bahá'í faith / comparison chart
Compare: Bahá'í Faith, Islam, Christianity, Judaism
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Comparison of Statistics and Basics
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Bahá'í Faith |
Islam |
Judaism |
Christianity |
|
adherents called |
Bahá'ís |
Muslims |
Jews |
Christians |
current adherents |
5-7 million |
1.3 billion |
14 million |
2 billion |
current size rank |
13th largest |
2nd largest |
12th largest |
largest |
| major concentration | India, USA, Iran |
Middle East, Southeast Asia |
Israel, Europe, USA |
Europe, North and South America, rapid growth in Africa |
| sacred text(s) | Kitab-i-Aqbas and other writings of Bahá'í leaders |
Qur'an (Koran) |
Bible |
Bible (Jewish Bible + New Testament) |
| other written authority | scriptures of other great faiths |
Hadith |
Talmud, Midrash, Responsa |
church fathers, church councils, papal decrees (Catholic only) |
| religious law | Baha'i Law based on Kitab-i-Aqdas |
Sharia |
Halakhah |
Canon Law |
| clergy | none |
imams, muezzins |
rabbis |
priests, ministers, bishops, deacons |
| house of worship | house of worship |
mosque |
synagogue |
church, chapel, cathedral |
| main day of worship | 19th day of every Bahá'í month |
Friday |
Saturday |
Sunday |
| church and state should be... | integrated |
integrated |
separate |
separate |
Comparison of Origins and History
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Bahá'í Faith |
Islam |
Judaism |
Christianity |
|
date founded |
1863 CE |
622 CE |
unknown |
c. 33 CE |
place founded |
Tehran, Iran |
Saudi Arabia |
Palestine |
Palestine |
founder |
Mirza Hoseyn 'Ali Nuri (Bahá'u'lláh) |
Muhammad |
Moses or Abraham |
Jesus |
original language(s) |
Persian |
Arabic |
Hebrew |
Aramaic, Greek |
early expansion |
moderate at first; rapid expansion beginning in the 1960s |
within 12 years, entire Arabian peninsula; within 100 years, Muslim world stretched from the Atlantic to China |
little expansion; mostly confined to Palestine |
within 60 years, churches in major cities in Palestine, Turkey, Greece and Rome (map); entire Roman Empire by end of 4th cent. |
| use of war in expanding religion | never |
frequent |
rare |
rare originally, but frequent during centuries of Crusades |
major splits |
none - Orthodox Bahá'í Faith is a small minority |
Shia/Sunni, c. 650 CE |
Reform/Orthodox, 1800s CE |
Catholic/Orthodox, 1054 CE; Catholic/Protestant, 1500s CE |
Comparison of Religious Beliefs
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Bahá'í Faith |
Islam |
Judaism |
Christianity |
|
| type of theism | monotheism |
monotheism |
monotheism |
Trinitarian monotheism |
ultimate reality |
one creator God |
one creator God |
one creator God |
one creator God |
names of God |
the "Greatest Name" |
Allah (Arabic for God) |
Yahweh, Elohim |
Yahweh, the Holy Trinity |
| other spiritual beings | none |
angels, demons, jinn |
angels and demons |
angels and demons |
| revered humans | Prophets, Messengers, or Manifestations of God |
prophets, imams (especially in Shia) |
prophets |
saints, church fathers |
| identity of Jesus | true Prophet and Manifestation of God |
true prophet of God, whose message has been corrupted |
false prophet |
Son of God, God incarnate, savior of the world |
| birth of Jesus | not addressed |
virgin birth |
normal birth |
virgin birth |
| death of Jesus | not addressed |
did not die, but ascended into heaven during crucifixion |
death by crucifixion |
death by crucifixion |
| resurrection of Jesus | not addressed |
denied |
denied |
affirmed |
| second coming of Jesus | affirmed - already happened in form of Baha'u'llah |
affirmed |
denied |
affirmed |
| divine revelation | through Prophets, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Krishna, and Bahá'u'lláh |
through Muhammad, recorded in Qur'an |
through Prophets, recorded in Bible |
through Prophets and Jesus (as God Himself), recorded in Bible |
| view of sacred text | inspired |
inspired, literal word of God, inerrant in original languages |
views vary |
inspired, some believe inerrant in original languages |
| human nature | all aspects either good or neutral |
equal ability to do good or evil |
two equal impulses, one good and one bad |
"original sin" inherited from Adam - tendency towards evil |
| means of salvation | spiritual development |
correct belief, good deeds, Five Pillars |
belief in God, good deeds |
correct belief, faith, good deeds, sacraments (some Protestants emphasize faith alone) |
| God's role in salvation | divine revelation |
predestination |
divine revelation and forgiveness |
predestination, various forms of grace |
| good afterlife | increasing nearness to God |
eternal paradise |
views vary: either heaven or no afterlife |
eternal heaven |
| bad afterlife | increasing distance from God |
eternal hell |
views vary: either eternal Gehenna, reincarnation, or no afterlife |
eternal hell, temporary purgatory (Catholicism) |
| view of fellow Abrahamic religions | Completely valid, though incomplete - the Manifestation of Bahá'u'lláh is the most recent divine revelation |
Jews and Christians are respected as "People of the Book," but they have wrong beliefs and only partial revelation. |
Islam and Christianity are false interpretations and extensions of Judaism. |
Judaism is a true religion, but with incomplete revelation. Islam is a false religion. |
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