Progressive Revelation of God's Will

Manifestations of God

The word “manifest” means to reveal, to bring forth something that was not known before. The Manifestations of God are those special Beings Who reveal to humanity the Word and the Will of God; thus when we listen to Them, we are responding to the Call of God.

There is an example from the physical world that helps us to understand the concept of “Manifestation” as taught by Bahá’u’lláh. In this world, the sun is the source of all warmth and light, without which life would not exist on the planet. Yet the sun itself does not descend to earth, and if we tried to approach it, we would be totally consumed. But suppose we take a well-polished mirror and point it towards the sun. In it we will see the image of the sun, and the more perfectly polished the mirror, the more perfect the image will be. The Manifestations of God are like perfect Mirrors that reflect the Light of God in all its Splendour. And all these Mirrors reflect the same Light. While God is beyond our reach, these perfect Beings come to us from time to time, live among us, give us guidance, and fill us with the energy we need to progress, materially and spiritually.

Time for a new Manifestation

The followers of today's great world religions are fortunate to have been raised according to the Teachings progressively sent by God to humanity in the last four thousand years through His Manifestations, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad. Now humanity can receive the Teachings of a new Manifestation, Bahá’u’lláh, Whose title means the Glory of God. Bahá’u’lláh’s Teachings, then, are in perfect harmony with the Teachings of previous divine religions, but they address the condition of humanity today. Considering, for a moment, the plight of humanity, it becomes apparent that the time is right for another Manifestation of God to have appeared.

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