CoreIssue
02-03-2006, 02:14 PM
From my files. Not my creation.
The Bahá'í faith holds that [almost] all religions are one in essence, and that all the major prophets of [almost] all the major religions of the world are "Messengers" of and even "Manifestations" of the one true God, who is unknowable.
However, according to Bahá'í texts, there is a disagreement as to if the Manifestations of God (the prophets of almost all major religions including Mohammad, Christ, Buddha, etc.) actually are God or not:
1 Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His essence and reveal it unto men. He is, and hath ever been, immensely exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived . . . He Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except through His Manifestation, and His Manifestation can adduce no greater proof of the truth of His Mission than the proof of His own Person.
Source: http://bahai-library.org/writings/bahaullah/gwb/020.html (http://bahai-library.org/writings/bahaullah/gwb/020.html)
8 Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare: "I am God," He, verily, speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth thereto.
Source: http://bahai-library.org/writings/bahaullah/gwb/022.html (http://bahai-library.org/writings/bahaullah/gwb/022.html)
1 Is the Divine Manifestation, God? Yes, and yet not in Essence.
Source: http://www.ibiblio.org/Bahai/Texts/EN/ABL/ABL-31.html (http://www.ibiblio.org/Bahai/Texts/EN/ABL/ABL-31.html)
Note that the first quote says that God's essence cannot be incarnated, while the second quote says that a Manifestation can be God. And the third quote illustrates the contradiction by saying a Manifestation can be God while not having the essence of God inside them.
In addition, it implies the contradiction that God is composed of essence and yet is not necessary composed of essence.
Question: How can a Manifestation be God without having God's essence incarnated in the Manifestation? In addition, is God composed of essence or not?
The Bahá'í faith holds that [almost] all religions are one in essence, and that all the major prophets of [almost] all the major religions of the world are "Messengers" of and even "Manifestations" of the one true God, who is unknowable.
However, according to Bahá'í texts, there is a disagreement as to if the Manifestations of God (the prophets of almost all major religions including Mohammad, Christ, Buddha, etc.) actually are God or not:
1 Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His essence and reveal it unto men. He is, and hath ever been, immensely exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived . . . He Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except through His Manifestation, and His Manifestation can adduce no greater proof of the truth of His Mission than the proof of His own Person.
Source: http://bahai-library.org/writings/bahaullah/gwb/020.html (http://bahai-library.org/writings/bahaullah/gwb/020.html)
8 Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare: "I am God," He, verily, speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth thereto.
Source: http://bahai-library.org/writings/bahaullah/gwb/022.html (http://bahai-library.org/writings/bahaullah/gwb/022.html)
1 Is the Divine Manifestation, God? Yes, and yet not in Essence.
Source: http://www.ibiblio.org/Bahai/Texts/EN/ABL/ABL-31.html (http://www.ibiblio.org/Bahai/Texts/EN/ABL/ABL-31.html)
Note that the first quote says that God's essence cannot be incarnated, while the second quote says that a Manifestation can be God. And the third quote illustrates the contradiction by saying a Manifestation can be God while not having the essence of God inside them.
In addition, it implies the contradiction that God is composed of essence and yet is not necessary composed of essence.
Question: How can a Manifestation be God without having God's essence incarnated in the Manifestation? In addition, is God composed of essence or not?