Memorandum
To: The Universal House of Justice
September 14, 1987
From: The Research Department
With reference to the letter dated 9 July 1987, in which .... requests information on Bahá'í concepts related to the Resurrection of Christ, we can offer the following information following our study of the question.
Before addressing the specific issue of the Resurrection, it is necessary to consider the general Bahá'í standpoint with regard to Christianity and the Bible. In his letter dated 28 March 1941 addressed to the believers throughout the West, Shoghi Effendi emphasizes:
“As to the position of Christianity, let it be stated without any hesitation or equivocation that its divine origin is unconditionally acknowledged, that the Sonship and Divinity of Jesus Christ are fearlessly asserted, that the divine inspiration of the Gospel is fully recognized, that the reality of the mystery of the Immaculacy of the Virgin Mary is confessed, and the primacy of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, is upheld and defended....” (‘The Promised Day is Come’, rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1980); p. 109)
With particular regard to the Bible, a letter dated 28 May 1984 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice in response to questions raised by an individual believer outlines two principles to be observed in studying this book:
“In studying the Bible Bahá'ís must bear two principles in mind. The first is that many passages in Scared Scripture are intended to be taken metaphorically, not literally, and some of the paradoxes and apparent contradictions which appear are intended to indicate this. The second is the fact that the text of the early Scriptures, such as the Bible, is not wholly authentic...”
The House of Justice also gives an elucidation of the Bahá'í understanding of Christ's Resurrection in this letter:
“Concerning the Resurrection of Christ you quote the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, where the account stresses the reality of the appearance of Jesus to His disciples who, the Gospel states, at first took Him to be a ghost. From a Bahá'í point of view the belief that the Resurrection was the return to life of a body of flesh and blood, which later rose from the earth into the sky is not reasonable, nor is it necessary to the essential truth of the disciples' experience, which is that Jesus did not cease to exist when He was crucified (as would have been the belief of many Jews of that period), but that His Spirit, released from the body, ascended to the presence of God and continued to inspire and guide His followers and preside over the destinies of His dispensation.”
Selections of extracts from the Bahá'í writings and from letters written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi and the Universal house of Justice concerning the Old and New Testament, and the Resurrection are enclosed for the Spiritual Assembly's information.
Bahá'u'lláh explains the purpose underlying the use of
symbols and metaphors throughout the Holy Texts in "The Kitab-i-Iqan"
(Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1985) on page 49:
“Know verily that the purpose underlying all these symbolic terms and abstruse allusions, which emanate from the Revealers of God's holy Cause, hath been to test and prove the peoples of the world; that thereby the earth of the pure and illuminated hearts may be known from the perishable and barren soil. From time immemorial such hath been the way of God amidst His creatures, and to this testify the records of the sacred books.”
It is thus in the nature of such symbolic terms as resurrection and return that differing views concerning their meaning develop. Indeed, there are differences among Christian scholars themselves regarding the Resurrection of Christ, as the "Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions" (Nashville: Parthenon Press, 1981) points out on page 619: "A number of Christian theologians today regard resurrection as a metaphor which expresses the conviction that the whole self has a future beyond death, but others reaffirm the importance of the traditional belief that Jesus' body was raised from death."
In light of the ongoing discussion within Christian theological circles, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to adduce a "proof" of the Bahá'í understanding of Christ's resurrection which would be acceptable to all Christians. The Research Department suggests that it would be more fruitful to focus on such points of agreement as are outlined by the beloved Guardian on page 109 of "The Promised Day Is Come".
Enclosures:
(Baha’i Library Online)
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
by Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi
compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of
Justice
From the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
As to the resurrection of the body of Christ three days
subsequent to His departure: This signifies the divine teachings and spiritual
religion of His Holiness Christ, which constitute His spiritual body, which is
living and perpetual forevermore.
By the "three days' of His death is meant that after the great martyrdom, the penetration of the divine teachings and the spread of the spiritual law became relaxed on account of the crucifixion of Christ. For the disciples were somewhat troubled by the violence of divine tests. But when they become firm, that divine spirit resurrected and that body - which signifies the divine word - arose.
Likewise the address of the angels to the people of Galilee, "That this Christ will return in the same way and that He will descend from heaven," is a spiritual address. For when Christ appeared, he came from heaven, although He was outwardly born from the womb of Mary. For He said: "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven."
He said: "I came down from heaven and likewise will go to heaven." By "Heaven" is not meant this infinite phenomenal space, but "heaven" signifies the world of the divine kingdom which is the supreme station and seat of the Sun of Truth. (‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha Abbas’, Vol. 1, Chicago: Bahá'í Publishing Society, p. 192)
...Thou hast written concerning the meeting of His Highness Christ after the crucifixion and that some of the apostles perceived Him but did not recognize Him; but that they did recognize Him after the breaking of bread.
Know thou that the Messianic Spirit and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is always manifest, but capacity and ability (to receive it) is more in some and less in others. After the crucifixion the apostles had not in the beginning the capacity and ability of witnessing the Messianic reality. For they were agitated. But when they found firmness and steadfastness, their inner sight became opened, and they saw the reality of the Messiah as manifest. For the body of Christ was crucified and vanished, but the Spirit of Christ is always pouring upon the contingent world, and is manifest before the insight of the people of assurance. (‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha Abbas’, Vol. 1, Chicago: Bahá'í Publishing Society, p. 193-194)
...The Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body; and when after three days the disciples became assured and steadfast, and began to serve the Cause of Christ, and resolved to spread the divine teachings, putting His counsels into practice, and arising to serve Him, the Reality of Christ became resplendent and His bounty appeared; His religion found life; His teachings and His admonitions became evident and visible. In other words, the Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body until the life and the bounty of the Holy Spirit surrounded it.
Such is the meaning of the resurrection of Christ, and this was a true resurrection.... (‘Some Answered Questions’, rev. ed., Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1984, p. 104)
From letters written on behalf of the Guardian
We do not believe that there was a bodily resurrection after
the Crucifixion of Christ, but that there was a time after His Ascension when
His disciples perceived spiritually His true greatness and realized He was
eternal in being. This is what has been reported symbolically in the New
Testament and been misunderstood. His eating with His disciples after
resurrection is the same thing. (9 October 1947 to an individual believer)
The two Biblical verses you had enclosed for explanation on behalf of Dr. ...; the Guardian wishes you to explain to him that these passages are allegorical, and should not be taken literally. They indicate the reality of the presence of the Spirit of Christ and not His bodily resurrection.... (14 August 1937 to an individual believer in response to a request for an explanation of the Biblical verses Luke 24:39 and John 20:24-29 for a person who was investigating the Teachings of the Faith.)
(Baha’i Library Online)