How Baha’is Bend the Bible

1. How Baha’is Bend the Bible Steve Morrison and Larry Wessels

2. Examples of: • 10 Old Testament passages • 7 passages from Revelation • 9 passages from the rest of the New Testament

3. Q1: Does Gen 1:26 mean that we should be educated to acquire divine perfections and the focus of divine blessings, as Baha’is teach in Some Answered Questions p.8,9? • A: No, because Genesis 1:27 says that God did what He said in Genesis 1:26. When Adam and Eve were created, they were perfectly sinless before the fall, and they did not need education. While we are still in the image of God, Genesis 1:26-28 refers to what God already accomplished.

4. Q2: In Gen 3:5-22, does Adam symbolize the heavenly spirit, Eve symbolize the earthly soul, and the serpent symbolize attachment to the human world as Baha’is teach in Some Answered Questions p.123? • A: No. People have been trying to get spiritual meanings contrary to the plain meaning in Genesis for centuries. Adam is definitely a male human, and Eve a female human, and adding this unwarranted interpretation makes men higher “heavenly spirits” and women “earthly souls”. Instead, men and women are of equal and the same value in the eyes of God (Galatians 3:28).

5. Q3: Could Isa 9:1,6,7 refer to the Baha’u’llah of the Baha’is, since Jesus did not have the government on His shoulders (Baha’u’llah and the New Era p.261-262)? • A: No, the government will be on Jesus’ shoulders when Jesus comes again. This cannot refer to the Baha’u’llah because: • a) The Baha’u’llah was not called Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6) • b) The Baha’u’llah did not do any shattering the yoke that burdens the people of Galilee as in the day of Midian’s defeat. (Isaiah 9:4) • c) The Baha’u’llah died before governing any lands, and Baha’is do not claim the Baha’u’llah will come again. • d) While the Baha’is might wish to govern the world, their International House of Justice is an irrelevancy as far as politics and government in the 20th and 21st century are concerned.

6. Q4: Could Isa 11:1-10 refer to the Baha’u’llah of the Baha’is, because part of that has not been fulfilled yet? For example, slaying the wicked, lion and ox lying down together, etc. (Some Answered Questions p.62-66 and Baha’u’llah and the New Era p.266-267)

7. A: No. While Christ fulfilled some in His first coming, some will be fulfilled in His second coming. The reason Baha’is are twisting this passage, and it does not refer to Baha’u’llah, is • Jesus, not Baha’u’llah was descendant of Jesse (Isa 11:1,10) • Jesus, not Baha’u’llah “with his breath of his lips will slay the wicked” (Isaiah 11:4b). With the Baha’u’llah, the opposite occurred, many Baha’is were struck down, it was not Baha’u’llah doing the slaying. • The lion and ox, and other animals did not lie down together when the Baha’u’llah came either. (Isaiah 11:6-8) • The gospel of Jesus fulfills “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:9). As of today, most of the people of the world have no idea who the Baha’u’llah claimed to be.

8. Q5: Could Isa 35:1,2 refer to the Baha’u’llah of the Baha’is, because it refers to the parched land being glad, and Lebanon and Carmel, where the Baha’u’llah spent the last years of his life?

9. A: Jesus was in that area too, so the mention of those places in and of itself does not give preference to the Baha’u’llah over Jesus. Unlike the prophecy in Isaiah 35:1,2 few people in Lebanon or Israel “rejoiced greatly” over the Baha’u’llah being there. When the British took over the region after World War I, the Muslims pretty much continued to do their thing, the Druze stayed doing their thing, the Jews later entered Israel and there were fierce wars (not rejoicing) between the two, and I have not heard of a lot of rejoicing that area since the Baha’u’llah went there. This is not implying in any way that the Baha’u’llah caused all of the strife and suffering over there; rather as far as the rejoicing or suffering over in Mt. Carmel the Baha’u’llah was irrelevant.

10. Q6: Could Isa 40:1-5a refer partly to John the Baptist and Christ, and partly to the Bab and Baha’u’llah, as Baha’is teach in Baha’u’llah and the New Era p.263-264? • A: No. Their explanation is interesting. They say this cannot refer only to John the Baptist and Christ, because the warfare of Jerusalem has not been completed “her hard service has been completed” Isa 40:2b. However, her warfare was not completed in the Baha’u’llah’s time either. Without that, there is nothing in this that suggests the Bab and Baha’u’llah. Furthermore, where did the Bab ever say “Prepare the way of the Lord”. He taught that he was the manifestation of God, and that another manifestation would not appear for another 1,000 years.

