The Christian and the Bahá'í

Chapter 9

At Christ's Second Coming, some believed, and some didn't.

The story should be familiar by now: the manner in which mankind's understanding and expectations of God's ways have been thwarted and confounded repeatedly by Providence is perhaps the most constant motif of history and religious experience. This story, repeated in the Bible in various forms, with its greatest and most tragic episode being the rejection of Christ, reveals the truth that unfortunately, throughout the ages, human beings have learned not from pondering on the mistakes of their past, but rather have repeated them. It also reveals the profound truth that in our relationship to God, we human beings, in whatever age we live, are fundamentally the same: God is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, and we are but His servants.

Although, collectively, we have often responded to God's summons in a pitiful manner, we are not bound, as individuals, to learn only through failure. God has endowed all women and men with hearts and minds through which to discern and follow His Will. And now, readers, in this chapter, I appeal both to your hearts and minds, and address you straightforwardly regarding the Second Coming.

If we have arrived at this point in what seems to be a round about way, if the preceding chapters seem too lengthy, I apologize. I ask you to reflect though, on the subject at hand. Remember the Time of which we are speaking: "the time of harvest"[1], and the Person about whom we are speaking: the most compelling and peerless Person who ever trod the Earth: Christ Returned.

The Bible demonstrates that everything, absolutely everything, depends on our approach. Haste is not appropriate when seeking the Lord of History. The majesty of our subject, the Second Coming, requires a more ceremonious approach if we are to render it the proper respect. It is partly for this reason that this chapter has been arrived at by way of a journey through ancient prophecy, as seen through the eyes of our ancestors.

And now we have arrived at our time, the present, and I ask your further indulgence. If you approach the opinions here expressed with impatience, pride or intolerance, if you refuse to suspend judgment until an open heart, a searching reason, and fair investigation are the basis of your eventual decision, your will have acted in haste.

If what follows, you find - after fair deliberation - to be a hoax, in investigating it you will have wasted but a little time, and perhaps learned how to save others from such a cruel deception. If, however, you presume, ahead of time, to know the secrets of God's inscrutable wisdom, and therefore fail to investigate, is it not possible that you will have made the same mistake as those gone before us? After all, are we not all subject to error?

I ask you then, readers, to give the time, the care, the attention, the patience, the respect that this subject deserves, for no other subject can compare with this. If the theme be false, you will have lost but a few moments. If it is true, however, but you do not investigate, you may have lost what none of us would wish for anyone to lose: reunion with the Prince of Peace.

Introduction

In this chapter I will introduce and briefly discuss the claim that the Promised One of all Ages did indeed return during the nineteenth century, and that the building of His Kingdom here on earth is well underway. I will put forward, for your consideration, that at the Coming of their Lord, the Christians have become His seekers, while believers in Him are at this very moment carrying His long awaited message of love and hope to all the peoples of the earth.

On this theme, I will spend but one chapter, in which I will both introduce and conclude my argument. As in other chapters, I will not be exhaustive in my presentation; I cannot be. The subject is simply too great to be contained here. Rather I present an introduction to the bold claim referred to above.

This chapter is presented in three parts. The first is a discussion of the possibility and implications that it will be left to the Second Coming to reveal the meaning of the prophecies referring to Christ's return. This part deals essentially with the attitudes and claims of human beings themselves in their attempt to understand God's Word. The second part introduces the claim that His Return has indeed been fulfilled. The third part then gives examples of the kinds of evidence that support this claim.

A survey, even a cursory one, of the prophecies demonstrating this claim is beyond the scope of this book; the prophecies and their explanations are simply too numerous. Study of the Holy Scriptures by individuals of all religious backgrounds continues to yield a wealth of information and a succession of excellent books on this subject and I commend them to the readers attention[2]. My purpose here is not to bring forward historical evidence in support of this great claim; this has been done elsewhere. My purpose is rather to focus on the possibility that those same obstacles which kept the Jewish people from believing in Christ, could in this day, prevent the seeking soul from recognizing Him at His Return.

