Across families
Bahá’í Faith and Lutheranism
Different families with 10 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.16 (0 would be identical).
One unknowable God revealed progressively through a succession of messengers, of whom Bahá’u’lláh is the most recent — so the world’s religions are stages of one revelation rather than rivals. Highly inclusive about other paths and highly centralised about its own administration.
Salvation by grace alone through faith alone, received rather than achieved — the single sharpest position on D1 in the whole matrix. Retains sacraments and liturgy while moving authority from the hierarchy to scripture and the confessions.
Where they agree
A1 Divine reality
Both sit at a divine reality certainly exists — a gap of 0.00.
A4 Locus
Both sit at between wholly beyond the world and fully present within it — a gap of 0.00.
C1 Survival of the self
Both sit at continues in some form — a gap of 0.01.
A3 Plurality
Both sit at strictly one — a gap of 0.03.
C2 Shape of time
Both sit at one life, then judgment — a gap of 0.03.
E2 Origin of the cosmos
Both sit at an intentional act — a gap of 0.03.
D2 Centrality of ritual
Both sit at leaning essential and prescribed — a gap of 0.03.
E3 Locus of belonging
Both sit at leaning an individual choice and between a people, inherited and an individual choice respectively — a gap of 0.06.
D3 The body
Both sit at between to be disciplined and to be celebrated — a gap of 0.07.
B1 Source of truth
Both sit at leaning revealed and fixed and revealed and fixed respectively — a gap of 0.10.
Where they part company
C3 The human condition
Bahá’í Faith: leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound. Lutheranism: fallen and in need of rescue. A gap of 0.58 on an axis running from “fallen and in need of rescue” to “ignorant but fundamentally sound”.
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good
Bahá’í Faith: between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight. Lutheranism: given as grace. A gap of 0.52 on an axis running from “given as grace” to “achieved by effort or insight”.
E1 Exclusivity
Bahá’í Faith: leaning many valid paths. Lutheranism: leaning one true path. A gap of 0.40 on an axis running from “one true path” to “many valid paths”.
All seventeen axes
| Axis | Bahá’í Faith | Lutheranism | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine reality | a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly exists | 0.00 |
| A2 Personhood | leaning a personal being one can address | a personal being one can address | 0.13 |
| A3 Plurality | strictly one | strictly one | 0.03 |
| A4 Locus | between wholly beyond the world and fully present within it | between wholly beyond the world and fully present within it | 0.00 |
| B1 Source of truth | leaning revealed and fixed | revealed and fixed | 0.10 |
| B2 Reading of sacred text | between literal and binding and metaphorical, or no text at all | leaning literal and binding | 0.25 |
| B3 Institutional authority | clergy and tradition decide | between clergy and tradition decide and individual conscience decides | 0.26 |
| C1 Survival of the self | continues in some form | continues in some form | 0.01 |
| C2 Shape of time | one life, then judgment | one life, then judgment | 0.03 |
| C3 The human condition | leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound | fallen and in need of rescue | 0.58 |
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good | between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight | given as grace | 0.52 |
| D2 Centrality of ritual | leaning essential and prescribed | leaning essential and prescribed | 0.03 |
| D3 The body | between to be disciplined and to be celebrated | between to be disciplined and to be celebrated | 0.07 |
| E1 Exclusivity | leaning many valid paths | leaning one true path | 0.40 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmos | an intentional act | an intentional act | 0.03 |
| E3 Locus of belonging | leaning an individual choice | between a people, inherited and an individual choice | 0.06 |
| E4 Standing of nature | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred | leaning creation, given for use | 0.20 |
Positions for Bahá’í Faith rest principally on Bahaʼuʼllah, Kitab-i-Aqdas and Kitab-i-Iqan; for Lutheranism, on The Book of Concord (1580). Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.
The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.