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THE
MESSENGERS OF GOD
From
the beginning that has no beginning God
has
manifested Himself through His Messengers.
Through
them He causes man to know Him and to
love
Him; through them He breathes fresh life into
creation.
They are the Educators of humanity, the
Source
of progress, the Founders of religion. Alone
and
unaided, opposed by the powers of the world,
each
one has triumphed over adversity, unfurled
the
banner of His Faith and established His
sovereignty
over the hearts of men. Such
achievements
are not possible for created beings;
only
Manifestations of God can do these things.
In
former ages the Manifestations did not
explain
clearly Their station. Sometimes they spoke
as
though They were God Himself; at others They
would
admit themselves human. Their immediate
companions
perhaps understood the hidden
references
to Their true station, but later followers
were
confused. These either worshipped them as
God
or regarded them only as inspired men.
Doctrines
such as the Trinity were evolved to try to
explain
the seeming contradiction of their station.
We,
in this glorious age, are more fortunate.
Bahá’u’lláh
has revealed to us the true meaning of
the
paradox in words that are deep, yet crystal
clear.
God in His Essence, He explains, is beyond
the
understanding of man:
“The door of the knowledge of the
Ancient
Being hath ever been, and will
continue for ever
to be, closed in the face of men. No
man’s
understanding shall ever gain access
unto His
holy court.” (9)
Therefore
He sends His Messengers to mediate
between
His Essence and mankind:
“As a token of His mercy, however,
and as
a proof of His loving-kindness, He
hath
manifested unto men the Day-Stars of
His divine
guidance, the Symbols of His divine
unity, and
hath ordained the knowledge
of
these
sanctified
Beings to be identical with the
knowledge of
His
own Self. ” (10)
These
Day-Stars of divine guidance owe their
great
station to the Holy Spirit with which God has
endowed
Them. Because of it they have direct
intercourse
with God and act as channels for the
outpouring
of His grace. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in
explaining
how They mediate between God and
man,
likens God to the sun and the Holy Spirit to
the
rays of the sun bringing light and life and heat
to
the earth:
"As the rays of the sun bring the
light and
warmth of the sun to the earth, giving life to all
created beings, so do the
Manifestations bring
the power of
the Holy Spirit
from
the Divine Sun
of
Reality to give light and
life to the souls of
men.
Behold, there is an intermediary
necessary
between the sun and the earth; the
sun does not
descend to the earth, neither does
the earth
ascend to the sun. This contact is
made by the
rays of the sun which bring light and warmth
and heat.
The Holy Spirit is the Light from
the Sun of
Truth bringing, by its infinite
power, life and
illumination to all mankind,
flooding all souls
with Divine radiance, conveying the
blessings of
God’s Mercy to the whole world.
The earth,
without the medium of the warmth and light of
the rays
of
the sun, could receive no
benefits
from the sun.
Likewise the Holy Spirit is the very cause
of
the life
of
man;
. . .”
(11)
In
another passage He likens the Holy Spirit to a
mirror
held to the Face of God, reflecting it for the
eyes
of man. To gaze directly on the Face of God is
beyond
man’s power, but by turning towards the
Holy
Spirit he can see the light of the sun reflected
as
in a clear mirror. Therefore Bahá’u’lláh says:
“Whoso recogniseth them hath
recognised
God. Whoso hearkeneth to their call,
hath
hearkened to the Voice
of
God, and whoso
testifieth to the truth of their
Revelation, hath
testified to the truth of God Himself.
Whoso
tumeth away
from them, has turned away
from
God, and whoso disbelieveth in them,
hath
disbelieved in God. Every one
of
them is the
Way of
God that connecteth this
world with the
realms above, and the Standard
of His
Truth
unto everyone in the kingdoms
of
earth and
heaven. They are the Manifestations
of
God
amidst men, the evidences of His
Truth, and the
signs
of
His glory. ” (12)
These
Mirrors are perfect Beings, who live
perfect
lives and give perfect teaching. There have
been
many of Them; Muhammad, Buddha, Moses,
Jesus,
Krishna, Noah, Zoroaster, Abraham, are
examples.
Of most we have now no record, even
Their
names are lost to us; but the glory which surrounds
the names of those we know is itself a
proof
of Their divine station.
Divine,
but not to be identified with the Essence
of
God, for that is exalted above place and time;
the
sun does not come down into the mirror, nor is
the
light of the sun the same as the sun itself. The
manifestations
are exalted above men, but they
partake
of humanity. Although possessed of the
Holy
Spirit, They have also a human body and a
human
soul. This is Their dual station, which
mankind
has in past ages found so confusing.
The
human station of these Day-Stars of divine
guidance
has always been a severe test for
mankind.
It causes them to need food and sleep
like
other men, to be subject to the ills and chances
of
this world and to appear outwardly like ordinary
human
beings.
Bahá’u’lláh
has written:
“As these holy Persons were
subject to such
needs and wants, the people were,
consequently,
lost in the wilds
of
misgivings and doubts, and
were afflicted with bewilderment and
perplexity.
How, they wondered, could such a
person be
sent down from God, assert His
ascendancy over
all the peoples and kindreds
of
the earth, and
claim Himself to be the goal
of
all creation
--
.
. . and
yet be
subject to
such trivial
things?” (13)
Sometimes
the Manifestations speak in Their
divine
station as through with the voice of God. At
others
Their words stem from Their human station.
Jesus
spoke thus when He said: “Why callest thou
me good? there is none good but one,
that is,
God.”
(14)
The parable of Satan tempting Jesus has
been
explained by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to refer to the
tempting
of the Holy Spirit in Jesus by His human
impulses.
The
distinctions and differences between the
Messengers
of God originate in Their human
station.
In Their divine station these Great Beings
are
one -- one in Their perfection and one in Their
Message.
Bahá’u’lláh describes this unity in words
of
great beauty:
“lf
thou wilt observe with
discriminating eyes,
thou wilt behold them all abiding in
the same
tabernacle, soaring in the same
heaven, seated
upon the same throne, uttering the
same speech,
and proclaiming the same Faith. Such
is the
unity of those Essences of Being,
those
Luminaries of infinite and
immeasurable
splendour!” (15)
In
another place He puts more strongly the need
to
recognise Their unity:
“Beware, O
believers in the Unity
of
God, lest
ye be tempted to make any
distinction between
the Manifestations
of
His Cause, or to
discriminate against the signs
that have
accompanied and proclaimed their
Revelation.
This indeed is the true meaning
of
Divine
Unity, . . . ” (16)
The
word of Jesus is one with the word of Moses
and
the word of Buddha with the word of Muhammad.
Eyes directed to the perfection They
share
can detect no difference between these
Essences
of Being. They may truly claim in this
station
to be but one Essence speaking with but one
voice.
In contrast, in Their human station They are
subject
to the limitations of the world of creation.
All
created things have their own individuality and
are
separated one from another. Therefore
Bahá’u’lláh
writes:
“In this respect, each
Manifestation of God
hath a distinct individuality, a
definitely
prescribed mission, a predestined
revelation,
and specially designated
limitations. Each one
of them is known by a different name,
is
characterised by a special
attribute, fulfils a
definite mission, and is entrusted
with a
particular Revelation. ” (17)
Eyes
directed to differences and to the human
personality
of the Manifestations of God must
inevitably
fail to see Their inner oneness.
Failing
in this, men scorn and persecute Them;
so
have they always treated God’s Messengers.
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Bahá'u'lláh forbids:
