Christianity & the Baha’i Faith
Is Jesus God? The Divinity of Christ
This is the deepest difference between the two faiths, and it deserves to be stated plainly. Baha'is honour Jesus as a Manifestation of God, one who reflects God's attributes as perfectly as a polished mirror reflects the sun; yet the mirror is not the sun, and the Manifestation is not God in his very essence. Christianity confesses something more: that Jesus is God the Son himself, the Word who was God, come in the flesh, worshipped as Lord and God. A perfect reflection of God, or God incarnate, is the line between the two.
What the Baha'i Faith teaches
Baha'is teach that the Manifestations reflect God perfectly, yet remain distinct from the unknowable Essence of God; they are the Exponents and Mirrors of God, not God himself:
Jesus, in this vision, is such a Mirror: he shows us God truly and fully, but the reflection is not the same as the Essence that is reflected. He is divine in station, not the incarnation of God's own being.
What Christians believe
Christianity makes the stronger and more startling claim: that in Jesus, God did not merely send a perfect mirror, but came himself, the Word who was God, made flesh.
Where they meet
Both affirm that Jesus reveals God truly, that he is worthy of the deepest reverence, and that to look at him is to learn what God is like.
Where they differ
Here the two faiths part most clearly, and we say so without softening it. Baha'is honour Jesus as a mirror perfectly reflecting God, yet not God in essence, and one of several such mirrors. Christians confess Jesus as God the Son made flesh, the Word who was God, worshipped by Thomas as Lord and God. A perfect reflection of God, or God himself incarnate, is the deepest difference between the Baha'i Faith and Christianity.
Baha’i quotations are from the writings of Baha’u’llah (the Kitab-i-Iqan, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, and the Tablets of Baha’u’llah) and ’Abdu’l-Baha (Some Answered Questions), as published in the Baha’i Reference Library at bahai.org. Bible: King James Version. Every reference on this page was checked against its source.
The word itself
The Incarnation (incarnatio) → God made flesh in Christ
The Incarnation is the Christian confession that in Jesus, God the Son himself became a human being, the Word who was God made flesh (John 1:14). It is stronger than saying Jesus reflects God: it says God came in person. Baha'is honour Jesus as a Manifestation reflecting God, not as God incarnate.
Frequently asked questions
- Do Baha'is believe Jesus is God?
- Baha'is honour Jesus as a Manifestation of God, one who reflects God's attributes as perfectly as a mirror reflects the sun. But the mirror is not the sun: the Manifestation reveals God truly yet is not God in his very essence, and Jesus is one of several such Manifestations.
- What do Christians mean by the divinity of Christ?
- Christians confess that Jesus is God the Son himself, the Word who was God, made flesh (John 1:1,14), whom Thomas worshipped as My Lord and my God (John 20:28). Not merely a perfect reflection of God, but God incarnate. This is the deepest difference between Christianity and the Baha'i Faith.
Come and see
The Baha’i Faith honours Jesus as one of the great Manifestations of God; the Gospel invites you to meet him as the unique Son of God, God himself come near. The most direct way to know Jesus is to read his words for yourself. There is no pressure here.
Read the Gospel of JohnWhy Jesus?Ask for prayer