Divine Manifestations

By: Bob Pardon

Standing at the very core of Baha\'i theology is the lone figure of the Manifestation of God.⁽¹⁾ He is, by far, the most important figure and concept of the Baha\'i Faith. He alone ties together for the Baha\'i the vast sweep of humanity\'s religious quest. While there have been innumerable manifestations in times past, this great cycle of human history which began with Adam has been dominated by nine manifestations for whom we have historical knowledge. These are: Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, Muhammad, the Bab, and Baha\'u\'llah. Baha\'u\'llah is the apex of all previous Manifestations, they being Prophets who prepared the way for him. Thus, he is the Universal Manifestation for this cycle of human history which will last 500,000 years. Other Manifestations will come but they will be governed by the revelation of Baha\'u\'llah (refer to chart in the back).

The nature of the Manifestation of God is not incarnation. As the transcendent God He can never incarnate His essence into a mere human body. Rather, His human Manifestation acts as a pure mirror to reflect the attributes of God into this temporal existence.⁽²⁾ This is the major function of the Primal Will, as it is the Primal Will that is the transcendent life force animating the Manifestation. Thus, the unknowable God can only be known through the reflection of His attributes in the person of His Manifestation. However, this reflection is so pure and complete that Baha\'u\'llah states, \"Were any of the all embracing Manifestations of God to declare: \'I am God,\' He, verily, speaketh the truth...\"^{( 3)}

These human embodiments of the attributes of God have from time to time appeared in history and have become the founders of the true religions. Though different in time and place they are all One in that they each perfectly reflect the same divine attributes.⁽⁴⁾ However, each Manifestation is more perfect than the previous one. As Manifestations they serve as the metaphysical link between the unknowable essence of God and humanity, infallibly revealing true knowledge of Him. They have the authority to displace the teachings of the previous Manifestation and his dispensation, which have by this time become distorted and polluted.⁽⁵⁾ Thus, Baha\'i theology teaches the \"relativity of truth;\" that the teachings of any particular Manifestation are \"absolute\" only for his dispensation.⁽⁶⁾

Manifestations also function essentially as teachers. They are not Saviors in the Christian sense. This is because the Baha\'i Faith views the human soul as essentially good. It is ignorance that has clouded the soul and separated man from God. The human soul is intended to achieve the perfection of its humanity. This is a process that is hopefully begun in this life by acknowledging the current Manifestation and then following his teachings. The process continues in the next life by \"...the bounty and grace of the Lord...\"⁽⁷⁾ Thus, it is God\'s intended purpose that each person comes under the \"shadow of the True Educator and is rightly trained...if he is deprived of this education, he becomes the...sum of animal vices, the source of all dark conditions.\"⁽⁸⁾ But even this dark condition can change in the next life through prayer and repentance.

True Manifestations are identified by various criteria, the most important ones being: their very person is a self-validating truth,⁽⁹⁾ their sinless state,⁽¹⁰⁾ scripture (\"a Book\") is revealed through them,⁽¹¹⁾ etc.⁽¹²⁾

Critique of the Divine Manifestation

First, the infallible Center of the Covenant (Abdu\'l Baha) and the infallible Guardian (Shoghi Effendi) are in disagreement as to who is and who is not a Manifestation. Abdu\'l Baha states that Confucius was a Manifestation.⁽¹³⁾ Shoghi Effendi states, \"Confucius was not a Prophet (Manifestation).\"⁽¹⁴⁾ This is a dilemma when both are infallible.

Second, all the Manifestations have been declared to be sinless by the Baha\'i Faith. However, upon close examination such a statement is absurd. Muhammad is told his sin will be forgiven by Allah (Sura 48:1-2). Also, in the Koran, Sura 4:3, it is forbidden for anyone to have more than four wives. The Muslim scholar and statesman Ali Dashti states that Muhammad had sixteen wives, two concubines, and four women who gave themselves to him sexually.⁽¹⁵⁾

Third, Baha\'i theology is without any concept of sin and justice. If God is truly a Law-Giver than he must also be a God of justice, otherwise ethics mean nothing. The moral fabric of the universe is disturbed by immoral acts. It is inconceivable that a Ghengis Khan, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin or Pol Pot can be excused in the next life of their enormous moral atrocities by simply praying and having God forgive them without any satisfaction of His justice. The Baha\'i Faith seeks to effect a moral transformation in man through recognition of the Manifestation. It seeks to make bad men good. Christianity seeks to make dead men live (John 10:10; Ephesians 2:1).

Fourth, Shoghi Effendi writes, \"...the great religions of the world are divine in origin...they differ only in non-essential aspects of their doctrines.\"⁽¹⁶⁾ If such is the case there should at least be agreement regarding their founders teachings on God. We look at only four of them:

Krishna -- polytheistic, God ultimately pantheistic.

Buddha -- agnostic, it does not matter whether God exists.

Muhammad -- intensely monotheistic.

Jesus Christ -- triune God, one divine essence, three centers of self-awareness.

Either the Manifestations contradict each other (which makes it impossible to decide between true and false Manifestations), or the nature of God is contradictory (which is a self-defeating conclusion creating absurdity), or the Baha\'i Faith is false.

Fifth, it is logically incoherent to state infallibly that truth is relative as Baha\'u\'llah does.⁽¹⁷⁾ This is a self-defeating statement because if it is absolute it cannot be true. And if it is relative then it is not absolutely binding. Thus it becomes a meaningless statement.

Endnotes:

1. The Manifestation is also called by the following names in Baha\'i Scripture: Prophet, Messenger, Prophet Endowed With Constancy, Word of God, Logos, Primal Point, Universal Intellect, etc.

2. Baha\'u\'llah, Iqan, p.103.

3. Baha\'u\'llah, Gleanings, p. 54.

4. The Baha\'i Faith teaches that at first differences between the Manifestations seem real. However, as time goes on the true seeker will come to realize that unity underlies all of them. The apparent diversity amongst manifestations is only because of the different stations and missions they possess.

5. Baha\'u\'llah, Aqdas, pp. 4, 159; Iqan, pp. 71-72.

6. Compilation of Compilations, vol. 2, pp. 324-325. These volumes I assume were published by the Baha\'i Publishing Trust. I have used here an MS-DOS search and retrieval computer program that contains both volumes one and two.

7. Abdu\'l Baha, Some Answered, pp. 232, 240.

8. Ibid. p. 236.

9. Baha\'u\'llah, Gleanings, p. 49.

10. Abdu\'l Baha, Some Answered, p. 195.

11. Baha\'u\'llah, Iqan, p. 216.

12. Ibid.

13. Abdu\'l Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by Abdu\'l Baha During His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912 (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha\'i Publishing Trust, 1982), p. 346. See also, Some Answered, p. 165.

14. Shoghi Effendi, Lights of Guidance (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha\'i Publishing Trust, 1983), p. 369.

15. Robert Morey, The Islamic Invasion: Confronting the World\'s Fastest Growing Religion (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1992), pp. 85-87.

16. Shoghi Effendi, The Call to the Nations (Haifa, Israel: Baha\'i World Centre, 1977), p. xi.

17. Ibid.

Source: www.bahai1.htm