God

The ringstone symbol represents God (top line), the Manifestations of God (middle line) and mankind connected by the Holy Spirit or Primal Will. (vertical line)

The Bahá’í Faith teaches that there is one God who is unknowable in His Essence, and about Whom all human concepts fail to contain. Bahá’u’lláh states that because "there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the one true God with His creation, and no resemblance whatever can exist between the transient and the Eternal, the contingent and the Absolute, He hath ordained that in every age and dispensation a pure and stainless Soul be made manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven." The Manifestations of God, referred to by Bahá’u’lláh as that pure and stainless Soul, perfectly reflect all of the light, qualities, power and glory of God to mankind in the same way that a mirror can reflect the light and qualities a sun.

Conceptions of God in the Bahá’í Writings

God is referred to as "Unthinkable, Limitless, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible", Omnipresent, Omniscient, Personal, "He Who hath called into being the whole of creation", and He Who is "immensely exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived". Bahá’u’lláh states:

“ To every discerning and illuminated heart it is evident that God, the Unknowable Essence, the Divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute, such as corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress and regress. Far be it from His glory that human tongue should adequately recount His praise, or that human heart comprehend His fathomless mystery. He is, and hath ever been, veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of men. ”

Attributes and Essence of God

The Bahá’í Writings teach that God is one in His Being and His Essence and conceptions of God can accept no division. God's knowledge about Himself would therefore be One and complete. Our knowledge of God on the other hand is limited and incomplete, such that we can say there is a class or category about which we have access, and another about which we do not. The knowledge of God to which we have access is limited to knowledge of the attributes of God. The knowledge of God to which we will never have access is knowledge of the Essence of God. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains in these terms:

“ Knowing God, therefore, means the comprehension and knowledge of His attributes and not of His Reality. And even this knowledge of His attributes extends only so far as human power and capacity permit, and remains wholly inadequate... All that man can hope to achieve is to comprehend the attributes of the Divinity, the light of which is manifest and resplendent in the world and within the souls of men. ”

Attainment to the Manifestations is attainment to God

With the door of direct access to God forever shut to humankind, both in communion and comprehension, with the need for an intermediary represented by the Manifestation, it can be said that all we attempt to attribute to God, or come to understand about God must necessarily be applicable only to, and does not reach beyond the station of the Manifestations of God. In a Tablet Bahá’u’lláh says:

“ O Salman! The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being hath ever been, and will continue for ever to be, closed in the face of men. No man's understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court. As a token of His mercy, however, and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He hath manifested unto men the Day Stars of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own Self. Whoso recognizeth them hath recognized God. Whoso hearkeneth to their call, hath hearkened to the Voice of God, and whoso testifieth to the truth of their Revelation, hath testified to the truth of God Himself. Whoso turneth away from them, hath turned away from God, and whoso disbelieveth in them, hath disbelieved in God. Every one of them is the Way of God that connecteth this world with the realms above, and the Standard of His Truth unto every one in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. They are the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the signs of His glory. ”

Further, Bahá’u’lláh states:

“ The essence of belief in Divine unity consisteth in regarding Him Who is the Manifestation of God and Him Who is the invisible, the inaccessible, the unknowable Essence as one and the same. By this is meant that whatever pertaineth to the former, all His acts and doings, whatever He ordaineth or forbiddeth, should be considered, in all their aspects, and under all circumstances, and without any reservation, as identical with the Will of God Himself. ”

Personal God

The Bahá’í Faith teaches a personal God. Shoghi Effendi explains:

“ What is meant by a personal God is a God Who is conscious of His creation, Who has a Mind, a Will, a Purpose, and not, as many scientists and materialists believe, an unconscious and determined force operating in the universe. Such conception of the Diving Being, as the Supreme and ever present Reality in the world, is not anthropomorphic, for it transcends all human limitations and forms... To say that God is a personal Reality does not mean that He has a physical form, or does in any way resemble a human being. ”

Purpose of God

In creation

In The Hidden Words, a book in which Bahá’u’lláh states that the inner essence of the spiritual truths revealed to the Prophets of old have been clothed "in the garment of brevity", and states:

“ Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty. ”

And elsewhere:

“ Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him – a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation. ”

In sending Manifestations of God

Bahá’u’lláh states:

“ God's purpose in sending His Prophets unto men is twofold. The first is to liberate the children of men from the darkness of ignorance, and guide them to the light of true understanding. The second is to ensure the peace and tranquillity of mankind, and provide all the means by which they can be established.

The Prophets of God should be regarded as physicians whose task is to foster the well-being of the world and its peoples, that, through the spirit of oneness, they may heal the sickness of a divided humanity. To none is given the right to question their words or disparage their conduct, for they are the only ones who can claim to have understood the patient and to have correctly diagnosed its ailments. No man, however acute his perception, can ever hope to reach the heights which the wisdom and understanding of the Divine Physician have attained.

”

Further statements about God

Aware of all things without being their cause

Under the topic of free will and predistination, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Some Answered Questions states the following:

“ The knowledge of a thing is not the cause of its occurrence; for the essential knowledge of God encompasses the realities of all things both before and after they come to exist, but it is not the cause of their existence. This is an expression of the perfection of God... God’s knowledge in the contingent world does not produce the forms of things. Rather, that knowledge is freed from the distinctions of past, present, and future, and is identical with the realization of all things without being the cause of that realization. ”

Time, beginning and end are the same

“ For God the beginning and the end are one and the same. Similarly, the reckoning of days, weeks, months, and years—of yesterday and today—is made with respect to the earth; but in the sun such things are unknown: There is neither yesterday, nor today, nor tomorrow, neither months nor years—all are equal. Likewise, the Word of God is sanctified above all these conditions and exalted beyond every law, constraint, or limitation that may exist in the contingent world. ”

External links

• Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Section 1.

References

• ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (1904). "Twelve Table Talks given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akká (1904-1907)". Bahá’í Reference Library. Bahá'í World Centre.

• ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (1978). "Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l‑Bahá". Bahá’í World Centre.

• ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (1995) [1912]. Paris Talks (Hardcover ed.). Bahá’í Distribution Service. ISBN 1870989570.

• ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (2014). "Some Answered Questions". Bahá’í World Centre.

• Bahá’u’lláh (1857). "The Hidden Words". Bahá’í World Centre.

• Effendi, Shoghi (1944). God Passes By. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0877430209. Retrieved 2007-02-21.

• Effendi, Shoghi (1976). Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-87743-187-6.

• Hornby, Helen; Shoghi Effendi (1988) [1983]. Lights of Guidance. Bahai.works. ISBN 978-8185091464.