Prophethood of Bab and Baha'u'llah:
The more we study the lives and teachings of the Bab and Baha'u'llah, the more impossible does it seem to find any explanation of Their greatness, except that of Divine Inspiration. They were reared in an atmosphere of fanaticism and bigotry. They had only the most elementary education. They had no contact with Western culture. They had no political or financial power to back Them. They asked nothing from men, and receive little but injustice and oppression. The great ones of earth ignored or opposed Them. They were scourged and tortured, imprisoned and subjected to direst calamities in the fulfillment of Their mission. They were alone against the world, having no help but that of God, yet already Their triumph is manifest and magnificent. (161:4)

The grandeur and sublimity of Their ideals, the nobility and self-sacrifice of Their lives; Their dauntless courage and conviction, Their amazing wisdom and knowledge, Their grasp of the needs of both Eastern and Western peoples, the comprehensiveness and adequacy of Their teachings, Their power to inspire wholehearted devotion and enthusiasm in Their followers, the penetration and potency of Their influence, the progress of the Movement They founded - surely these constitute proofs of Prophethood as convincing as any which the history of religion can show. (161:6)

A Glorious Prospect
The Baha'i glad tidings disclose a vision of the Bounty of God and of the future progress of humanity, which is surely the greatest and most glorious Revelation ever given to mankind, the development and fulfillment of all previous Revelations. Its purpose is nothing less than the regeneration of mankind and the creation of "new heavens and a new earth." It is the same task to which Christ and all the Prophets have devoted Their lives, and between these great teachers there is no rivalry. It is not by this Manifestation or by that, but by all together, that the task will be accomplished. (161:7)

As 'Abdu'l-Baha says: It is not necessary to lower Abraham to raise Jesus. It is not necessary to lower Jesus to proclaim Baha'u'llah. We must welcome the Truth of God wherever we behold it. The essence of the question is that all these great Messengers came to raise the Divine Standard of Perfections. All of them shine as orbs in the same heaven of the Divine Will. All of them give Light to the world. (162:1)

The task is God's, and God calls not only the Prophets but all mankind to be His co-workers in this creative process. If we refuse His invitation, we shall not hinder the work from going on, for what God wills shall surely come to pass. If we fail to play our part He can raise up other instruments to perform His purpose; but we shall miss the real aim and object of our own lives. At-one-ment with God - becoming His lovers, His servants, the willing channels and mediums of His Creative Power, so that we are conscious of no life within us but His Divine and abundant life - that, according to the Baha'i teaching, is the ineffable and glorious consummation of human existence. (162:2)

Humanity, however, is sound at heart, for it is made "in the image and likeness of God," and when at last it sees the truth, it will not persist in the paths of folly. Baha'u'llah assures us that erelong the call of God will be generally accepted, and mankind as a whole will turn to righteousness and obedience. "All sorrow will then be turned into joy, and all disease into health," and the kingdoms of this world shall become "the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. xi, 15). Not only those on earth, but all in the heavens and on the earth, shall become one in God and rejoice eternally in Him. (162:3)

Renewal of Religion
The state of the world today surely affords ample evidence that, with rare exceptions, people of all religions need to be reawakened to the real meaning of their religion; and that reawakening is an important part of the work of Baha'u'llah. He comes to make Christians better Christians, to make Muslims real Muslims, to make all men true to the spirit that inspired their Prophets. He also fulfills the promise made by all these Prophets, of a more glorious Manifestation which was to appear in the "Fullness of Time" to crown and consummate Their labors. He gives a fuller unfolding of spiritual truths than His predecessors, and reveals the Will of God with regard to all the problems of individual and social life that confront us in the world today. He gives a universal teaching which affords a firm foundation on which a new and better civilization can be built up, a teaching adapted to the needs of the world in the new era which is now commencing. (162:4)

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