The preceding chapters were written to demonstrate what I have attempted to explain in conversation with Christian friends for many years. Long held assumptions, however, are not questioned upon simply hearing an opinion that states otherwise. Substantial evidence must be brought forward and objectively explored. This is what I have attempted to do in this book. If I have at times stated the obvious, seemed redundant, or delved too much into detail (for all of which I ask your forbearance), it was only in my desire to present systematically what I have always felt was clear evidence that the meaning of the Word of God is entirely up to Him, not us.

The purpose in attempting to demonstrate this has always been to allow the individual to consider the great claim that will sooner or later, and as a result of the efforts of His followers, reach the ears of all peoples, and about which each individual on earth will have to make, for his or her self, a choice: whether to recognize and believe or not to recognize and believe the Promised One announced in the sacred scriptures of all peoples.

The manner of Christ's First Coming was altogether surprising. The claim that He could have already returned is equally so. I ask you, the reader, to investigate this claim and its implications for the peace and wellbeing of the human race.

PART ONE

Impossible!

It is understandable that a Christian may find it impossible to accept the statement that the Christ could have returned without his or her knowledge. Isn't His Coming, after all, for the sake of Christians? Won't there be great signs at His Coming which all will witness? How then, could He have come and yet the Christians be unaware of it? Won't they immediately recognize Him at His Return? Won't, in fact, the whole world know of His Coming? Understandably, these questions, among many others, instantly come to the minds of Christ's followers when presented with the possibility that His Return could have already been fulfilled.

Indeed, based upon much of the current interpretation of Christ’s own promises regarding His Return, and the promises of the Old Testament, it seems impossible to Christians that Christ should have already returned. It appears clear to them from the statements of the Old and New Testaments, that at the time of Christ’s Second Coming, it simply will not be possible for Christ to appear in the world in a way that they are not expecting. They feel they have been given too much guidance in the scriptures for such a thing to happen. Though they may not know all the details of Christ’s Second Coming, they are certain they know more than was known at His First Coming. He has already appeared in the world once, they now know Who He is, and they are consciously expecting His Return. They display complete assurance regarding the Second Coming and a widespread consensus: "They will not miss Christ a second time."

Thus, for example, the Bible assures Christians that certain signs will accompany Christ’s Return. They know, for example, that He will come "in the clouds"[3], that "every eye shall see Him"[4], and that He will reign as "King of kings"[5]. They are sure of this because Christ Himself has spoken these promises. These, and the many other references to Christ at His Return, present Christians with that long awaited image of Christ’s glorious and triumphant theophany when He will destroy evil and establish an everlasting justice on earth - a justice in which He, Himself, under the authority of God, the Father, will be the sole and visible Ruler.

Yes, Christians know all this to be true-- beyond the shadow of a doubt. All who believe in the Bible, they feel assured, must accept this because this is what the Word of God has revealed. How then, could anyone refer, as was done above, to the Second Coming as if it had already happened? If the "King of kings" had come, then surely He would be, at this very moment, the prime focus of history. But the world seems to be proceeding as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Haven’t the holy words of the Bible obviously been thrown out and rejected in order to advance the spurious claim that Christ has returned?

No, the holy words of the Bible have not been thrown out and rejected. We need to remember that, precisely because the words of the Bible are holy and transcendent , no human being in studying them can ever claim to have fully, finally, and adequately comprehended them. It is not within the power or province of human beings to render ultimate and perfect judgments about the relative importance or unimportance of the words of Divine Revelation. Humility is always required regarding any of our interpretations of sacred scripture. The belief that Christ has indeed returned involves discarding not the words of the Bible, but the interpretations of the words of the Bible that various human beings have proposed in the past and the present. The fact that large numbers of Christians - but clearly not all Christians - have believed such interpretations is a serious and weighty consideration that cannot be lightly dismissed, but neither is it in itself a sufficient and adequate guarantee and final proof of the correctness of such interpretations.

The Claim of Interpretation

At this juncture, it might be helpful to point out an aspect of the Christian understanding of the rejection of Christ at His First Coming which has a significant influence on the assumption that prophecies are given to inform people what to expect and know about Him so that they can recognize Him at His Return.