11. Baha’is say Baha’u’llah means “glory of God” in Arabic, and Isaiah 40:5 uses the phrase “glory of the LORD”, but it says that all mankind will see it/him. Now Baha’is say this title refers to a person, not his laws or organization. But when the Baha’u’llah died, a very, very small percentage of the world’s population had ever heard of him. Unless they are thinking of displaying his dead body to everyone, the whole world will not see whom they call “the glory of God.”

12. Q7: In Dan 8:13-17, could the 2,300 evenings and mornings be a prophecy the 2,300 years from the decree of Artaxerxes [allegedly 457 B.C.] to the manifestation of the Bab in 1844 A.D. as Baha’is claim? (Some Answered Questions p.40-42) • A: No, there are four problems with this. • Wrong type of years: 1844 (A.D.) + 457 (B.C.) -1 (no 0 A.D.) = 2300 (365.25 day years). However, prophetic years in the Bible are 360-day religious years, no 365.25 day years. • Wrong duration: 2,300 is evenings and mornings, and nothing in Daniel says “evenings and mornings” are years.

13. Wrong starting point: The decree was in the 20th year of the reign of Artaxerxes according to Nehemiah 2, so the starting point was 445/444 B.C., not 457 B.C.. 457 B.C was merely a decree from Artaxerxes confirming Cyrus’ earlier decree that the Jews could return to Jerusalem. • Wrong ending point: If you look at the rest of the words, not just the numbers, 2,300 evenings and mornings is the time when the sanctuary was brought low until the sanctuary is reconsecrated. Baha’is would have to mean that God’s sanctuary was trampled and brought low when this Persian named Artaxerxes became king; it remained low through the time of Jesus until the Bab. • Conclusion: The only things the Baha’u’llah got wrong were the duration, starting point, and ending point. In other words, everything!

14. Q8: Could Dan 12:6 refer to the Bab as Baha’is claim, since he appeared 1,260 years from the Hejira of Mohammed? (Some Answered Questions p.43) • A: No. They claim this because 3 ½ times or 3 ½ lunar 360-day years is 360 * 3 ½ = 1260 days. They say a day is a year, and the Bab appeared 1,260 lunar years from the Hejira of Mohammed. • (…continued on the next page)

15. First of all days does not mean years here. Second, the starting date they want to use is not what the Bible says. Besides doing unwarranted mathematical gymnastics to arrive at a number, you have to also read what the end point is in Daniel 12:1-4. At this time multitudes of people will be raised from sleeping in the dust, and Michael, who protects the Jewish people will arise. This certainly did not happen; especially since the Holocaust happened after this. • Basically Baha’is take nearly every Bible prophecy that proclaims future knowledge or deliverance, and begs the question by applying it to the Baha’u’llah. Then they can say, “See, this prophecy was fulfilled, therefore the Baha’u’llah is true.”

16. Q9: In Dan 12:11-12, does the 1,290 days refer to the Baha’ullah being 1,290 years after Mohammed announced his mission as Baha’is claim in Some Answered Questions p.43-44? • A: The Baha’u’llah made his claim 19 years after the Bab, so one would think they would say it was 1279 years. However, since that does not fit 1,290 years, they move the starting date back to approximately when Mohammed said he was a prophet.

17. Q10: Do Joel 2:30-32 and Mt 24:29-30 refer to Moses, Christ, and Mohammed, their teachings originally being a sun, but they all being darkened by corruption later on? This is what Baha’is teach in Baha’u’llah and the New Era p.277-278. • A: No. Not only will Christ come in the literal clouds, as Acts 1:9-11 shows, but God Almighty can darken the sun and moon and He will do so. You do not have the luxury of just calling anything figurative that you want to not be true.

18. Q11: In the Gospels, is the mention of the darkness and earthquake and torn veil when Christ was crucified only figurative and did not actually happen, because they were not recorded anywhere else, as Some Answered Questions p.37-38 states? • A: Five writers DID mention the darkness when Jesus was crucified. • Thales (also spelled Thallus), was a non-Christian Palestinian historian, who wrote in 52 A.D., less than 20 years after the crucifixion. He wrote that darkness accompanied the crucifixion of Jesus.

