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THE
RELIGIOUS CYCLE
Manifestations
of God are always at first rejected
by
those They come to save. They are imprisoned,
exiled,
crucified, in a thousand ways persecuted, by
men
who profess to believe in God, but are far from
the
Court of His Holiness. In the Day of the
Manifestation
only a few pure souls recognise His
glory;
these also suffer at the hands of the proud
and
worldly. Gradually the power of the Holy Spirit
asserts
itself; other souls are attracted to the sweet
melodies
of the Divine Nightingale; the hard clay of
men’s
hearts is softened and their blind eyes
opened
to His shining splendour. Through this
channel
of Divine grace, the spiritually dead
receive
life and the leprosy of unbelief is healed. A
miracle
occurs which embraces the whole creation--
a miracle far greater than vitalising a dead body
or
healing a physical ill. Spiritual life is given to
erring
humanity to raise it from the mud in which it
is
always sunk when a Messenger of God is due.
As
time passes, more and more people recognise
the
Bearer of the Holy Spirit. The forces of denial
wax
tierce in their efforts to resist the Cause of
God;
but God cannot be resisted. Opposition
crumbles
until eventually the Manifestation of God
emerges
supreme, recognised and revered by all
save
those God chooses to except. For a time His
Faith
experiences a Golden Age during which its
youthful
vigour has not yet been irretrievably
perverted
by its own followers. Then degeneration
sets
in. Men still profess to honour the teaching of
the
Founder of their religion, but they cease to obey
it.
They invent creeds and rituals not sanctioned by
their
Leader, to which they pay more attention than
to
the revealed word itself. They quarrel over the
meaning
of their acknowledged scripture, form
themselves
into sects and parties, preach things in the
name of religion from which religion recoils.
Materialism
and greed gain possession of the
world;
the priesthood becomes a vested interest;
selfishness
and pride capture the hearts of men;
despair
sweeps the surface of the earth, wrapping
men’s
souls in clouds of darkening gloom. Then,
when
men least expect a saviour, the clouds are
parted
by the rising Sun of Glory. The light of the
Holy
Spirit shines again upon the earth, bringing
promise
of new life.
In
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words:
“God leaves not His children
comfortless, but,
when the darkness
of
winter overshadows them,
then again He sends His Messengers,
the
Prophets, with a renewal
of
the blessed spring.
The Sun
of
Truth appears again on the
horizon
of
the world shining into the
eyes
of those
who
sleep, awaking them to behold the
glory
of
a new
dawn. ”
(18)
Again
the Messenger of God is persecuted and
again
He is recognised by a few. Again He
triumphs
over adversity and again His word is
established
in the hearts of men. The whole cycle is
repeated
again and again, causing mankind each
time
to advance another stage on its journey to
God.
Thus does God perform His work of creation
and
thus has it been since the beginning, and thus
will
it be for evermore.
Once
in every age this miracle is performed. We
are
still close to the time when Bahá’u’lláh, God’s
Messenger for this age, shed His radiance on the
earth.
We are witnessing the birth of a new day; as
‘Abdu’l-Bahá
has said:
“Now is the dawn; ere long the
effulgent Sun
shall rise and station itself in the
meridian of its
majesty. Then you shall observe the
effects of the
Sun. Then you shall behold what
heavenly
illumination has become manifest.
Then you
shall comprehend that these are the
infinite
bestowals of God! Then you shall see
that this
world has become another world.” (19)
Mankind
has been called to recognise a new
Mirror
reflecting the same Eternal Countenance;
but
it has failed to respond. Men have rejected the
Messenger
of God and in doing so they have denied
the
Founder of every great religion. Therefore
mankind
is experiencing great turmoil, for the Will
of
God cannot be denied. If humanity will not turn
to
Bahá’u’lláh without first suffering, then it must
suffer
greatly. He has warned:--
“Say: O concourse of the heedless! I
swear by
God! The promised day is come, the
day when
tormenting trials will have surged
above your
heads, and beneath your feet,
saying: ‘Taste ye
what your hands have wrought!’ ”
(20)
But
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, echoing His Father’s promise,
has
said:
“Rest ye assured that this
darkness shall be
dispelled and these impenetrable
clouds which
have darkened the horizon shall be
scattered,
and the Sun of Reality shall appear
in its full
splendour. Its rays shall melt the
icebergs of
hatred and differences which have
transformed
the moving sea of humanity into hard
frozen
immensity. The vices of the world of
nature shall
be changed into praise-worthy
attributes, and
the lights of the excellences of the
Divine realm
shall appear. ” (21)
A
little while, and the trials will pass, leaving
mankind
chastened and turning towards the
Source
of its life. Then will the truth become
apparent
to which Bahá’u’lláh calls humanity:
“Verily I say, this is the Day in
which
mankind can behold the Face, and
hear the
Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God
hath been raised, and the light of His
countenance hath been lifted up upon
men. It
behoveth every man to blot out the
trace of every
idle word from the tablet of his
heart, and to
gaze, with an open and unbiassed
mind, on the
signs of His Revelation, the proofs
of His
Mission, and the tokens of His glory. ” (22)
Then
at last will men befittingly answer this
invitation
sent by God:
“The seal of the choice Wine
of His
Revelation hath, in this Day and in
His Name,
the Self-Sufficing, been broken. Its
grace is
being poured out upon men. Fill thy
cup, and
drink it in His Name, the Most Holy,
the All-Praised.
" (23)
REFERENCES
ADJ
The Advent of Divine Justice
GWB
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh
HB
Holiy Bible
KÍ
Kitáb-i-Íqán
PT
Paris Talks, 11th British Edition 1969
PAA
The Promise of All Ages, 1934 edition
SBS
Selections from Bahá’í Scripture
1
PT p130
2
PAA pp64/5
3
GWB XXXIV
4
HB Lev. xix: 18
5
HB John xvi:12,13
6
HB Matt. v:17
7
HB Matt. v:38
8
PT p142
9
GWB XXI
10
GWB XXI
11
PT p58
12
GWB XXI
13
KÍ p73
14
HB Matt. xix:17
15
GWB XXII
16
GWB XXIV
17
GWB XXII
18
PT p32
19
SBS p179
20
ADJ p68
21
SBS p179
22
GWB VII
23
GWB IX
Progressive
Revelation
by
John Ferraby
©
Bahá‘í PUBLISHING TRUST
FIRST
EDITION 1954
REPRINTED
1961
REVISED
EDITION 1966
REPRINTED
1970
REPRINTED
1975
Printed
in England by DESA.
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Telephone 76732
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