And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
One might well ask the Baha'i Faith, "Whom do you say that Jesus is?" After all, the Baha'i Faith teaches the Divine origin of Christianity, so, the question is not out of line. Now, I could give my opinion as to what the answer is, but, I will defer to a more authoritative source for the answer.
When asked about this portion of the Gospel of Matthew, Abdu'l-Baha responded (as recorded in the book "Some Answered Questions"), "This utterance of Christ is a confirmation of the statement of Peter, when Christ asked: Whom do you believe Me to be? and Peter answered: I believe that "Thou art the Son of the living God." Then Christ said to him: "Thou art Peter" -for Cephas in Aramaic means rock - "and upon this rock I will build My church. Christ wished by suggestion, or an allusion, to confirm the words of Peter; so on account of the suitability of his name, Peter, He said: "and upon this rock I will build My church," meaning, thy belief that Christ is the Son of the living God will be the foundation of the Religion of God, and upon this belief the foundation of the church of God - which is the Law of God - shall be established."
From this, it is plain that the Baha'i Faith teaches that Jesus was both Christ (or Messiah) and Son of the living God. But, what do the terms Christ (or Messiah) and Son of God mean? Are they terms that were developed by the Christian Faith or do they predate it? I have found that the term Christ is the English transliteration for the Greek Christo, which, in turn, is a translation of the Hebrew Mashiah (or in English - Messiah). According to "The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia," Messiah means "The Anointed One." An "Anointed One is an individual who receives Divine sanction and a unique inviolability of status. This definition is very close to what Baha'is define as a Manifestation of God. Among those listed as Manifestations of God are Jesus, Muhammad, Abraham, Zoroaster, Buddha, The Bab and Baha'u'llah. We are told, though, that there are others, some of the names of which are lost in antiquity.
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Lloyd Madansky's Baha'i Faith topic, please visit the Discussions page.