Definition: Study Circle-A group that forms to systematically study the Baha'i writings and apply the insights into concrete acts of service.
In our study circle, there is a lady who in many ways believes in the Baha'i Faith but is having trouble corraborating some things in the Baha'i Faith with the Bible. Baha's believe in the Bible, though we often interpret it differently than Christian's. One important such case comes from the idea that Jesus Christ, after 3 days of being crucified, left his cave, appeared numerous times to numerous followers in physical form, and then resurrected into heaven. The core meaning of this to Christian's is that Christ conquered death, and therefore by believing in him anybody could also conquer death. If reading these versus literally, it is almost impossible to contradict the Christian interpretation. This is especially given the fact that all four gospels speak about the disciples finding an empty tomb, and Christ appearing among his apostles and saying, among other things
"Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself, touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." Luke 24:38-39
Bahai's believe that Christ ressurected spiritually and has already returned with the same heavenly body, though a different physical body.
Investigating this matter requires looking at other Biblical scriptures and uncovering the meaning of 'body'. Is there only one meaning, well lets see. Paul the apostle, a persecuter of the Christians, turned convert after a confrontation with Christ, was a primary shaper of the Christian Church. He speaks of Christ appearing to him in a similar manner to the other apostles
"Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also" 1Corinthians 15:7
For a more detailed explanation, read Acts 9. He then proceeds to explain that as Christ is raised, so are his followers;
"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. for since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive...Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? 1Corinthians 15:20-29
Now he gets to the crux of the argument, how are the dead raised? How was Christ raised? What does it mean that Christ appeared among his apostels three days after his crucifiction and ate with them, touched them, etc? Read on...
"But someone will say, How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come? You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another...So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised and imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body, if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written, "The first Man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam(Christ) became a life-giving spirit. However the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven, heavenly. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have born the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." 1Corinthians 15:35-50
These versus almost unequivically show that it is not Christ's physical body that mattered, but his heavenly body. His physical body was sown to be raised a spiritual body. Likewise, his return is a spiritual return, ie. he is not going to come physically out of the sky. Christians now are in danger of making the same mistakes the Jews of Christ's time made. That is the expectation of a literal return. The Jews expected Elijah to return in a similar manner Christians expect Christ to return now. When Christ was asked about elijah's return, he said
"For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you care to accept it, he himself is Elijah, who was to come."Matthew 11:13-14
John the babtist was not the physical return of Elijah, but the spiritual.
Baha'i believe in progressive revelation, meaning God sends messengers throughout eternity to bring salvation and a set of laws neccesary for the time and peoples capacity. In this day, Baha'is believe Baha'u'llah is the return prophesized in all the holy books. This is the day of fulfillment, the building of the New Jeruselum, based on the core precept of the unity of humankind. I invite Christian's to critically search deeper within their Bible and also to critically investigate the claims of Baha'u'llah for themselves.
