Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad, died 1908:
un Myung Moon, died 2012:
Are these men not also manifestations of God?
Baha’u’llah asserts: “Whoso layeth claim to a Revelation direct from God, ere the expiration of a full thousand years, such a man is assuredly a lying impostor.”
Thus if Baha’u’llah’s Revelation is direct from God, then all who came after Him who might have made a similar claim would surely have to be imposters. That settles that particular question.
How do we know, however, that Baha’u’llah isn’t an imposter Himself?
As you know, Jesus is recorded as having said: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
However, He then goes on to set down the standard of proof whereby we can know a true Prophet as follows:
“Ye shall know them by their fruits…every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.”
By fruit, it’s fairly evident that He means the teachings of the Prophet.
The question is then, are the teachings of Baha’u’llah good or not?
A careful examination of His writings quickly makes it clear that the teachings of Baha’u’llah are not just good but excellent and unmatched by anyone of His time. Don’t take it from me, though. Consider what renowned orientalist of Cambridge University, Professor Edward Gramville Browne, who was not himself a Baha’i, and who, almost uniquely for a Westerner, attained the presence of Baha’u’llah, had this to say about Him:
“The face of him on whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read ones very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow; while the deep lines on the forehead and face implied an age which the jet-black hair and beard flowing down in indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain!”
“A mild dignified voice bade me be seated, and then continued: ‘Praise be to God that thou hast attained!.. Thou hast come to see a prisoner and an exile… We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment… That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled – what harm is there in this?.. Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come… Do not you in Europe need this also? Is notthis that which Christ foretold?.. Yet do we see your
kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely onmeans for the destruction of the human race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind…These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family… Let not aman glory in this, that he loves his country; let him ratherglory in this, that he loves his kind…’”
(
“Such, as far as I can recall them, were the words which, besides many others, I heard from Beha.[1] Let those who read them consider well with themselves whether such doctrines merit death and bonds, and whether the world is more likely to gain or lose by their diffusion.(13)
1 Bahá’u’lláh.”
And after the sincere seeker of the truth makes a careful examination of the teachings of Baha’u’llah, it sooner or later becomes evident that His teachings are indeed all “good fruit, and that He is thus a true Manifestation of God.
