Bahá'í apologetics
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| Kitáb-i-Aqdas · Kitáb-i-Íqán |
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Administrative Order |
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| History | |
| Notable individuals | |
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Shoghi Effendi |
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| Selected teachings | |
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Unity of humanity |
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Symbols · Laws |
Apologetics is the branch of theology which seeks to defend a religion's tenets through reasoned argument.
Bahá'ís often study theological issues in informal study groups, which came to be known as "deepenings" or "study circles". During such groups, Bahá'ís encourage discussion and reasoning about a variety of Bahá'í teachings and literature. As there are no clergy within the Bahá'í Faith, the purpose of such dialogue is to encourage individual understanding and promote a higher level of discourse and among community members.
Study groups are merely one example of where Bahá'ís will consider the teachings of their faith. Many apologetic books have been written in response to attacks on the religion's history and teachings. The religion's founders themselves wrote several books in response to such questioning, among them are the Báb's Seven Proofs and Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i-Íqán. Later Bahá'í authors wrote prominent apologetic texts, such as Schaeffer's Making the Crooked Straight, and today there is an extensive library of resources.
This page attempts to provide a broad overview of some of the issues in question that may be considered challenging in nature. Since the number of potential topics is very large, this page has been divided into sub-categories which go into more detail.
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[edit] Central Teachings
Bahá'í Faith and the unity of religion
- Bahá'ís believe in the fundamental agreement in purpose of all the major world religions. Naturally, a large amount of polemic and apologetic literature have been published on how these diverse philosophies are reconciled in the Bahá'í point-of-view.
Bahá'í Faith and gender equality
- Bahá'ís assert that gender equality is an incontrovertible reality of the human condition. However, certain practices seem to favor one gender over the other in education, inheritance, and membership on the Universal House of Justice; some of these are explained in the Bahá'í Writings as being due to a difference of function between the sexes.
- Bahá'ís believe that science without religion leads to materialism, and religion without science leads to superstition. The postulate that these two seemingly opposite forces are in harmony is fundamental to Bahá'í teachings.
Bahá'í Faith and language policy
- Bahá'ís call for a universal auxiliary language, meaning in addition to one's native tongue.
[edit] Issues discussed elsewhere
Homosexuality and Bahá'í Faith
- Bahá'í teachings only permit sexual relationships between a married husband and wife.
- A survey of disputes in leadership, including individuals who have left or been expelled from the Bahá'í Faith due to disagreements with Bahá'í institutions.
- The Bahá'í Faith identifies itself as the fulfilment of the Bábí Faith. The separation of the two, beginning in 1863, was beleagued with conflict and murders.
- Bahá'ís wishing to publish about the religion must first submit their work to a Bahá'í review committee.
- Critics of the Bahá'í Faith, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran have stated that Bahá'ís are Zionists and enemies of Islam and Islamic states and point to the location of the Bahá'í World Centre being in Haifa which is in present-day Israel as proof.
- Discusses the difficulties in counting the Bahá'í population.
- Although polygamy is forbidden, Bahá'u'lláh had three concurrent wives.
[edit] References
- Abrahamian, E. (1993). Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
- Friedrich W. Affolter. The Specter of Ideological Genocide: The Bahá'ís of Iran. War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, 1(1):59– 89, 2005.
- Christopher Buck. Islam and Minorities: The Case of the Bahá'ís. Studies in Contemporary Islam, 5(1):83–106, 2003.
- Effendi, Shoghi (1974). Bahá'í Administration. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0877431663.
- Schaefer, U., & Wilson, T. (2000). Making the Crooked Straight: A Contribution to Bahá'í Apologetics. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0853984433.
[edit] External links
- The Bahá'í Faith as Panopticon, by Juan Cole, detailing his criticisms of the American Bahá'í community.
- The Myth of the Objective Observer, reviewing the above article
- Review of The Bahá'í Faith as Panopticon, also reviewing the above article
