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This is a long and complex topic. I would take the time to read: https://bahai-library.com/dibdin_bahai_view_bible and https://bahai-library.com/uhj_old_new_testaments

For purposes of discussion with Christians and some Jews, we generally regard the Bible as part of the sacred record of God's history but not necessarily complete, accurate or reliable from a historical standpoint. In the Baha'i Faith, only the actual, verified Writings of the Bab, Baha'u'llah, and 'Abdu'l-Baha are considered authentic and sacred and only the Words of the Bab and Baha'u'llah are the Word of God. Similarly, we regard only the Qur'an as the authentic revelation of Muhammad and the traditions (hadiths) later reported are given far less weight unless confirmed in the Baha'i Writings. But that reflects the greater documentation and standards of this time and would be unreasonable to apply to a prior age. The following quotes are illuminating:

>The Four Gospels were written after Him [Christ]. John, Luke, Mark and Matthew - these four wrote after Christ what they remembered of His utterances. Baha'u'llah (From a previously untranslated Tablet)
>
> Know ye that the Torah is that which was revealed in the Tablets to Moses, may peace be upon Him, or that to which He was bidden. But the stories are historical narratives and were written after Moses, may peace be upon Him. 'Abdu'l-Baha    (From a previously untranslated Tablet)
>
>From Shoghi Effendi:
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>...The Bible is not wholly authentic, and in this respect is not to be compared with the Qur'an, and should be wholly subordinated to the authentic writings of Bahá'u'lláh . (28 July 1936 to a National Spiritual Assembly)
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>...we cannot be sure how much or how little of the four Gospels are accurate and include the words of Christ and His undiluted teachings, all we can be sure of, as Bahá'ís, is that what has been quoted by Bahá'u'lláh and the Master must be absolutely authentic. As many times passages in the Gospel of St. John are quoted we may assume that it is his Gospel and much of it accurate. (23 January 1944 to an individual believer)
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>When 'Abdu'l-Bahá states we believe what is in the Bible, He means in substance. Not that we believe every word of it to be taken literally or that every word is the authentic saying of the Prophet. (11 February 1944 to an individual believer)
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>We cannot be sure of the authenticity of any of the phrases in the Old or the New Testament. What we can be sure of is when such references or words are cited or quoted in either the Quran or the Bahá'í writings. (4 July 1947 to an individual believer)
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>We have no way of substantiating the stories of the Old Testament other than references to them in our own teachings, so we cannot say exactly what happened at the battle of Jericho. (25 November 1950 to an individual believer)
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>Except for what has been explained by Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, we have no way of knowing what various symbolic allusions in the Bible mean. (31 January 1955 to an individual believer) https://bahai-library.com/uhj_old_new_testaments

​

>"We sent forth Noah and Abraham, and bestowed on their offspring prophethood and the Scriptures... After them We sent other apostles, and after those Jesus the son of Mary. We gave him the Gospel..."[21] (the Qur'an)
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>"Regard not yourselves as being like unto the people to whom the Qur'an or the Gospel or the other Scriptures of old were given."[22] (The Báb)
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>Manifold are the verses that have been repeatedly revealed in all the heavenly Books and the holy Scriptures,..."[23] (Bahá'u'lláh)
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>"You must know the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God"[24] ('Abdu'l-Bahá)
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>"Surely the Bible is the book of God"[25] ('Abdu'l-Bahá)
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> "...all the Prophets of Israel were centers of inspiration; Christ also was a receiver of inspiration, but what a difference between the inspiration of the Word of God and the revelations of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Elijah!"[33] ('Abdu'l-Bahá)
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> "When 'Abdu'l-Bahá states we believe what is in the Bible, He means in substance. Not that we believe every word of it to be...the authentic saying of the Prophet."[34] (written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi) https://bahai-library.com/dibdin_bahai_view_bible

Mirza 'Abu'l-Fadl, an early Baha'i scholar, expressed a more nuanced position where he acknowledged the lack of historical evidence for the story of Exodus as told and much of the historical portions of the Old Testament as being highly embellished and inaccurate (but based on real people and real events, just not like those told).

