BAHÁ’Í FAITH
28established in 832 CE. The Baghdad
School also translated the works of Greek
philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and
Plotinus into Arabic.
BAHÁ’Í FAITH. From the Arabic Bahá’,
meaning “glory” or “splendor.” A mono-
theistic religion that teaches the unity
of all religions and has a strong humani-
tarian focus. Bahá’ís believe that God’s
will has been progressively revealed
through a variety of messengers (includ-
ing Abraham, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus,
Muhammad, Zoroaster, and so on), the
most recent of whom is Bahá’u’lláh.
The Bahá’í faith emerged out of Shi’a
Islam. In 1844, Siyyid Alí-Muhammad of Shiraz, Iran, claimed to be “the Báb” (Arabic for “the Gate”) and announced the coming of a Messianic figure. His followers were persecuted by the Islamic clergy, and the Báb himself was executed in 1850. In 1863, one of the Báb’s follow- ers, Mírzá HusaynAlí Núrí, declared
himself to be the messenger foretold by
the Báb and took the title Bahá’u’lláh.
He was banished to Akká, an Ottoman penal colony in what is now Israel, where he remained until his death in 1892. Bahá’u’lláh’s son,Abbás Effendi (known
as `Abdu’l-Bahá or “Servant of Bahá”),
became the next leader of the Bahá’í com-
munity, followed by his grandson, Shoghi
Effendi.
The Bahá’í faith is now a world reli-
gion, with over five million adherents in
247 countries and territories. Bahá’ís are
the largest religious minority in Iran and
often face persecution from the Islamic
majority.BARTH, KARL (1886–1968). Swiss
theologian who stressed the radical oth-
erness of God, the limitations of natural
theology, and the revealed sovereignty
of the world of God disclosed through
scripture. He stressed that a believer’s
realization of God’s truth is the result
of grace rather than rational inquiry.
His commentary on Romans was heavily
influenced by Kierkegaard. Deeply suspi-
cious of natural theology, he emphasized
the “otherness of God” and the primacy
of the Word of God as revelation. Barth’s
work (sometimes referred to as neo-
orthodoxy) is deeply opposed to the
liberal theology associated with Rudolf
Bultmann whose demythologized Chris-
tianity seemed (in contrast) to have little
theological content. Barth is the author
of Epistle to the Romans (1919), Wo r d o f
God and Word of Man (1928), Anselm
(1931), Church Dogmatics 4 vols. (1932–
1953), Credo (1935), Dogmatics in Outline
(1947), and Evangelical Theology: An
Introduction (1962).BASIL THE GREAT, St. (a.k.a. Basil of
Caesarea) (c. 330–379). One of the great
fathers of the early Christian church. Basil
is the most well known of the “Cappado-
cian Fathers,” a group of church fathers
(also including Gregory of Nazianzus and