The basic principles of this Bible study include the assertions that Christ has the authority to interpret the Bible, and that when He returns He brings a new Revelation for deeper understanding. With the return of Christ in His new name, the Glory of God, Bahá’u’lláh, we can look to Him for guidance on how to study Scripture and find the meaning in it. Here are some points to consider:
1. We start with the understanding that the source of wisdom is God.
“For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6)
“Are ye greater in wisdom than the One Who brought you into being, Who fashioned the heavens and all that they contain, the earth and all that dwell upon it? Gracious God! True wisdom is His. All creation and its empire are His. He bestoweth His wisdom upon whomsoever He chooseth amongst men, and withholdeth it from whomsoever He desireth.” (Bahá’u’lláh, Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 114)
2. We cannot assume that our personal interpretation of Scripture is necessarily correct.
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
“For it behooveth no man to interpret the holy words according to his own imperfect understanding, nor, having found them to be contrary to his inclination and desires, to reject and repudiate their truth.” (Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán p. 182)
3. We must also be wary of the limited understanding of others, particularly those who claim to have a true understanding of Scripture, but instead lead us astray.
“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:8-9)
“For such, today, is the manner of the divines and doctors of the age, who occupy the seats of knowledge and learning, and who have named ignorance knowledge, and called oppression justice. Were these to ask the Light of Truth concerning those images which their idle fancy hath carved, and were they to find His answer inconsistent with their own conceptions and their own understanding of the Book, they would assuredly denounce Him Who is the Mine and Wellhead of all Knowledge as the very negation of understanding. Such things have happened in every age.” (Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán p. 181-182)
4. When Christ returns, the false leaders of religion who promote corrupt theology will be removed, and the true meaning of Scripture will be expounded by the Lord of the Kingdom.
“Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” (Matthew 15:12-13)
“Say: O peoples of all faiths! Walk not in the ways of them that followed the Pharisees and thus veiled themselves from the Spirit. They truly have strayed and are in error. The Ancient Beauty is come in His Most Great Name, and He wisheth to admit all mankind into His most holy Kingdom.” (Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 64)
5. For those admitted into the Kingdom, true knowledge and understanding will be given.
“And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.” (Mark 4:11-12)
“Know thou that he is truly learned who hath acknowledged My Revelation, and drunk from the Ocean of My knowledge, and soared in the atmosphere of My love, and cast away all else besides Me, and taken firm hold on that which hath been sent down from the Kingdom of My wondrous utterance.” (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh p. 208-209)
6. Those who would enter this Kingdom must needs be pure in heart.
“… Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.” (Mark 10:14-15)
“The pure in heart behold the Kingdom of God manifest before His Face. Make haste thereunto and follow not the infidel and the ungodly.” (Bahá’u’lláh, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 64-65)
7. We must detach ourselves from all limits of human understanding.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)
“No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth. Sanctify your souls, O ye peoples of the world, that haply ye may attain that station which God hath destined for you…” (Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán p. 3)
8. And we must accept guidance from the Lord.
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:13)
“Verily, He Who is the Spirit of Truth is come to guide you unto all truth. He speaketh not as prompted by His own self, but as bidden by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 12)