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Why is this? Why does not proof cause belief? The purpose of proof is not to force the mind to believe. Christ did not force people to believe in Him. His generation wanted Him to perform miracles on demand, but He would not. If we are forced, where then is our freedom of choice? And if we don't believe by choice, what merit is there in such belief, and why would we be rewarded for it? The purpose of proof is to attract, so that the seeker may begin to open his or her mind and heart to God's message. But faith is not simply based on proofs. It is essentially a spiritual connection one has with his Lord. The mind plays a part, but more importantly, the heart (92:2) Baha'is are happy to demonstrate the truth of Baha'u'llah's claim, but only engage in such a dialogue if the listener is truly interested. Baha'u'llah exhorts His followers: The wise are they that speak not unless they obtain a hearing .. To argue or to push one's beliefs on others is fruitless, and only leads to bad feelings between people. None of us want to be the cause of this. However, if someone is interested in discussing Baha'u'llah's claim, even if the reason is to try to demonstrate to the Baha'i that the claim is false, then the Baha'i is free to present what he or she considers proofs of Baha'u'llah's mission (92:3) Just as Christ provided divine explanation through His life and teachings of the true meaning of the prophecies referring to Him, Baha'u'llah has done the same for the prophecies referring to the Second Coming. It is through Baha'u'llah's life and teachings that the proofs of His mission and the fulfillment of prophecy are evident. Thus, the proofs of Baha'u'llah's mission require knowledge of the story of His life and His teachings (92:4) The Christian may object to using the writings of Baha'u'llah, whom he regards as having no authority, in a discussion of the Second Coming, raising the issue that the Bible alone is the repository of God's Word. This is perfectly understandable. The Jews are free to raise the same objection regarding the use of the life of Christ and the New Testament in a discussion of the Coming of the Messiah. None of us want to be unfaithful to what we consider Holy Scripture (92:5) In the case of the Jewish person and the Christian person, the Christian would, therefore, be left to prove that Jesus is the Christ using only the Hebrew scriptures - quite a challenging task. I have asked Christian friends whether they can do this - prove that Jesus is the Christ using only the Old Testament. The initial reaction is that it can be done. Upon close examination, however, it really cannot (92:6) Scriptures DON'T EXPLAIN Themselves- |