A new Revelation takes a reasonable approach to expand our understanding of the reality of God.

– New Data –

From May 23, 1844 to May 29, 1892 God spoke.  He spoke through two Messengers.  Much of what was spoken was written by these Messengers or by a trusted secretary, and validated by Them.  The originals of most of these writings, equaling many volumes of books, have been meticulously preserved.  They have been translated by authorized parties into hundreds of languages, including English—available to the public.  The second Messenger appointed an interpreter, whose talks and writings have also been translated and are available.

The Messengers are the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, and the interpreter is the eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.  This outpouring of divine knowledge is known as the Bahá’í Revelation, and the religion associated with it is the Bahá’í Faith.

The Bahá’í Revelation is unique.  Not only have the words of God been written and preserved intact, they offer new explanations for many of the questions that have intrigued theologians and philosophers for centuries.  When confronted with these questions, we no longer need to rely solely on conjecture, supposition, or forensic investigation of history.  We now have the authentic Word of God as a reference point.  It is as if God Himself has laid open new vistas for our investigation of reality.

This Revelation is freely available to anyone.  Those that study religion—whether to discover, defend or confront—may now look into this source of new data to better inform their quest for truth. 

How can you be sure this is from God? Don’t take my word for it. Check it out. See for yourself. Read the writings, maybe learn a little of the history, and draw your own conclusions. Millions of people from every nation, culture, class and creed recognize it.

Religion and Reason

One of the new ideas of this Revelation concerns religion itself—that religion should conform to reason. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: “Bahá’u’lláh declared that religion is in complete harmony with science and reason. If religious belief and doctrine is at variance with reason, it proceeds from the limited mind of man and not from God; therefore, it is unworthy of belief and not deserving of attention; the heart finds no rest in it, and real faith is impossible.” ¹

This reasoned approach to religion is not only new, but challenging.  Its first challenge is to the Bahá’í Faith itself.  Its teachings and doctrines should conform to reason.  In that spirit, I offer here a few concepts regarding the reality of God which I have gleaned from the Bahá’í writings.  Other than the actual texts that I quote, this is my own understanding of these writings, and should not be considered authoritative.

The Existence of God

How can we know for sure whether God exists?  Clearly, there are no ironclad proofs that can force someone to believe or disbelieve in God.  Otherwise the question would not come up.  We would all find ourselves in the winning camp,  the one with compelling proof. 

That said, there are logical explanations that support the idea of the existence of God.  One familiar to most of us is that the universe and everything in it, including ourselves, either has an ultimate Cause, or it does not.  Most people, from the laboratory scientist to the woman or man on the street, accept the logic of cause and effect without question. It’s logical. If something happens, we look for a cause.  That is the reasonable thing to do.  So it is reasonable to think of a Cause for the universe.

Bahá’u’lláh affirms: “Every thing must needs have an origin and every building a builder.” So far, this is not surprising.  Then He says, “Verily, the Word of God is the Cause which hath preceded the contingent world—a world which is adorned with the splendors of the Ancient of Days, yet is being renewed and regenerated at all times.” ²

There are several unexpected ideas here.  Notice that He says that the world is constantly being renewed and regenerated.  Creation, then is not a one-time thing, but an ongoing process.  And notice that He does not say that God is the Cause, but rather that the Word of God is the Cause.  And that Word precedes the contingent world.

The Manifestation of God

In other writings Bahá’u’lláh says that God is entirely independent of His creation.  The creation emanates from God as writing emanates from the writer, while the writer remains unchanged and independent of what they produce.  Even as we can learn about the writer from her writings, so too can we learn about God from His creation.  His first creation is the Word, sometimes referred to as First Intellect or Primal Will.  Bahá’u’lláh also calls this level of reality the Manifestation of God. The Manifestation of God acts as an intermediary between God and creation, including ourselves.

An analogy offered in the Bahá’í writings is the sun and a mirror.  The sun is far away, beyond our grasp or comprehension, but we can see it reflected in a mirror.  Seeing it, we might say, “I see the sun in a mirror.”  Or we might simply say, “I see the sun.”

From time to time, every thousand years or so, a Manifestation of God appears on earth and walks among us.  Bahá’u’lláh taught that the Founders of all the world’s major religions, including Jesus, Mohammad, Krishna, Moses, Buddha, and Abraham were Manifestations of God.  Each of them was a perfect mirror reflecting the light of God.  He wrote, “These sanctified Mirrors, these Daysprings of ancient glory, are, one and all, the Exponents on earth of Him Who is the central Orb of the universe, its Essence and ultimate Purpose. … By the revelation of these Gems of Divine virtue all the names and attributes of God, such as knowledge and power, sovereignty and dominion, mercy and wisdom, glory, bounty, and grace, are made manifest.” ³

We know God, then, through these Manifestations.  Bahá’u’lláh wrote, “Whoso recognizeth them hath recognized 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. … They are the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the signs of His glory.”

This is why, at the beginning of this article, I claimed that God spoke.  He spoke through His two most recent Manifestations, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.  Anyone who wants to expand their understanding of the reality of God can do so through this Revelation, unprecedented in volume, scope, and detail.

More Data

Among other things, this Revelation helps to unseal the books of the past, and sheds new light on topics once thought to be mysterious and esoteric by some, or sheer nonsense by others.  In a series of conversations with a sincere seeker, available in a single volume, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered questions on topics like the existence of God, the nature of humanity, spirit, soul, and mind, free will, fate, good and evil, immorality of the spirit, and more.  He provides rational explanations for various Christian subjects ranging from Adam and Eve to the Resurrection, and even the symbolic language of the Book of Revelation. 

We are still in the early days.  People are just now beginning to discover this fount of knowledge and wisdom.  As they do, and drink its living water, may they find the light of God reflected in their own hearts.  For that is the purpose.

“This is the Day in which the testimony of the Lord hath been fulfilled, the Day in which the Word of God hath been made manifest, and His evidence firmly established. His voice is calling you unto that which shall profit you, and enjoineth you to observe that which shall draw you nigh unto God, the Lord of Revelation.” ⁵ – Bahá’u’lláh

Notes

1. The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p 231
2. Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p 142
3. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p 47-48
4. Ibid, p 50
5. The Book of Certitude, frontispiece