|
God is more than the creator of man, He is also the Lord of history. Through His revelation He has made a covenant with men. From time immemorial, through His divine messengers, He has been leading His people to "safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men" and "to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization". These are the purposes of religion: the spiritual education of the human race and the establishment of an ever-advancing civilization. (21:1) The divine messengers, the central figures of religions, are the necessary mediators between God and man. They are the perfect mirrors of God's bounties and attributes. God is manifest in them. It is in this sense that Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me" (John 14:6); "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9); "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30 (21:2) see Two more essential beliefs characterize the consciousness of the Baha'i. First, that no essential difference exists between these divine messengers: "There is no distinction whatsoever among the Bearers of My Message". Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Christ and Muhammad, all came with the same mission: the education of the human race. Secondly, the claim that today, when all the old religions have consumed their life force and are being questioned, and when, following the philosophers, even the theologians now proclaim the death of God and see in Him nothing more than a symbol for "a particular form of love for others" (Herbert Braun), God, through Baha'u'llah, has once again spoken to mankind.
(21:3)
|