Grade 2-4 Homework Assignment 1.

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09/27/2020 Wel com e to the Fir st Cl a ss of the Y ea r !! The Bahá’í Faith

Teacher: Cindy Van Kley 405-630-4504 cindyvankley@gmail.com If you need help understanding
your homework, please call or email me!

YOU WILL HAVE HOMEWORK EVERY WEEK. 1.) Memory verse to practice until you can say it without
looking at the paper and 2.) Five questions to answer in your journal. If you work on one each evening they
won’t take much time! You must ask your parent to initial your homework sheet each day that you work on it,
but ONLY if you actually DO work on it that day. You will earn points for “points shopping” for doing homework.

Remember:
As a Bahá’í, you will need to be able to tell others what the Bahá’í Faith is. Every Bahá’í is a teacher! You will
need to be able to answer questions about Basic Teachings, about Bahá’í History, and Spiritual Ideas about
God and the Purpose of Life on Earth. The extra pages in this assignment are for your reference throughout
this year, so you can answer your own questions about the Bahá’í Faith, as well as those of your friends and
family who may ask you questions. You can always say, “I don’t know but I can find out and get back to you!”
Look up the answer, and be sure that you understand the answer well enough to explain it to someone else by
practicing saying your answer out loud to yourself several times. Then you will be ready to go back to the one
who asked and tell them, “I found the answer to your question about the Bahá’í Faith. Here’s what I found
out:______________.”

Memory Verse: Practice every day. Say it in class next time.

Short Obligatory Prayer

TO BE RECITED ONCE IN TWENTY FOUR HOURS, AT NOON.

I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to
worship Thee…..
Bahá’u’lláh

Please READ THE HANDOUT and ponder the questions, remember the discussion in class,
then write your answers in your Journal. Write the Assignment number at the top of the
page: “Assignment 1.0” . You don’t need to write the question, just the question number and
the answer. Make sure you answer both parts of any 2-part questions!

1) What is a Bahá’í ?
2) What is service to others? Give 2 examples.
3) Tell us any 3 facts about Bahá’u’lláh’s life.
4) Name a Bahá’í Teaching about equality.
5) Who is God? What do you know about Him?

PARENTS please initial each day the student practices and works on readings/questions:

Sunday 9/27 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 10/3

 WHAT IS THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH?

Wikipedia

The Bahá'í Faith (Arabic: ‫ ﺑﮭﺎﺋﯾﺔ‬Baha'iyy) /bəˈhaɪ/[1]) is a monotheistic religion emphasizing the spiritual
unity of all humankind.[2] Three core principles make a basis for Bahá'í teachings and doctrine: the unity of
God, that there is only one God who is the source of all creation; the unity of religion, that all major
religions have the same spiritual source and come from the same God; and the unity of humanity, that all
humans have been created equal, and that diversity of race and culture are seen as worthy of
appreciation and acceptance.[3] According to the Bahá'í Faith's teachings, the human purpose is to learn to
know and love God through such methods as prayer, reflection and being of service to humanity.

The Bahá'í Faith was founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia. Bahá'u'lláh was exiled for his
teachings, from Persia to the Ottoman Empire, and died while officially still a prisoner. After Bahá'u'lláh's
death, under the leadership of his son, `Abdu'l-Bahá, the religion spread from its Persian and Ottoman
roots, and gained a footing in Europe and America, and was consolidated in Iran, where it suffers
intense persecution.[4] After the death of `Abdu'l-Bahá, the leadership of the Bahá'í community entered a
new phase, evolving from a single individual to an administrative order with both elected bodies and
appointed individuals.[5] There are probably more than 5 million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200
countries and territories.[3][6]

In the Bahá'í Faith, religious history is seen to have unfolded through a series of divine messengers, each
of whom established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time and to the capacity of the people.
These messengers have included Abrahamic figures,Moses, Jesus, Muhammad as well
as Dharmic ones, Krishna, Buddha, and others. For Bahá'ís, the most recent messengers are the
Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. In Bahá'í belief, each consecutive messenger prophesied of messengers to follow,
and Bahá'u'lláh's life and teachings fulfilled the end-time promises of previous scriptures. Humanity is
understood to be in a process of collective evolution, and the need of the present time is for the gradual
establishment of peace, justice and unity on a world-wide scale.[7]
==

BBC Religions

Bahá'í at a glance

The Bahá'í faith is one of the youngest of the world's major religions. It was founded by
Bahá'u'lláh in Persia in 1863. A Bahá’í is a follower of Bahá’u’lláh and His Teachings.

Persia (now Iran) was then mainly a Muslim country, and the faith was proclaimed by a young
Persian, who called himself The Báb. He said that a messenger would soon arrive from God, who
would be the latest in a line of prophets including Moses, Muhammad and Jesus Christ.

• Bahá'u'lláh, which means the Glory of God in Arabic, was born Mirza Husayn Ali in 1817

• Bahá'ís believe that Bahá'u'lláh is the most recent Manifestation of God

• Bahá'u'lláh himself stated that he is not God's final messenger

• The Bahá'í faith accepts all religions as having true and valid origins

• The idea of progressive revelation is of central significance for the Bahá'í faith

• Bahá'u'lláh taught that God intervenes throughout human history at different times to reveal
more of himself through his messengers (called Divine Messengers, or Manifestations of God)

• The central idea of the faith is that of unity. They believe that people should work together for
the common benefit of humanity.

