Members of Littleton's Abiding Hope Lutheran Church heard a passionate presentation on the Baha'i faith this past Sunday (May 6) as part of Abiding Hope's Adult Education series One Name and Many Religions.

Two presenters -- Javid Djalili, of Iranian descent but raised in London where his family fled to escape the persecution of Bahai's, is now a local businessman, on the board of the nine-member Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Denver, and a participant in many interfaith councils; and Travis DeArman, a local second-grade teacher who has been a Baha'i now for eight years -- presented the tenets of the Baha'i faith and then answered questions.

Baha'is are followers of the teachings of Baha'u'llah, who, they believe, was an emanation of God's spirit who appeared in Persia (now Iran) in the 19th century. Baha'is are a peace-loving and inclusive people. They believe there is one God who has been revealed throughout time in the teachings of all the great religions throughout history. For them Baha'u'llah is the most recent emanation of God and has come with the teachings necessary to help guide the people of recent generations up to the present into a peaceful and just global society. Baha'is have great respect for the prophets and great leaders of other faiths. They include Jesus in this list but do not believe that he rose from the dead or is in any particular way a savior. To them heaven and hell are spiritual allegories for nearness to or distance from God and an individual's experience of the afterlife depends on the state of his soul.

The Baha'i calendar is made up of 19 months of 19 days each with the remaining four days (five in a leap year) left over as "Intercalary Days". Those days are devoted to preparation for a fast held during the last month of their year and are a time of celebration centered on charity and gift-giving. During the fast that follows, they do not eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset. Baha'is do not have specially ordained priests, they gather every 19 days to pray together, discuss the business of their community and share a meal. They have a beautiful prayer book but also believe that every thing they do is an act of prayer. Baha'is do not drink alcohol or use mind-altering drugs.

There is a Baha'i temple on every continent and it is a symbol of their belief in the unity of God and humanity. They have a large body of scripture written primarily by Baha'u'llah but also by the Bab, a prophet who predicted his coming and Baha'u'llah's successor, Abdu'l-Baha. The family unit is very important as the fundamental social structure of humanity to Baha'is. They believe in the complete equality of men and women. They encourage participation in politics, and they believe that science and technology are valuable tools for improving the situation of humanity.

The next speaker in the One Name and Many Religions series will be Rabbi Sara Gilbert, this Sunday, May 13, at 9:30 a.m. Abiding Hope is at 6337 Robb Way, Littleton 80127. www.abidinghopelutheran.org