The Three Day Journey: A Baha'i Perspective on the Resurrection

In this discussion, we will explore the idea that teachings of the Baha'i Faith describe human nature as consisting of three parts: animal, human, and spiritual. We will study together some of our sacred texts which confirm this tripartite nature, from the Hidden Words, the Seven Valleys, the Tablet of Maqsud, and other sources. Then, we will consider the possibility that the resurrection is about rising up from our animal nature (a form of spiritual death) to our spiritual nature (a form of spiritual life). Each of the three states of human nature can be likened to a day, in this view. We will then consider the description of the resurrection in various other sources, such as the Gospels but others as well, with the notion that the sacred texts of Christianity and Islam also support this view, acknowledging that the Baha'i view of the resurrection is not a physical one (dead bodies do not literally revive to physical life) but rather a spiritual one (moribund souls vivify to spiritual souls by their response to the Manifestation of God). One important text is Hosea 6:1-3. Participants in this discuss may wish to read ahead of time this text, as well as the following: The Persian Hidden Word number 7, "O Son of Love! Thou art but one step away from the glorious heights above and from the celestial tree of love. Take thou one pace and with the next advance into the immortal realm and enter the pavilion of eternity. Give ear then to that which hath been revealed by the pen of glory." The Seven Valleys, Valley of Unity section, "As the wayfarers traverse these three differing planes, their understanding and their words differ accordingly, and hence the sign of conflict hath ever appeared on earth. For there are some who dwell on the plane of Divine Unity and speak of that world, and some inhabit the realms of limitation, and some the grades of self, ... "