arthra

I recently posted on a Christian forum regarding the concept of Manifestation of God and wanted to share it here... So if there's something you want to add please do so...

Here's my post:

The Manifestation of God...

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The question posed was Jesus God or man/creature... and proving it..Of course, I think when quoting this as found in the opening post of the thread it's best to cite a source so it appears to be a Phil LaSpino.

Anyway, as a Baha'i there is a perspective on Jesus Christ that probably differs from both the standard Christian belief of Jesus as the "Supreme Godhead"..and even that may differ from what some Christians accept and Jesus as a "man".

So what Baha'is call this is the Manifesation of God and this is a special identification not shared by all men/women..but specially designated Beings Who act as Intermediaries between God and man. If man would know God it must be in this context through a Manifestation. A Manifestation has innate knowledge and does not need to learn from schools or philosophers.

God does not descend into a human form in this belief but His attributes are perfectly reflected in a Manifestation as in a Perfect Mirror. As human beings we have to work to polish our hearts to reflect the rays of the "Central Spiritual Sun" of the universe. In Jesus as a Perfect Mirror God is revealed so the people of His time saw the Divine Attributes reflected in Him...for them this was "Godhead"..They had no other way to describe it at the time and so the doctrine about the Divinity of Christ was born.

From the Tablet of the Manifestation "Lawh-i-Zuhur" by Baha'u'llah:

Every one who is endowed with a clear insight will behold that They (the Manifestations) were created before the creation of heaven and earth, and that this has ever been the Throne of the Merciful, and will forever be as it was; that there is no relation, connection, similarity or reference between that Throne and all else save it, and that all things testify with their inmost tongue; "Verily, these (bodies) are the Thrones of the Merciful One." They have no like in creation, nor any equal in the world of emanation. From their elements all have appeared in such wise that thou wilt find that, verily, from their Fire fire hath appeared in the universe and hath spoken in the Blessed Branch of Unity, in the lofty Sinai of Moses the Interlocutor, and that from their Waters thou findest every soul living and immortal. So, likewise, after this manner, consider its other elements; but with manifest certainty.

Tablet of the Manifestation

From an essay by Juan Cole:

Bahá'u'lláh describes the manifestation as the mystery of divinity and the essence of self-subsistence, which is to say, it is a manifestation of these divine attributes. Nevertheless, the manifestation 'seats itself' upon the 'throne' of a human body. This metaphysical entity appears as a human being upon the planet earth. Bahá'u'lláh seems to say that there is a difference between the bodies of ordinary human beings and the human temple of the manifestation. The difference, however, is one of quality and not of kind. The body which the manifestation inhabits is composed of earthly elements just as are the bodies of ordinary human beings, but Bahá'u'lláh goes on to say that the body of the manifestation is to ordinary human bodies as diamond is to stones. Were it not for the bodies of the manifestations of God. Bahá'u'lláh says, the bodies of ordinary human beings would not have been created.

Bahá'u'lláh proclaims that all the worlds of God derive from the appearance of the manifestations of God. In every world, He manifests Himself according to the capacity of that world. In the world of spirits, for instance, the manifestation appears with the attributes of spirit. Likewise, in the world of bodies, the manifestation appears in a body. And so on throughout the worlds of God. In each realm of being, the manifestation appears in the form characteristic of that realm, so as to guide the realm's inhabitants to God. However, these inhabitants only come to know a limited form of the manifestation.

The Concept of Manifestation in the Baha'i Writings

But as to proofs.. in this servants opinion it can be found on examining the life of the Manifestation and the affect this Life has on humanity and for this we can see evidences from history where records are available.