19. Phlegon was a Carian Greek writer who wrote soon after 137 A.D.. He wrote that in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad [33 A.D.] there was “the greatest eclipse of the sun” and that “it became night in the sixth hour of the day [12:00 noon] so that star even appeared in the heavens. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicea.” (quoted from The Case for Christ p.111.) • The Christian writer Tertullian, writing about 200 A.D., in On Fasting chapter 10, also mentions the darkness accompanying Jesus' crucifixion.

20. The early writer Origen (writing 230-254 A.D.) mentions the darkness over the land, and the tombs split open in Against Celsus book 2 chapter 33. • Arnobius (wrote 297-303 A.D.) in Against the Heathen 54 mentions darkness during Jesus' death. • Some might argue that other cultures should have written about this too. This is not true if the darkness was only local. Also, unusual darkness was not always recorded. For example, it is computed that a solar eclipse darkened Egypt on December 12, 504 B.C., yet there are no historical records, among the highly civilized Egyptians, or anyone else, about this. See www.informationblast.com/500s_BC.html for more info.

21. Q12: In Mt 12:31-32, does blasphemy against the Holy Spirit mean detesting the light by denying God’s manifestations (such as the Baha’u’llah) as Bahai’s teach in Some Answered Questions p.127-128? • A: No, this is begging the question by assuming that since Baha’u’llah is the light, this verse proves that Baha’u’llah was the light. However, even for Jesus, notice that Matthew 12:31 he said that those who speak against Jesus will be forgiven, so speaking against a prophet of God is NOT blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

22. Q13: In Mt 16:27, does this refer not to the end of the earth, but the supreme manifestation of the Baha’u’llah, as Baha’is teach in Baha’u’llah and the New Era p.268-269? • A: No, read this verse more carefully. It says the son of man will come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and reward each person according to what he has done. Baha’u’llah did not have any angels anybody saw with him, and Baha’u’llah did not reward either the faithful Baha’is who were exiled or died, nor the Muslims who persecuted him.

23. Q14: Mt 22:14 does the phrase “many are called, few are chosen” refer to variations and degrees of faith and assurance, as Baha’is teach in Some Answered Questions p.129-131? • A: No. If you read the entire parable in Matthew 22:1-14, it puts people in two categories: those who enter in to the wedding banquet and those who do not enter. Many are called but few are chosen refers to those invited to enter but who refused, and a man who wanted to enter in with improper clothes. • There is a lesson here. You cannot just read a single verse of the Bible, ignoring what is written before or after, and expect to correctly interpret the meaning.

24. Q15: In Mt 24:30 are clouds things that are contrary to the ways and desires of men as Baha’is teach in Baha’u’llah and the New Era p.280-281? • A: No. Not only will everyone see Jesus, when he returns in the clouds, and the peoples of the earth mourn because of him (Revelation 1:7), but the same Jesus will return in the clouds exactly the same way as He left according to Acts 1:9-11.

25. Q16: In Jn 3:13 and Jn 6:38,42, does Christ coming down from heaven only a spiritual symbolic fact, not a material fact as Baha’is teach in Some Answered Questions p.103-105? • A: No. ‘Abdu’l-Baha claims this because John 3:13f says, “…but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven,” at the time that Jesus was on earth. (p.103). • First of all, this last phrase is a manuscript variation that is not present in the earliest manuscripts, though it is in the later Byzantine Lectionary. It is strange to base a doctrine on just one variant.

26. Q16 - continued • Second, Jesus’ divine nature can still be considered in heaven as well as earth according to the New Geneva Study Bible p.1665. • Finally, and most importantly, even if you do accept the manuscript variation, within the same verse it says that Jesus came down from Heaven. It is trivial to show from the Bible that Jesus existed in Heaven prior to the incarnation, and that same Jesus “came down” is a material fact.

27. Q17: In Jn 16:12-13 is the Spirit of Truth here the Baha’u’llah? • A: No, the Spirit of truth here is a spirit, not a person. It is the same Holy Spirit Jesus was just talking about in John 14-16. You cannot say in John 16:12-13 “spirit” refers to one person, and spirit refers to the Holy Spirit or something else in John 14:16-18,25-26; 15:26; 16:5-11; 16:14-15.

