Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83 based; site hou2h.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxj!houxm!hou2h!vc From: vc@hou2h.UUCP (Verbus M. Counts) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: God and His Manifestations - Progressive Revelation Message-ID: <698@hou2h.UUCP> Date: Sun, 6-Jan-85 10:37:30 EST Article-I.D.: hou2h.698 Posted: Sun Jan 6 10:37:30 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 7-Jan-85 03:20:16 EST Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ Lines: 112 The most fundamental of all Bahai' principles are these: The Oneness of God The Oneness of His Messengers The Oneness of mankind This article will focus on "God and His Messengers". From the Baha'i writings: God is like the sun. Just as the physical sun is the source of all physical light, God is the source of all spiritual light. The sun does not come down to earth to sustain life - it sends its like-giving rays. The infinite, unknowable God does not come down to earth - He sends His Messengers. As perfect mirrors reflect the light of the sun, so His Messengers perfectly reflect the Word of God. Therefore, one Messenger is not greater than another. They are equal. For this reason, Bahai's have the same love and reverence for Christ that they have for Baha'`u'llah - because they are one in spirit. There is no exclusive salvation for the Bahai', the Christian or the Jew. God is not in competition with him Himself. His revelation is orderly and progressive, and He sends His Messengers whenever mankind is in need of a fresh outpouring of His Word. Thus Moses may be likened to the seed; Christ to the tree; and Baha`'u'llah the fruit. From the fruit will come the seed of succeeding cycles in which new Messengers of God will bring an outward or social truth which is fitted to the needs of the age in which He appears. DIVINE REVELATORS RELIGION REVELATORS SABAEAN UNKNOWN 5000 B.C. HINDU KRISHNA 2000 B.C. JEWISH MOSES 1330 B.C. ZOROASTRIAN ZOROASTER 1000 B.C. BUDDHIST GAUTAMA BUDDHA 560 B.C. CHRISTIAN JESUS CHRIST 1 A.D. ISLAMIC MUHAMMAD 622 A.D. BABI' THE BAB 1844 A.D. BAHA'I BAHA`'U'LLAH 1853 A.D. From the writings of Baha`'u'llah: Know thou assuredly that the essence of all the prophets of God is one and the same. Their unity is absolute. God, the Creator, saith: There is no distinction whatsoever among the Bearers of My Message. They all have but one purpose their secret is the same secret. To prefer one in honor to another, to exalt certain ones above the rest, is in no wise to be permitted. Every true Prophet hath regarded His Message as fundamentally the same as the Revelation of every other Prophet gone before Him. If any man, therefore, should fail to comprehend this truth, and should consequently indulge in vain and unseemly language, no one whose sight is keen and whose understanding is enlightened would ever allow such idle talk to cause him to waver in his belief. Beware, O believers in the Unity of God, lest ye be tempted to make any distinction between any of the Manifestations of His Cause, or to discriminate against the signs that have accompanied and proclaimed their Revelation. This indeed is the true meaning Divine Unity, if ye be of them that apprehend and believe this truth. Be ye assured, moreover, that the works and acts of each and every one of these Manifestations of God, nay whatever pertaineth unto them, and whatsoever they may manifest in the future, are all ordained by God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose. Whoso maketh the slightest possible difference between their persons, their words, their messages, their acts and manners, hath indeed disbelieved in God, hath repudiated His signs, and betrayed the Cause of His Messengers. From the foregoing passages and allusions it hath been made indubitably clear that in the kingdoms of earth and heaven there must needs be manifested a Being, an Essence Who shall act as a Manifestation and Vehicle for the transmission of the grace of the Divinity Itself, the Sovereign Lord of all. Through the teachings of this Daystar of Truth every man will advance and develop until he attaineth the station at which he can manifest all the potential forces with which his inmost true self hath been endowed. It is for the this very purpose that in every age and dispensation the Prophets of God and His chosen Ones have appeared amongst men, and evince such power as is born of God and such might as only the Eternal can reveal. Regards, Verbus M. Counts AT&T Bell Labs The Word of God(religion) is one, (201) 564-2510 101 JFK Parkway though the speakers are many ... ihnp4!pata!vca Room 1l-423 January 6,1985 Short Hills, NJ 07078 The Bahai Faith