> Regarding the Old Testament, Fadl said that it contained two types of teaching: a) revelation from God, such as the 10 commandments of Moses, the Psalms of David and the books of the Prophets, and b) historical information, such as the books Joshua, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles "...which contain no statement, sign or hint of being divine speech and therefore should not be considered as revelation."[17]
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>Concerning the Book of Christ, he wrote that "The Holy Gospels alone contain teachings which can be regarded as the true Words of God; and these teachings do not exceed the contents of a few pages."[18]
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>Mírza Abú'l-Fadl's contributions are original and lucid, and appear to me to be in harmony with the understanding of the Bible which is argued for in the present paper. https://bahai-library.com/dibdin_bahai_view_bible

A number of good academic texts and research has increasingly confirmed his statements in this regard, such as Finkelstein and Silberman, The Bible Unearthed, 2001, Dever, Beyond the Texts, 2016. There is an entire volume of academic research on the Exodus with contributions by numerous scholars in 2015 and Friedman's Exodus is an excellent view that the Exodus story is probably true but reflected the fleeing from Egypt of a much smaller tribe led by Moses that later infiltrated into Israel and whose religion became increasingly adopted in Israel and Judea (which agrees in some ways with Finkelstein).

While studying the Bible I would highly recommend two good academic texts as references: Cooper and Chapman, https://www.amazon.com/Old-Testament-Historical-Introduction-Scriptures/dp/019060865X for the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible; and Bart Ehrman, https://www.amazon.com/New-Testament-Historical-Introduction-Christian/dp/0190909005/ref=dp_ob_title_bk . These are probably the two most recognized texts used in introductory academic courses on Bible history. Cooper is one of the foremost authorities in his field, as is Ehrman. Ehrman is more controversial though because he went to study as an evangelical and left as an agnostic as he was confronted with the evidence of contradictions and factual errors in the texts. Ehrman's text is used by Robert Stockman, the director of the Wilmette Institute, who teaches introduction to the New Testaments as an academic scholar (Ph.D. in sociology/religious studies).

Hey lampshade! Welcome, and thanks for the question.

A good place to start if you're looking for Baha'i books is the Baha'i Reference Library, which has a number of authoritative Baha'i texts. You can also find all of these for purchase at the Baha'i Bookstore online, and for free in e-book form.

The order you read them in kind of depends on your own background and what you're interested in, but a good place to start is with Bahá'u'lláh's Hidden Words, which is like a distillation of the spiritual teachings that lie at the core of all of the world's great religions.

If you have a strong mystical bent, you might want to follow that up with Bahá'u'lláh's Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, or Gems of Divine Mysteries. Both of these are essentially letters to individuals who had asked about certain spiritual truths, such as the path taken by a soul on its spiritual journey.

If you're really interested in Bahá'u'lláh's teachings on the evolution of religion throughout history, and His interpretation of past religious prophecies, you should definitely read the Book of Certitude, aka the Kitáb-i-Íqán. I've known a lot of people who've started learning about the Bahá'í Faith through this book; it really delivers some penetrating spiritual insights.

There are also more general introductory books about the Bahá'í Faith that are available. Two commonly recommended books for those interested in reading about the Bahá'í Faith are A Short History of the Bahá'í Faith by Peter Smith, and A Short Introduction to the Bahá'í Faith by Moojan Momen. If you want a very quick foretaste of both books, you can check out this combined review. Smith has also published a newer book, An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith, which you might want to consider as well.

To be honest, if you're interested in learning about the Baha'i Faith in broad terms, the best way to begin would be with an introductory book. The classic of this genre is Esslemont's Baha'u'llah and the New Era; other good books include those by Smith, Momen, and Bowers (this last one is targeted specifically to a Christian audience).

