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In the same way, if we regard the return of the individual, it is another individual; but if we regard the qualities and perfections, the same have returned. Therefore, when Christ said, "This is Elias," He meant: this person is a manifestation of the bounty, the perfections, the character, the qualities and the virtues of Elias. John the Baptist said, "I am not Elias." Christ considered the qualities, the perfections, the character and the virtues of both, and John regarded his substance and individuality. It is like this lamp: it was here last night, and tonight it is also lighted, and tomorrow night it will also shine. We say that the lamp of this night is the same light as that of last night, and that it has returned. It refers to the light, and not to the oil, the wick or the holder. 'Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions p. 134 (97:1) So the light and essence of Christ has returned in Baha'u'llah, but not the individuality of Christ (97:2) And with His Return there has returned something else as well: that same spirit of faith and love and hope, which was breathed into the followers of Christ at His First Coming, and which had to meet face to face with an unbelieving word, has now been breathed into the followers of Baha'u'llah who recognize Him as the Christ Returned. These followers also must meet every day face to face with a world caught off guard, a world created for the Return of the Christ, expecting Him, but not knowing Him. It is a world whose assumptions have made it difficult for many to believe that Christ could have returned in a way so contrary to the expectations of human imagination (97:3) Divine Prophecy, however, does not need to conform to human imagination; rather, it is human beings who should reflect that human imagination needs to conform itself to divine reality - that divine reality to which prophecy alludes and refers, but of which all prophecy is, after all, only a semblance and shadow (97:4) The assumptions of human imagination, we should know by now, can never provide completely reliable criteria for the proper understanding of divine revelation and prophecy, nor can one find adequate guidance in even the most favored and esteemed opinions and conceptions of human wisdom, reflection, and scholarship. All human understanding and tradition fail to give us the keys to Divine Prophecy and Revelation. And if we require striking confirmation of this truth, we can hardly do better than examine contemporary assumptions about the Return of Christ, and reflect about the striking similarity of such assumptions to the assumptions about Christ at His First Coming (97:5) These assumptions, among others, are that His Return will be accompanied by outward signs of His earthly sovereignty, that He will triumph, not suffer, and that, of course, His coming is primarily for His chosen people who shall be exalted above all others - the same assumptions that were made at His First Coming
(97:6)
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