 
expression, the Word, of God":   

But in Greek this would most naturally be represented by 
'God' with the article, not theos but ho theos. But, equally, St. 
John is not saying that Jesus is a 'divine' man, in the sense with which the 
ancient world was familiar or in the sense in which the Liberals spoke of 
him. That would be theios. The Greek expression steers carefully 
between the two. It is impossible to represent it in a single English word, 
but the New English Bible, I believe, gets the sense pretty exactly with its 
rendering, 'And what God was, the Word was.' In other words, if one looked 
at Jesus, one saw God - for 'he who has seen me has seen the Father' (Jn 
14:9). He was the complete expression, the Word, of God. (Honest 
71)   

Another aspect of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's interpretation of John 1:1 is that 
He finds the concept of unity central to its meaning. In terms of the 
relationship between Christ and God, this involves the absolute unity of 
their qualities: "It is evident that these qualities were ever with 
God, . . . they are inseparable from him, because divinity is not subject to 
division". A number of Christian theologians have read the concept of 
unity into the second clause of John 1:1, "the Word was with 
God". Some biblical scholars have suggested that the Greek, pros 
ton theon, is more accurately translated, "the Word was towards 
God" because pros with the accusative case (theon) 
after the verb 'to be' means 'to go towards':   

If the Word was in motion towards God, instead of being 
literally and plainly identical with God, then St. John is introducing the 
notion of development (or process, or progression) within the divine 
nature . . . "Movement towards" implies a separation that is in 
the process of being overcome. The movement of the Word towards God can 
then be seen as history: the history of the created universe, going back to 
its very beginning, is one of overcoming a separation from God, a process 
of reunification. (Witterschein, Preface xiv)   

Pasteur Monnier's second question concerns the relationship between 
Christianity and the Bahá'í Faith. 'Abdu'l-Bahá 
answers by explaining that religions have two parts. The first of these is 
essential and spiritual, the "expression of the love of God", the 
moral side of religion. Elsewhere, 'Abdu'l-Bahá has explained that 
the essential teachings of religion "are faith in God, the acquirement 
of the virtues which characterize perfect manhood, praiseworthy 
moralities, the acquisition of the bestowals and bounties emanating from 
the divine effulgences - in brief, the ordinances which concern the realm 
of morals and ethics" (Promulgation 403). The second aspect 
of religion is non-essential and "belongs to practical life", and 
"deals with exterior forms and ceremonies" (Paris Talks 
142), "material conditions, the laws of human intercourse and social 
regulation. These are subject to change and transformation in accordance 
with the time, place and conditions" (Promulgation 97-8). The 
link that 'Abdu'l-Bahá forges between Christianity and the 
Bahá'í Faith is established by the fact that 
Bahá'u'lláh renewed, reiterated and reinvigorated the moral 
teachings of Christ "in the most complete form and deposited them 
in the hearts of men".  

It is interesting that scholars in the field of comparative religion started 
discussing these ideas in the second half of this century. Much of this 
debate on the world's religions was sparked off by Toynbee's analysis of 
religion in the Gifford Lectures he delivered at the University of Edinburgh 
in 1952 and 1953, and later published as An Historian's Approach to 
Religion in 1956. Toynbee began this analysis by arguing for a 
distinction - namely that, within in each religion, "there are 
essential counsels and truths, and there are nonessential practices and 
propositions" (Historian 262). The same essential experience, 
the "spiritual presence" was to be found in all religions. It is 
the transforming influence of this "presence" in these religions 
which leads to an "act of self-sacrifice" - the process of 
"giving up self-centredness" and focusing one's life on a new 
centre: the Absolute Reality and spiritual presence behind these religions 
(ibid. 273). Toynbee then was attempting to distil the common faith 
experience from the diversity of beliefs and practices.  

The most important differences between the religions were in the 
nonessentials. Toynbee listed examples of what he considered 
nonessentials: holy places, rituals, social conventions (such as celibacy 
for priests), and especially dogmas and schools of theology. In other words 
the entire complex of Creed (symbols, doctrines and theology), 
Code (ethical systems), and Cult (ritual, liturgy) by which 
religions try to express their faith was considered by Toynbee to be 
nonessential. However Toynbee added that the fact these externals, or 
what His termed "accretions", were nonessential did not mean 
that they are not necessary. They allow a religion to communicate its 
message and spiritual experience to people in particular societies at 
certain times in history (ibid. 264).  