Of the books you mentioned, The Hidden Words is probably the most accessible (and shortest!), and it's usually what I recommend to people who are interested in the Baha'i Faith. However, it's not always useful to look at the Baha'i Faith through the same lens as we may look at, say, Christianity or Islam, as having one or two "Holy books" that are central to all understanding. The Baha'i Faith is blessed with having many pieces of writing from the central figures of the Faith, and it's not possible to gain a full picture of the religion just by reading the four texts you mentioned.

Edit to add: The other excellent way to learn about the Baha'i Faith, which I heartily recommend, is to meet with some Baha'is from your area and talk with them. There are (relatively) a lot of Baha'is in Ontario (although I don't know where you are specifically), and there are usually ways to go about contacting them via the web.

Well, what questions do you have? Are you looking for holy books, general information, etc? I would be happy to help with anything you may need. I personally started with the book Baha'u'llah and the new era. It is not a holy book/text, but it covers the basics of every aspect of the faith in plain language.

Here is the book on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Bahaullah-New-Era-Introduction-Bahai/dp/1931847274/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417447332&sr=8-1&keywords=baha%27u%27llah+and+the+new+era


And here is a link to a website that contains a free ebook version, as well as many other free ebooks:
http://www.bahaiebooks.org/ebooks-by-title

Good luck in your search, and let me know if you have any questions! I was a Christian once myself, and was aided in my search on this subreddit, and by meeting with Baha'is in my area. There are plenty of knowledgeable people here who I'm sure will be as willing to assist you as they were to assist me! :)

The Kitab-I-Aqdas means The Most Holy Book, but I don't think it's fair to equate it with being the Baha'i Bible or Qur'an. It is one of literally hundreds of books and tablets which comprise the Writings of Baha'u'llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha'i Faith, all of which are sacred, all of which are equivalent in importance to the Bible for Christians/Qur'an for Muslims. It's also not the best reading for someone completely new to the Faith, as it is speaking to a Baha'i audience who is asking for laws, some of which might not be understood out of context.

On top of that, the Baha'i Faith has the Writings of the Bab (the Prophet-Founder of the Bab'i Faith, Predecessor to the Baha'i Faith) and 'Abdu'l-Baha (son of Baha'u'llah, authorized interpreter of the Writings of Baha'u'llah) which are given nearly equivalent weight. That brings the total volume of sacred Writings of the Baha'is to several orders of magnitude greater than that of most any other world religion. It can be difficult to know where to start, and overwhelming when someone heaps book after book after book upon you. We're not even getting into Shoghi Effendi or the Universal House of Justice yet.

God Speaks Again by Kenneth Bowers is a great starting point for someone who knows nothing.

Baha'u'llah and the New Era by J.E.Esslemont was the starting point for decades before this.

The Hidden Words by Baha'u'llah is my choice for a first read of the Holy Writings.

The Kitab-I-Iqan/Book of Certitude by Baha'u'llah is much heavier reading, but is the core of Baha'i Theology, if you want to dive into the deep end.

Thief in the Night by William Sears is my starting point for people who are intimately familiar with Christianity and the Bible.

My advice is to start with only one book, then move to others. Have fun!

Edited for grammar

I've been reading "Touched by the Light" by Yvonne Kason, MD. It isn't a Baha'i book. It is a very interesting and enlightening read, however. This book is written by a medical doctor that has had five Near Death Experiences herself (NDE). She uses her background as a doctor (among many other accomplishments) to bridge the gap between the material world and the spiritual.

Dr. Kason coined the term "Spiritually Transformative Experience". I've been trying to find out more information about Kundalini for a while now, so I attended the IANDS conference this past month in PA. I had a NDE when I was 3 and I think that this is what has led me to the Baha'i faith. Since then I've been able to activate Kundalini at will but could never find out much about it.

I attended her lecture and had lunch with her. She told me that it was good that I found the Baha'i faith, that I found such a grounding religion. I told probably 40 people at the conference about the Bahai faith. haha Most had heard of it, some had not.