We know that there were many different factors that led people to believe or disbelieve in Him. We know, for example, that some attained to the light of faith through Christ's healing powers, and some rejected Him because of fear of His influence. But here I would like to focus on our understanding of the role of prophecy.

A perspective held by many Christians of the First Coming seems to be that the Jewish people were stubborn, spiritually blind, unduly attached to false interpretations, or for any number of other reasons, unable, or unwilling in any case, to understand the prophecies referring to Him. This inability or unwillingness to understand the prophecies in some measure accounts for their denial of Christ.

If we consider carefully, however, we see that there is a problem with this perspective, namely, that the prophecies could not be, and indeed were not understood, by anyone before fulfillment and recognition. If misinterpretation of prophecy were a cause of the rejection of Christ, then no one would have accepted Him because it appears that everyone misunderstood the prophecies before the time (1) that Christ actually fulfilled them, and (2) His followers recognized Him as the Messiah.

When Christians hold to the perspective that the inability or unwillingness of Jewish people to understand the prophecies accounts in considerable measure for their denial of Christ, they are asserting the possibility, and even more strongly, the probability that prophecies could indeed have been understood before fulfillment. This, in turn, provides the added benefit, of course, that people in this day, can then be presumed to understand prophecies about the Second Coming of Christ. Thus, Christians can feel assured that their prevailing and contemporary interpretations of the Second Coming of Christ are correct. To admit that at the First Coming the prophecies could not be understood before fulfillment and recognition would lead, almost inevitably, to the unsettling realization that current interpretations of the prophecies referring to the Second Coming could also be subject to error.

In actuality, the glory of the Christians and the failure of the Jewish people resided not in their ability or inability to decipher the prophecies, but rather in their response to His Person. It was He, not the scriptures, that was the focus.

Yes, those who rejected Christ may have been stubborn, spiritually blind, and unduly attached to false interpretations, but their ultimate failure was that they did not open their hearts and minds to Him. If they had accepted Him, their previous erroneous understanding of the prophecies would have become irrelevant, being simply replaced by the correct interpretation, whatever God had willed it to be. At His Coming, everyone's previous understanding was erroneous, but Christ forgave this. No one was bound, by their past, to failure.

How could it be otherwise? The prophecies are open for all to see. Their puzzling nature is manifestly obvious. It was Jesus' Being, His Teachings, His Love, His power that shed the light of salvation, not the words of the prophets.

Unsettling Alternative

If it is unsettling to consider the possibility that the purpose of prophecy is not to show us plainly how the Christ is to return, and that we can therefore not be sure that our interpretation of it is correct; it is equally unsettling to consider the alternative.

You are wondering, of course, what I mean by the above statement. Consider:

Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that the Christian view is correct, that God does intend Christians to use prophecy to enable them to recognize Christ at His Return. This view holds that the prophecies are stated in such a way that they fit together in an understandable and sometimes obvious manner, that the events that they foretell are therefore known with a degree of certainty, and that the sequence of these events can be discerned. It assumes that one can figure out what words of the prophecies are to be fulfilled literally, and what words fulfilled figuratively.

This view of the purpose of prophecy implies that God, wanting to provide His chosen children with a vision of Christ's return so that they will recognize and accept Him, has given clear descriptions of what is to come.

If, for the sake of argument we assume that this view is correct, we soon find that a problem emerges which raises a number of questions, and these questions prove difficult to answer. The problem is this: Christians themselves do not agree on the meaning of prophecy!

What? How can that be? After all that guidance, and all those clear descriptions, they still don't agree? How can they not agree? Didn't God make His description of the Second Coming clear enough? No, surely we cannot blame God. Then is it that people are not smart enough? Do only some people understand? But, couldn't God have made all the Christians understand? Wasn't that the whole point in the first place?

Well, whatever the answers to the above questions, the clear reality is that God's descriptions of His Return are certainly not clear. Some denominations believe that He will indeed return in the flesh. Some believe His spirit only will return. And there are those that say that His return has already been fulfilled, while most believe that it is yet to come. Some even point to other Christian denominations as fulfilling prophecies regarding Christ's enemies. The confusion is so prevalent that it is nothing less than common knowledge that Christians do not agree on the details and sequences of events that will take place at Christ’s Return.

