When I was young, I was introduced to the Bahá’í faith when my step-father, who was a Bahá’í married my mother.
My mother was Christian, although I don’t recall the denomination. I think it may have been Lutheran or Presbyterian, but I really can’t say for certain. Maybe she was non-denominational.
Anyway, my mother was open to my sister and I experiencing other religions. I don’t recall if it was right away or not, but at some point we were attending Bahá’í school on the weekends. As I recall it, we were also attending Christian Sunday schools as well.
As a child, I was particularly inquisitive. I remember asking some of the more difficult questions as a child. You know, things like, who made God? why is God like this? why does God do that? In some ways, I think I was a bit smart alecky about it. Much of it is becoming a bit blurry now.
In any case, I often asked these questions at both my Bahá’í school and Christian Sunday school. What I think began to endear me to the Bahá’í faith at that time was the difference in the way certain difficult questions were answered.
In the Christian setting, there definitely seemed to be more reticence about the issue. The Christians didn’t seem to like me asking too many questions. When I stumped them, the most traditional answer I would get was, “That’s just the way it is, now stop asking silly questions.”
In the Bahá’í setting, there was much more encouragement. There were nearly as many times that the Bahá’í teachers did not know the answers to my questions either, but more often than not their response was something like, “That’s an interesting question. I don’t know the answer. Perhaps you could look into it and if you find out, could you tell me?”
So, in both situations, I was basically getting the answer, “I don’t know”, but in the Bahá’í situation, there always seemed to be a quiet confidence. An unshaken assumption that seeking out truth would not, somehow, deter me from finding God, but that it would rather help me to get closer to Him.
So, I think that by the time I was 11, I knew I was a Bahá’í. I believe my mother did not decide she was a Bahá’í until I was about 12 or 13, but my recollection of the specifics is getting rather fuzzy.
Anyway, that was my reason for becoming a Bahá’í then. Since then, I have found even more compelling reasons for following Bahá’u’lláh.
By the way, I’ve noticed that some Christians I have met sometimes get hung up on the name. Although, thankfully, it has been a long time someone has told me that I am going to “He..” before they know anything about me.
Please be aware that Bahá’ís fully believe in Christ and fully respect His station. Some Christians don’t understand how Bahá’ís can do this given some of the wording in the Bible.
If you are of a Christian background, I would first of all like to thank you for actually reading this far. You must truly be a seeker and someone who loves God if you have. I’d also like to say, if you can think of what it is about Christ that makes you believe He is who he claims to be, please apply those same rules to Bahá’u’lláh and see if they do not also apply to Him.
It just occurred to me that some people may believe that I decided to follow the Bahá’í faith, simply because my step-father did. I know that a number of people decide on religion, simply because their parents did. I’d like to say that while I did love my step-father, I didn’t really like him all that much for most of my childhood. My sister was the one who liked him. She is still Christian, by the way (last time I checked anyway, but I imagine she would mention something if that changed). I was, at the time, more endeared to my biological father, who passed away a few years ago. He had a Catholic funeral.
The Bahá’í faith encourages independent investigation of the truth. I have spent most of my life learning about life and spirituality and so far my connection with the faith has only grown stronger. Perhaps you will find God this way, too.
