Is Baha’u’llah an authentic Great Manifestation of God?

Baha’u’llah

Reason dictates that a hypothesis is only a claim for truth until there is some evidence to substantiate it. The proposition that Baha’u’llah is the messenger of true religion for this age is only a claim for truth, or a hypothesis. It is not actually a true statement until there is a body of evidence to substantiate it. If Baha’u’llah was indeed the messenger of true religion for this age then Christianity and all other religions of this age should be set aside and everyone in this age should follow the teachings of Baha’u’llah. If, however, Baha’u’llah was only a man like many other men with sincerely held religious beliefs that he sought to propagate, then the entire Baha’i program may be faulty because it is built upon a faulty premise-the divine, infallible nature of Baha’u’llah and his message.

Ask your Baha’i friends if they agree with the claim that the Baha’i Faith, as a system, is only as genuine as Baha’u’llah himself. They will almost certainly agree. Then ask them to present you with the evidence that Baha’u’llah and his message were infallible and divine. You can expect many Baha’is to offer little or no strong evidences to substantiate this belief. Help your Baha’i friends see that they believe a mere hypothesis. They believe a hypothesis that has serious consequences if untrue, a hypothesis with little or no supporting evidence. Then ask your friends if this is not highly disconcerting, especially in light of the two Baha’i principles of the essential harmony of reason and religion, and the individual right of the free and independent investigation of truth.

You may also ask your Baha’i friends if they have a reasonable explanation for the very short term of the Bab (about 20 years) as a Great Manifestation of God. Ask them how they account for Baha’u’llah’s identity as a Great Manifestation of God in light of the fact that the Bab preceded him by only a few years. The Bab’s very short term as a Great Manifestation of God in the same geographical region with Baha’u’llah presents a very serious challenge to the claim that Baha’u’llah and the Bab were both authentic Great Manifestations of God. In other words, it does not seem very likely that the Bab’s teachings could have been so corrupted in twenty years that the presence of another Great Manifestation (Baha’u’llah) would be required so soon.

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