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Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era

  • Author:

  • J. E. Esslemont

  • Source:
  • US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1980 edition
  • Pages:
  • 286
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Pages 125-126

The Supreme Manifestation
Like all the other Prophets, Bahá’u’lláh states His own Mission in the most unmistakable terms.
In the Lawḥ-i-Aqdas, a Tablet addressed especially to Christians, He says:—
Surely the Father hath come and hath fulfilled that which you were promised in the Kingdom of God. This is the Word which the Son veiled when He said to those around Him that at that time they could not bear it. But when the stated time was ended, and the Hour arrived, the Word shone forth from the Horizon of the Will. Beware, O Concourse of the Son (i.e. Christians)! Cast it not behind you, but hold thereunto. It is better for you than all that which is before you! … Verily, the Spirit of Truth is come, to guide you into all Truth. Verily, He 126 speaketh not from Himself, nay, but rather from the All-Knowing and Wise. He is the One Whom the Son hath glorified. … Abandon that which is before you, O people of the earth, and take that which is commanded you by Him Who is the Powerful, the Faithful.
And in a letter to the Pope, written from Adrianople in 1867, He says:—
Beware lest celebration hinder you from the Celebrated and worship hinder you from the Worshipped One! Behold the Lord, the Mighty, the All-Knowing! He hath come to minister to the life of the world, and for the uniting of whatever dwelleth therein. Come, O ye people, to the Dawning-place of Revelation! Tarry not, even for an hour! Are ye learned of the Gospel, and yet are unable to see the Lord of Glory?

This beseemeth you not, O learned concourse! Say then, if ye deny this matter, by what proof do you believe in God? Produce your proof. …
Just as in these letters to Christians He announces the fulfillment of the Gospel promises, so He proclaims also to Muḥammadan, Jews, Zoroastrians and the people of other faiths the fulfillment of the promises of their Holy Books. He addresses all men as the sheep of God, who have hitherto been divided into different flocks and sheltered in different folds. His message, He says, is the Voice of God, the Good Shepherd, Who has come in the fullness of time to gather His scattered sheep into one flock, removing the barriers between them, that “there may be one fold and one shepherd.”