The Baha'i Bible - or not?

There appears to be some confusion in the minds of many observers regarding the Bahá’í Bible. I use the term 'Bible" as a point of reference, but not an entirely inaccurate one. The term 'bible' means, literally: a collection of books. The Jewish Bible is exactly that: a collection of books written by various authors over hundreds of years. Christians added to that collection books and letters of their own written by several authors over a shorter period of time.
There was a great deal of argument among Christians for several centuries about which books and letters should be added to the Jewish Bible. The argument continues today in that Catholic Christians accept additional books that other Christians don't.
Hindus and Buddhists also have sacred scriptures that were written by various authors over hundreds of years, so many that binding them into one set of covers is impractical, so no one really things of a Hindu or Buddhist Bible.
For Muslims the situation is entirely different. Their holy book, The Recitation, or in Arabic; Qu'ran, is the result of one man who dictated the contents in sections during His lifetime. It is regarded as being directly revealed by the angel Gabriel from God with Muhammad merely a vehicle for the words to take form. These revelations were gathered together after His death and arranged by length and the Muslim 'bible' is the result.
Bahá’í scripture came about through a process similar to all of the above, except for the question of authenticity. There are three authors of Bahá’í scripture all speaking as the Voice of God. In addition there are two authors of auxiliray texts which serve to illuminate, explain and implement the teachings of the others. If this sounds confusion, remember that the 'book' of Isaiah in the Jewish Bible was written by at least four authors and the Books of Moses were not written by Moses (it is difficult for a person to write about their own death and events afterwards). The authors of the Bahá’í scripture are simply unfamiliar at this time (it is easy to forget that Christ was an unknown name to most Romans).
The primary author of Bahá’í scripture is Bahá’u’lláh, a title meaning: The Glory of God, who was a vehicle of revelation. He lived 1817-1892 first in His native Persia, then in the Ottoman Empire where He was exiled. His writings include books and letters, mostly letters, some very short, some hundreds of pages long. The Bahá’í World Center, in Haifa, Israel, has the responsibility of collecting these letters and translating and publishing them. To date some 7,000 have been collected. That is one section of the Bahá’í 'bible.'
Secondary to the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh are those of His forerunner, a merchant from Shiraz, Persia who is known as the Báb (the Gate). He instituted a religion of His own but emphasized that His followers were to turn to the next Messenger of God for whom He was the Gate. And that the next Messenger was free to abrogate whatever of His scripture He saw fit. Bahá’u’lláh was in prison for being a follower of the Báb when He became aware of His own role as the next Messenger. Bahá’u’lláh did affirm some of the Báb's teachings such as the equality of women, the nineteen month calendar. So some of the Báb's writings, and certainly His prayers, are part of the Bahá’í 'bible.'
In His writings, Bahá’u’lláh apointed his son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Servant of the Glory) to head the faith after Him. It is a unique situation because never in the world's religious history has the founder of a religion legally appointed a successor. Bahá’u’lláh charged ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to speak on His own behalf, making the two one continuous authority. So, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the second author of the Bahá’í 'bible.'
‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been inprison since He was a young man (because entire families were exiled and imprisoned) and was only freed when political events changed the government of the Ottoman Empire. As in the case of His father, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote a few books but more letters. In addition, after He was freed, He traveled to Egypt, Europe and America, not to see the sights but to educate and encourage the Bahá’ís in those places. In so doing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke to numerous audiences from the NAACP to Jewish sunagogues, churches and private homes. Stenographic notes were often taken and these talks also became part of the Bahá’í bible.
Not just any notes are Bahá’í scripture, Bahá’u’lláh was very clear about this and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá upheld it. They specificed that Their words, in whatever form, had to be verified and authenticated or they could not be considered scripture. Unauthenticated words of Theirs are NOT part of the Bahá’í bible. This has resulted in some confusion by those who do not know the difference. The authentication was to be done my Themselves or the head of the faith. This clearly defines the canon of Bahá’í scripture so there is no disagreement.
'Abdu'i-Baha did not pass on His authority, He created an institution to succeed Him and appointed His oldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, to fill the position. This is the institution of the Guardianship. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá specified the personal qualities of future Guardians, the appointment process and the election to validate the appointment. One of the responsibilities of the Guardian is to interpret and implement the scriptures revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Bahá’u’lláh had outlined the system of administration for the Bahá’í community. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had begun to implement some of it, Shoghi Effendi continued this process. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had encouraged Bahá’ís to for the local councils specified by Bahá’u’lláh. It fell to Shoghi Effendi to create the secondary and international councils. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had outlined teaching plans to take the Bahá’í message to the entire world, Shoghi Effendi further implemented these.
At his death, Shoghi Effendi had not appointed a successor Guardian, there was no one who fulfilled the qualifications set by 'Abdul-Baha. Bahá’u’lláh had hinted of this possibility. Shortly after Shoghi Effendi's death the Bahá’ís of the world elected the Universal House of Justice, that international council ordained by Bahá’u’lláh with certain responsibilities, among them to interpret and implement the Bahá’í scriptures. The Universal House of Justice could also legislate on subjects not covered in Bahá’í scripture and change those decisions when necessary so flexibility was insured.
In summary there are three authors of the Bahá’í bible: Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Báb and two institutions of interpretation: the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice. In addition, for worship and devotions Bahá’ís are free to use any earlier scriptures: the Qur'an, the Christian and Jewish Bible and other scriptures for Bahá’u’lláh clearly stated: "There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. All of them, except a few which are the outcome of human perversity, were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose."*
So far the Bahá’í scriptures (the Bahá’í 'Bible') collected and authenticated at the Bahá’í World Center consist of 7,160 pieces by Bahá’u’lláh, 15,549 by 'Abdu'-Baha plus some of the Báb for a total of 22, 709 primary documents. In addition are another 16,370 by Shoghi Effendi and a contuning stream from the Universal House of Justice (which can be more than one email a day) of secondary guidance. It is impossible to publish all of these in one paper book, but the World Center is in the process of posting them on the internet.
So that is the Bahá’í bible.
*Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 217.