Personal Online Journal

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Where the Baha'i and LDS Agree

I have a new friend that is Baha'i. Last night she gave me a little card that had this on it.

Tell Me About Baha'u'llah

The inside reads:
Bahá'u'lláh explains that: 
The purpose of life is to know and love God, and acquire heavenly virtues such as faith, wisdom and compassion.
We learn about God and divine virtues by studying the lives and teachings of His Messengers such as Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna and Bahá'u'lláh.
The religions that these spiritual Teachers brought are all connected – like chapters in a single book of revelation.
As humanity matures, we become ready to hear deeper spiritual truths and practice greater levels of unity.
We are ready to recognize the oneness of humanity, the equality of women and men, the harmony of science and religion, the value of education, the spiritual nature of families, and the promise of world peace.
We are ready to accept ourselves as noble creations and develop our untapped potential as spiritual beings.
Bahá'u'lláh’s teachings connect the personal with the global and the practical with the mystical in ways that open us to new ways of living with one another in unity.
When you are ready, type “Bahai” in any search engine. 
The back reads:
Like all Prophets, Baha'u'llah lived a life of sacrifice and service. Like Buddha, He was a nobleman who gave up His wealth and power to teach the Word of God. Like Abraham, He was exiled from His native land. Like Moses, He guided His followers to new understandings for forty years. Like Jesus, He was persecuted and tortured by the leaders of His time. Despite this oppression, He founded a community which is established in more countries than Judaism or Islam and is still growing. His teachings, once considered dangerous, are now recognized as visionary prescriptions for humanity's survival.
For these reasons, and so many more, the life and teachings of Baha’u’llah deserve your serious consideration.

There is nothing I disagree with here. Below I match up these belief with what Mormons teach.

The purpose of life is to know and love God
"God wants all of His children to progress and become more like Him." (From Mormon.org)
To become more like him we must know Him and love him. We must aquire the heavenly virtues God has.

We learn about God and divine virtues by studying the lives and teachings of His Messengers.
This is why we study the scriptures and modern day prophets. The only difference here is who we consider true messengers from God to be. We believe that prophets are called of God yet fallible. We also believe that God uses women and men of all ages and time to bring about his work, whether or not they are given the authority to perform ordinances.

...More to come

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