28. Q18: Is 1 Cor 15:22 false because all of the prophets were sinless, as Baha’is teach in Some Answered Questions p.118-121? • A: 1 Corinthians 15:22 says that all descendents of Adam sinned, and that includes all the prophets except Jesus. It is a common Muslim misconception, which Baha’is have inherited that all of the prophets were sinless. Yet this leads to strange contradictions. Jonah (the godly prophet Yunus to Muslims) ran away to Tarshish and was swallowed by a great fish. Was there no sin in running away?

29. Q18 - continued • Adam is considered a prophet by Muslims, yet if he did not sin in the Garden of Eden, doesn’t your definition of sin become a meaningless phrase? Moses was forbidden to enter the Promised Land because of his losing his temper at Meribah. Since the Lord was angry with Moses in Deuteronomy 3:26, can the Lord be angry with someone who has never sinned? • There is a lesson for everyone here. Sometimes people’s distorted preconceptions almost force them to twist the Bible to suite their preconceptions.

30. Q19: In 1 Cor 15:51-52, do the terms life and death here mean just faith and unbelief, as Baha’is teach in Baha’u’llah and the New Era p.270? • A: No, scripture is consistent that there will be a physical resurrection. • Besides 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, see: • Dan 12:2 “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” • Rev 20:5 “(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.)”

31. Q19 - continued • 1 Sam 2:6 “The Lord brings death and make alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.” • Psalm 49:14 “But God will redeem my soul from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.” • Psalm 22:29, “…all who go down to the dust will kneel down to Him…” • Psalm 23:6 After telling about the shadow of death in Psalm 23:4, David says, “He will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” • Psalm 49:8-9 “The ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough - that he should live on forever and not see decay.”

32. Q19 - continued • Psalm 52:8-9 “I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you forever… I will praise you in the presence of your saints.” • Isaiah 25:7-8 “On this mountain he [God] will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever….” • Isaiah 53:8-10 After saying the one who suffers for us will be killed and put in the grave of a rich man in verses 8-9, yet he shall see his offspring in verse 10. • All these verse are quoted from the NIV.

33. Q20: In Rev 11, could the two witnesses be Mohammed and ‘Ali as the Bahai’s say? (Some Answered Questions p.43-61) • A: No for the following eleven reasons. • 1. Rev 11:3 says they will prophesy for 1,260 days. Mohammed made very few prophecies, and ‘Ali was never considered a prophet. • 2. Rev 11:5 says that if anyone tries to harm them fire devours their enemies. Mohammed was poisoned (but barely survived), and ‘Ali was assassinated by a Muslim. ‘Ali’s cause was defeated by Mu’awiyah, and his son Husain was slain. He did not devour his enemies, he was killed by them.

34. Q20 - continued • 3. Rev 11:6 The two prophets can shut up the sky so that it will not rain. Mohammed never claimed to do that, and neither did ‘Ali. • 4. Rev 11:6 Mohammed and ‘Ali did not turn waters into blood, as almost all of the people they beheaded, burned, or otherwise slew were not by rivers. If a Salafi Muslim argues that they made rivers of blood that does not count, because Rev 11:6 says they turned waters into blood.

35. Q20 - continued • 5. Rev 11:7-8 Mohammed was not killed by violence, and in both cases their bodies were not put on humiliating public display. • 6. Rev 11:8 their bodies were not put in the street of a great city. In fact, relatively few saw ‘Ali die. • 7. Rev 11:9 Everybody did not gaze at their dead bodies and refuse them burial. Mohammed in particular was buried rather promptly by followers. • 8. Rev 11:10 Who sent out lots of gifts when Mohammed and ‘Ali were killed?

36. Q20 - continued • 9. Rev 11:11 There is a small sect of Muslims, called Muhammadiyya, that claims that Mohammed never died. The Saba’iyya are a small sect of Muslims that claim ‘Ali never died. Except for these small groups, Muslims have no basis for saying either Mohammed or ‘Ali were raised back to life. • 10. Rev 11:12 Muslims never say Mohammed and ‘Ali did not ascend to heaven in a cloud. (Though Muhammadiyya and Saba’iyya might disagree.)