Anyway, I encourage all of you to read it! it is a fascinating read, and surprisingly (perhaps not? haha) much of the book actually seems to have Baha'i or Baha'i-like teachings and guidance. A member of my community recently purchased it as well. If you read it, I'd like to hear your thoughts!

Here is the book if you're interested: https://www.amazon.com/Touched-Light-Spiritually-Transformative-Experiences/dp/1459745515/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=touched+by+the+light&qid=1568692260&sr=8-2

I thought it might be helpful to provide links:

Several people have mentioned books by Adib Taherzadeh, here is a link to a kindle version which is available if you subscribe to Kindle unlimited.

Volume 2.

Volume 3.

There is a volume 4 to that series but for whatever reason it is not available on Kindle.

H.M. Balyuzi also has a great biography.


For another cheaper option, there is a great and easy to read biography by a woman named Druzelle Cedequist that is only $5 on kindle.

You might find "Baha'i scholarship" to be a very sensitive topic.

1. There isn't much official support for individual initiative translating Baha'i writings from Persian and Arabic. Some Baha'is have been asked not to release their translations of certain texts for instance. So just be warned.
   
   
2. Apologetics. There are some contributions to it, I don't know how useful it is to try to convince people who are hostile to the Baha'i Faith. There is the massive Making the Crooked Straight which I've never heard of anyone actually reading. I'm sure it was a noble enterprise to write this, but not sure what affect it had on the world.
   
   
3. Seems Baha'is don't do enough of this - I hear about all these teachings for the future or the potential for the future of the Baha'i faith, but rarely hear about the teachings being used to address humanity's needs now. There is often this "oh the old world is disintegrating, we have to build a new world!" excuse but I find it kind of sad and defeatist.
   
   
4. History. Someone else mentioned this. There is perhaps very small room for some specific issues for the study of Baha'i history, but from what I understand, any officially-sanctioned Baha'i history must conform with the narratives in the Dawn Breakers and God Passes By. There are massive works in Persian like Fazel Mazandarani's 9 volume History of the Manifestation of Truth. That would be incredible to have in English, but I don't think a translation would be officially sanctioned, I've heard some of it might deviate from Dawn Breakers. Maybe someone could write a modern history of the Baha'i Faith maybe after the passing of the Guardian and it would be very interesting.

Bahá’u’lláh And the New Era by J. E. Esslemont is the standard introduction to the Bahá’í Faith in the United States. It has been updated several times since it’s first publication in the 1920s.

The Bahá’í Faith: A Guide for the Perplexed by Robert H. Stockman is a 21st century introduction to the Faith that is slightly scholarly.

Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh by Bahá'u'lláh, it isn't available right now on Amazon, but here is a link to a PDF you can download for free.

What is your background and what are you trying to learn?

The most essential spiritual teachings are enshrined in the beautiful little book called The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah.

If you want an introduction to the history, teachings, and community, Baha'u'llah and the New Era is a wonderful book:

https://www.amazon.com/Bahaullah-New-Era-Introduction-Bahai/dp/1931847274

I would love a resource like you've described, but haven't found it yet. Currently my favorite book for such study is The Study Qur'án, because it draws from historical sources and multiple interpretations, rather than emphasizing one particular way to read the Qur'án.

>Though we cannot imagine exactly what the Manifestations

Np! This is a friend's book and wonderful study on the subject

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879612673/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0

Some good info here.

Read Alex Gottdank's book Christ's New Name. This guy (imo) is the authority on Christianity as it relates to the Faith, and vice versa.

[insert meme about last name]

A quick but fascinating read is Preparing for Christ's New Name.

Here's one:

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Crooked-Straight-Contribution-Apologetics/dp/0853984433

The original German:

http://www.udoschaefer.com/books/german/desinformation-als-methode.html?L=-0

The general strategy has been to ignore them - responding usually only legitimizes them and further encourages their efforts. In this particular case though, the Evangelical church of Germany financed and distributed an anti-Baha'i book, so it was felt that a response was needed.

Here's a little more background information.