• The Bahá’í teachings stem from the Three Onenesses: The Oneness of God, The Oneness
of Mankind, and The Oneness of Religion

Bahá'í beliefs about God

The followers of Bahá'u'lláh were descended
from the Bábis - believers in the Báb who • Bahá'ís believe there is one God and that
foretold the mission of Bahá'u'lláh. all the universe and creation belong to him

• God is omnipotent, perfect and has

There are 6 million Bahá'ís in the world, in
complete knowledge of life
235 countries and around 6,000 live in
Britain. • Bahá'ís believe that there has only ever
been one God, who is called by different
Summary of Bahá'í beliefs
names in different religions

God is transcendent and can't be known
directly. God is known through the lives and
teachings of his great prophets, the most
recent of whom was Bahá'u'lláh.
• God is too great to be ever understood by
the finite human mind
• Knowledge of God means knowledge of the
attributes of God

All human beings have a soul that lives for
ever. All human beings are members of a
single race, which should soon be united in a
single global community. All human beings
are different, but equal; there should be
equality between races and between
sexes. All religions have the same spiritual
foundation, despite their apparent
differences.
Bahá'í religion may be unique in the way
that it accepts all other faiths as true and
valid. Bahá'ís accept the divine nature of the
missions of Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster,
the Buddha, Jesusand the
Prophet Muhammad. They believe each one
was a further stage in the revelation of God.
Other prophets and Manifestations are also
accepted.
• The only thing we can actually know about
God is that God exists
So when we attribute properties to God we
are actually making a false analogy based on
human ideas - but it's the best that we can
do.
Knowing about God
Since we can't comprehend God directly, the
best way to get an idea of God is by looking
at the lives and teachings of his messengers
(the Manifestations of God) and at the
world God created.
God and other religions
Any description of God is bound to be
coloured and limited by the views and
cultural background of the person making
the description. Bahá'u'lláh thought that this
was why different religions had different
ideas of God.
It was not that each religion was looking at a
different reality called God (whatever that
was) - they were all trying to describe the
same reality, but their descriptions were
built out of their own experiences and
cultures, and so were different.
Abdu'l-Bahá put it like this:
The differences among the religions of the
world are due to the varying types of minds.
Abdu'l-Bahá
Thus for a Bahá'í the different views of God
held by different religions are the closest
that that particular culture and time can
come to an idea of the absolute reality of
God, and are helpful to the people of that
culture.
But these ideas of God are nothing like the
true reality of God, because humans don't
have the mental ability to understand that
reality.
Incarnation
Bahá'ís believe that God cannot become
incarnate in a human being.
Gender
Bahá'ís do not regard God as having a
gender. Although the Bahá'í writings use a
masculine pronoun to refer to God, this is to
suit the language in which they were
originally written.
===
God's prophets
Bahá'ís believe that God's prophets or
messengers (whom they
call Manifestations of God) provide the most
complete knowledge of God available at their
particular time.
The writings associated with these prophets
are the means through which an individual
can get a deeper knowledge of God.
Bahá'ís believe that God reveals his divine
purpose through his manifestations. Their
writings give guidance for the spiritual
progress of individuals and by doing so help
to shape society.
The Manifestations of God include:
• Adam
• Abraham
• Moses
• Krishna
• Zoroaster
• Buddha
• Jesus Christ
• Muhammad
• The Báb
• Bahá'u'lláh
While these are among the Manifestations
mentioned in the Bahá'í writings, there are
others mentioned by name in Bahá'u'lláh's
writings and he indicates that there are
many more prophets than are named.
The purpose of this material life,
according to Bahá'u'lláh, is to acquire
those virtues that will be necessary for
eternal life of the spirit. Since what I learn
for myself has more power than just
memorizing what someone else has
learned, I assume God's creation works
that way, too. If so, what is needed in the
Kingdom which transcends the life and
limitation of this mortal world? "That
world beyond is a world of sanctity and
radiance; therefore it is necessary that in
this world [ye] should acquire these divine
attributes. In that world there is need of
spirituality, faith, assurance, the
knowledge and love of God..." which must
be attained in this world. "...That divine
world is manifestly a world of lights;
therefore man has need of illumination
here. That is a world of love; the love of
God is essential. It is a world of
perfections; virtues or perfections must be
acquired. That world is vivified by the
breaths of the Holy Spirit; in this world
we must seek them."
By what means can humanity acquire
these things? "First, through the
knowledge of God. Second, through the
love of God. Third, through faith. Fourth,
through philanthropic deeds. Fifth,
through self-sacrifice. Sixth, through
severance from this world. Seventh,
through sanctity and holiness." - 'Abdu'l-
Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 63
About faith and loving God, 'Abdu'l-Bahá
said, "This love is the origin of all
philanthropy; this love causes the hearts
of men to reflect the rays of the Sun of
Reality." - Paris Talks, p. 180