1st Coming - Understanding Prophecy
by
D. Yamartino
Page 113 of  57

Baha'is believe that, in this day, the Word of God was revealed through Baha'u'llah. Indeed, they believe that like Christ, He was through the aid of God, all knowing and all powerful. Now that Baha'u'llah has left this world, we no longer have the benefit of attaining His Presence. We cannot see for ourselves His Person, or witness His works. Although we do have a record of His life, which reveals His many wonderful qualities, and in many cases, His divine powers, this cannot be conclusive proof of His divinity. Although I could here recite incidents in His life demonstrating His ability to produce what no human being could produce, anyone could simply say that they were stories made up by people to justify their belief (113:2)

Just as at His First Coming, the people wanted to witness Christ perform miracles before they would believe in Him, so too did the people of Baha'u'llah's time request the same of Him. We get a glimpse of this from the following story which was recorded by Baha'u'llah's son. At the time that this took place, Baha'u'llah had been under house arrest and in exile in the city of Baghdad (113:3)

It often happened that in Baghdad certain Muhammadan ulama , Jewish rabbis and Christians met together with some European scholars, in a blessed reunion: each one had some question to propose, and although they were possessed of varying degrees of culture, they each heard a sufficient and convincing reply, and retired satisfied. Even the Persian ulama who were at Karbila and Najaf chose a wise man whom they sent on a mission to Him; his name was Mulla Hasan Amu. He came into the Holy Presence, and proposed a number of questions on behalf of the ulama, to which Baha'u'llah replied. Then Hasan Amu said, "The ulama recognize without hesitation and confess the knowledge and virtue of Baha'u'llah, and they are unanimously convinced that in all learning he has no peer or equal; and it is also evident that he has never studied or acquired this learning; but still the ulama say, 'We are not contented with this; we do not acknowledge the reality of his mission by virtue of his wisdom and righteousness. Therefore, we ask him to show us a miracle in order to satisfy and tranquilize our hearts.'" (113:4)

Baha'u'llah replied, "Although you have no right to ask this, for God should test His creatures, and they should not test God, still I allow and accept this request. But the Cause of God is not a theatrical display that is presented every hour, of which some new diversion may be asked for every day. If it were thus, the Cause of God would become mere child's play (113:5)

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