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The Bahá'ís Magazine

The Unknowable Essence

Bahá'u'lláh taught that God is the Creator of the universe and its absolute ruler. His nature is limitless, infinite and all-powerful. It is therefore impossible for mortal men and women, with limited intellect and finite capacities, to directly comprehend or understand the Divine reality, Its motives or the way It operates.

While unknowable in His essence, God has chosen to make Himself known to humanity through a series of divine Messengers.

These Messengers have been the only way to knowledge of God, and their number includes the Founders of the world's great religions: Moses, Krishna, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, and Muhammad--to name those Messengers who are best known.

Bahá'ís also include other prophets in this group, such as Noah and Abraham.

The Messengers, in Bahá'u'lláh's words, are "Manifestations of God." The Manifestations are perfect mirrors of God's attributes and perfection, providing a pure channel for the communication of God's will for humanity.

This idea--that God has sent a succession of Messengers to educate humanity--is called "progressive revelation." An analogy is the process of schooling. Just as children start with simple ideas in the primary grades, and are given increasingly complex knowledge as they move on through secondary school and college, so humanity has been "educated" by a series of Manifestations. In each age, the teachings of the Messens~ers of God have conformed not to Their knowledge but to the level of our collective maturity.

A Two-Fold Station

The Manifestations of God have a two-fold station. On the one hand, they are Divine beings, reflecting perfectly God's will. On the other hand, they are humans, subject to birth, disease, suffering and death. They have different physical identities and they address humanity at different stages in history. These differences give rise to cultural distinctions between religions that sometimes conceal their inherent unity.

"Every Prophet Whom the Almighty and Peerless Creator hath purposed to send to the peoples of the earth hath been entrusted with a Message, and charged to act in a manner that would best meet the requirements of the age in which He appeared," Bahá'u'lláh said.

Fundamentally, however, the spiritual message of God's Messengers has been universally the same. Each has stressed the importance of love for God, obedience to His will, and love for humanity. Although the words have varied, each has taught the "Golden Rule"--that individuals should treat others as they would like to be treated themselves.

"Know thou assuredly that the essence of all the Prophets of God is one and the same." Bahá'u'lláh wrote. "Their unity is absolute. God, the Creator, saith: There is no distinction whatsoever among the Bearers of My Message..."

The Manifestations of God communicate God's will to humanity through the process of divine revelation. This process of revelation has been recorded in the world's great holy books--books that range from the Torah to the Qur'an, and which include Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Zoroastrian scriptures. These writings represent humanity's record of God's revealed Word.

Bahá'u'lláh says that the Word of God is the "master key" for the whole world. Only it can unlock the spiritual potential latent within every individual; only it can help us develop to our fullest potential. Without the Word of God, humans would remain captives of instinct and cultural conditioning, dwelling only on qualities that are associated with physical survival. Greed, selfishness, dishonesty, corruption and the like inevitably flourish if there is no divine guidance.

For Bahá'ís, the books, tablets and letters penned by Bahá'u'lláh represent today the Word of God renewed. Although they are consistent with past religious revelations, and represent "the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future," the writings of Bahá'u'lláh also contain fresh truths about God's will for humanity today.

Next pages:

• Divine Messengers [pg. 34]
• He, She or It? [pg. 34]
• Heaven and hell: a Bahá'í view of life after death [pg. 35]
• Prayer and meditation [pg. 36]
• How Bahá'ís view other religions [pg. 37]
• Bahá'í Houses of Worship [pg. 38]

"Excerpted from The Bahá'ís, a publication of the Bahá'í International Community."

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