One of the challenges of teaching the Baha’i Faith is the fact that in the last 50 years, many other religions have adopted a number of our social and spiritual principles. The Pope has said that Heaven and Hell are spiritual states, not places. Many religions talk about unity and racial harmony. Even the idea that there is truth in all religions is no longer unusual. So what sets the Baha’i Faith apart, other than a new Prophet and an Administrative Order (aspects that may turn off more people than they attract)?
One answer is the concept of Progressive Revelation. Different religions don’t just coexist, they are consecutive and coherent. They aren’t just spokes on a wheel leading to the same God, they are rungs on a ladder that progress upwards.
The phrase “One Loving Creator, One Unfolding Religion, One Human Family,” which I created and is now used at the House of Worship, begins to express this idea, but it is entirely possible to misinterpret “one unfolding religion” as a saying that the Baha’i Faith is unfolding without incorporating any other religion.
“One Light – Many Lamps” is also one way to express this idea, but again, one could see religions as different lamps without understanding their coherent relationship to one another.
This new presentation of the idea leaves no room for doubt as to the unfolding interconnected relationship between religions. It identifies the Baha’i Faith, not just as the last symbol in a series, but as the current name for the entire unfolding religion. It is, after all, the “Changeless faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future.” By using the word “revelation” it avoids another word that can turn people away. Religion is the structure, which can be warped and manipulated by humans, but Revelation is the pure guidance given to us by the Prophets and is universal and eternal.
This design is available as a T-shirt and as a table skirt/banner.
Business card sized 2×3.5″
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