37. Q20 - continued • 11. Rev 11:13 There was not a severe earthquake when either Mohammed or ‘Ali left the earth in a non-existent cloud. • The point is not whether you can allegorize away some of these reasons. The point is that if even one of these reasons cannot be allegorized away, then the prophecy does not refer to them.

38. Q21: In Rev 11:2, can the mention of Jerusalem being trampled for 42 months mean the time between the Hejira of Mohammed and the revelation of the Bab in 1260 A.D. as Baha’is teach in Some Answered Questions p.46-47? • A: No. Abdu’l-Baha claims that since a day is [allegedly] always a year, that is 1,260 years. But consider this: if day here really meant day, how could God communicate this in a way that they would accept it? No, there is no reason to doubt that days means days here.

39. Q21 - continued • Furthermore, if the 42 months was the time when the Gentiles were trampling the holy city, then this interpretation would mean that Mohammed in Medina, and Mohammed later in Mecca was include din the time when the holy city was getting trampled. • Actually Rev 11:2 relates to the same subject as Daniel 12:6.

40. Q22: Was Rev 11:12-13 fulfilled by an earthquake in Shiraz when the Bab was killed as Baha’is say in Some Answered Questions p.55-56? • A: No. First of all, I have not seen any evidence of an earthquake in Shiraz at this time. Second, if Baha’is want to make Rev 11 refer to Mohammed and ‘Ali, and then they switch the subject to the Bab in Revelation 11:12-13, they cannot have their cake and eat it too. Either The Bab was one of the two witnesses or he was not. If he was not, then it is stretching the Bible to take this verse in isolation and say it refers to the Bab.

41. Q23: In Rev 11:14-15, is Mohammed the first woe, and the Bab the second woe, as Some Answered Questions p.56-57 says? • A: Baha’is can say Mohammed is the first woe if they want, but I do not think they would want to say that, if they read what the first woe really was. The first woe, the fifth trumpet, is described thoroughly in Revelation 9:1012. Hellish Locusts from the abyss sting the non-believers on the earth. They tortured them for 42 months. It will be so painful that the people will want to die, but death will elude them.

42. Q23 - continued • The sixth woe, the sixth trumpet, is when the four angels at the Euphrates river let loose 200,000,000 mounted troops to kill 1/3 of mankind. Do Baha’is really want to say the Bab loosed forces that killed 1/3 of mankind?

43. Q24: Rev 12:1 is the woman the law of God under Mohammed, and the male child the new law of God under the Baha’u’llah as Bahai’s teach in Some Answered Questions p.67-72? • A: No. Bahai’s as well as Muslims do not accept the authority today of Christ in Revelation 12:10, because they think His words have been corrupted. They do not overcome the beast by the blood of the Lamb in Revelation 12:11. If only they would understand the importance of the blood of the Lamb!

44. Q25: In Rev 12:3, was the enormous red dragon the evil Umayyad Dynasty (Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, Mu’awiyah, etc.) who had seven dominions: Rome around Damascus, Persian, Arabian, Egyptian, Africa, Spain, and Turks of Transoxania as Baha’is teach in Some Answered Questions p.69-70? • A: No. They say the ten heads were ten commanders: starting with Abu Sufyan, and ending with Marwan. They also admit there are more than ten people, but since there are two Mu’awiyah’s, three Yazids, two Walid’s, and two Marwan’s, if you count the names without repetition, then it comes to ten!

45. Q25 - continued • In reality, the beast is Satan, because Revelation 12:10 calls the beast the accuser of our brethren. The beast is after Christ and Christians, because Rev 12:10 speaks of the authority of God’s Christ. Note that the woman was taken care of by God for 1,260 days. Now how could she be taken care of if the Umayyads trampled the sanctuary for 1,260 days?

46. Q26: In Rev 21:1-3 is the first heaven and earth signify the old law and the new heaven and earth the new law under the Baha’u’llah, and no sea means all will follow the Baha’u’llah, as Baha’is teach in Some Answered Questions p.67-68? • A: No. Revelation 21:2 says the New Jerusalem is as a bride for her husband (God). We Christians are metaphorically the bride of Christ, not some law. Revelation 21:4-5 says that God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will not be any more death, mourning or crying or pain. This prophecy was not fulfilled during the lifetime of the Baha’u’llah. This will not be fulfilled until after the return of Christ.