It is notable that 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the interview with Pasteur 
Monnier explains the destructive effects of the "dogmas and 
ritualism" of the religions and describes the laws of Judaism as 
"archaic" and "severe". The doctrine of the trinity is 
presented as a specific instance of the nonessential part of Christianity, 
and towards the end of the interview, He states that the Reality of Christ 
has been forgotten and been substituted by emphasis on the names of the 
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  

Like 'Abdu'l-Bahá who focuses on the urgent necessity to renew the 
spiritual and essential in the religions, Toynbee's greater insistence was 
on the need to constantly redefine, reevaluate, discard, replace and adjust 
these nonessentials, for only then can a religion have an enduring 
relevance and appeal. Toynbee contended that most importantly the 
followers of religion must prevent themselves from equating the 
nonessential with the essential, and not "to allow the light radiated 
by the essence of a religion to be shut off from human souls by an opaque 
film of accretions" (Historian 269-70). If religion is not kept 
pure, "we are always relapsing from the worship of God into the 
worship of our tribe or of ourselves" (Christian Approach 
159).  

It is interesting that 'Abdu'l-Bahá in a talk in 1912 further 
develops this theme. He observes that religionists have turned away from 
the essential teachings and forsaken the spiritual principles that lie 
within their religion. He adds that this is the cause of the great discord, 
hatred and misunderstanding that was prevailing at the time. Indeed by 
returning to the spiritual core of religion, He proposes, the potential 
exists to aid in the settlement of some of the oldest and the newest 
conflicts in the world. In a section from this talk, which could just as 
well have been written today, 'Abdu'l-Bahá makes the following 
bold challenge:  

Consider what is happening in the Balkans. What 
conformity with the teachings of Christ do we witness in that deplorable 
picture? Has not man absolutely forgotten the divine command of Christ? 
In fact, such discord and warfare are evidences of disagreement upon the 
non-essential precepts and laws of religious belief. Investigation of the 
one fundamental reality and allegiance to the essential unchanging 
principles of the Word of God can alone establish unity and love in human 
hearts. (Promulgation 445-6)   

The reprinting with annotations of this interview is a rare opportunity to 
appreciate an inter-religious encounter 'Abdu'l-Bahá had with 
committed Christians. The text is unique for a number of reasons. The 
succinct and clear way it relates the Bahá'í Faith to 
Christianity and the natural method by which 'Abdu'l-Bahá 
constructs a link from this to world peace is astonishing. It is also the 
only time John of Chrysostom's metaphor appears in Bahá'í 
literature. But perhaps it is the seeds 'Abdu'l-Bahá sows for future 
dialogue that are the most interesting aspects of this encounter. In His 
affirmative and reverent use of the Bible, in His rational and moderate 
presentation of its interpretation, and in recounting the moment that He 
upheld to an audience of thousands of Jews the uniqueness of Christ, He 
acts as our true Exemplar. Undoubtedly Pasteur Monnier would have gone 
away with the same impressions as Marcus Bach did, another Christian 
professor of theology, after a conversation on the same subject with 
Shoghi Effendi: But the thing that struck me most as our meeting 
progressed was his unquestioned devotion to the Galilean. He was fully as 
faithful to Jesus as he was to Bahá'u'lláh. . . The knowledge, love, and 
commitment which Shoghi Effendi held for Jesus were a startling 
revelation. Through Him he had become the recipient of a religious 
stability and power that put me to shame. Jesus was surely, truly, 
undebatably, the Chosen of God. What would happen if we would really 
follow Him? The sword would be put away. The guns would be silenced. 
Men would be kind and humble in spirit, mighty in purpose. 
(Appreciation 29)  

Seena Fazel  

[Go to transcript of 
'Abdu'l-Bahá's talk on Christ and Christianity] 

Works Cited  'Abdu'l-Bahá. Paris Talks. 11th ed. London: 
Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1969.  ___. Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks delivered by 
'Abdu'l-Bahá during His visit to the United States and Canada in 
1912. 2nd. ed. Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1982. 
 ___. Selections from the Writings of 
'Abdu'l-Bahá. Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1978. 
 ___. Some Answered Questions. 
Comp. and trans. Laura C. Barney. Rev. ed. Wilmette: 
Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1981.  Bach. Marcus. Shoghi Effendi: An Appreciation. New York: 
Hawthorn Books, 1958.  Robinson, John 
A.T. Honest to God. London: SCM, 1963.  Toynbee, A. An Historian's Approach to Religion. London: 
Oxford University Press, 1956  ___. 
"What should be the Christian Attitude to the Contemporary Non-
Christian Faiths?" in Attitudes toward Other Religions. Ed. 
Owen Thomas. London: SCM, 1969.  Witterschein, G. "Preface" to The Unvarnished Gospels. 
Trans. Andy Gaus. Brighton, MA: Threshold Books, 1988.
-- Abdu'l-Bahá on Christ and Christianity: Introduction (Used by permission of the curator)