There is, however, one point which Christians tend to agree on: they all say that the scriptures point to their particular interpretation.

This being the current situation, we are then led to a new set of questions: Which of the Christian denominations is the one with the correct interpretation? And how do we know that they have the correct interpretation? Do we ask them if their interpretation is correct?

I'm being halfway facetious here, but only halfway. In all seriousness, I put forward this question: Why do not the words of the Bible hold but one meaning for Christ's followers?

I'm sure that Christians can explain why there are currently divers and mutually conflicting interpretations regarding the Second Coming. I'm sure also, however, that the answers provided by those holding to these interpretations will themselves be mutually conflicting. If we were then to consider these different explanations, we would simply have ended up on another level of the same argument.

What does this all mean? If this is the current state of affairs in man's attempt to understand prophecy, what assurance can anyone have in their interpretation? Can we just ignore this situation? Or can we look it squarely in the eye, ponder on it, and realize that these prophecies cannot be understood until Christ returns and fulfills them according to God's plan. If Christians have figured out from prophecy what amounts to completely different interpretations, haven’t they in reality, figured out nothing at all?

An analogy comes to mind that I would like to share to illustrate my understanding of the situation. I was one time teaching high school chemistry and was preparing an experiment for the class which involved measuring temperature. I opened up a box of about twenty thermometers for this purpose. For this experiment, the students needed to know very accurately the temperature and, therefore, I desired to know the accuracy of the thermometers.

I could have tested the thermometers by comparing their readings with a standard, for example, by placing them all in boiling or freezing water and seeing if they read the known temperatures of these processes. My test of these thermometers, however, was infinitely simpler: I just looked at them. I lined them all up to see whether they all read exactly the same temperature: they didn't.

Now I knew that their environment was at one temperature, that they, therefore, all had the same input, but they all indicated slightly different temperatures. Anyone would know from this that they were not reliable. Right away it was clear that the process by which they were manufactured, or the materials used in them, or whatever other factors went into making these particular thermometers, were not consistent. They had all "interpreted" the temperature differently.

If I had only had one of these thermometers, and I had used it to record temperature measurements, I may have assumed that it was accurate. After all, it looked professionally made, and it seemed to behave as a thermometer should. I may have found no reason to doubt its reliability. But knowing that the others whose appearance and performance were similar gave different results changed everything.

Now, if all of the Christian denominations are using the Word of God as their basis, then why do we get different "readings" from them, different interpretations? Can we continue to trust the process by which we arrive at these interpretations when the results are so visibly inconsistent? What does it take for us to realize that the complete meaning of prophecies is simply not available to us before fulfillment?

The word of God is creative; it has the ability to create good in the world through those who follow it. It can influence in the perfect way a multitude of different individuals in different situations if they but open their hearts to its message and obey its commandments: These are not ordinary words. It follows, therefore, that their significance cannot be fully grasped by mere mortals; nor can their meaning be exhausted. The deeper we go in our study of them, the more significant the meaning we find. But the fact remains that what the word of God means to one person may be different than what it means to another.

Now, I am not implying that since it means different things to different people, we can never agree on its meaning. I'm simply stating that its meaning is great and we, as individuals, each receive only a share of its greatness.

In speaking with Christian friends, although my understanding of the Second Coming is different than theirs, I do not feel the urge to inform them that their interpretations are wrong. And it is not simply due to common courtesy, which bids us respect the rights of others to express their views, that I do not show disapproval. In all that I have heard from those who are trying to understand what God has decreed for the Return of His Beloved Son, I have genuinely found truth. Each person has understood, to some extent, His Return.

I believe, however, that the fullest understanding of His Return, can come only after recognition of Him at His Return. And if you reflect at all about the fact that among Christ's followers there are currently many different versions of how Christ will return, only one resolution seems possible to the dilemma presented to us by this disturbing and contradictory set of circumstances: namely, it can only be after the Return has been fulfilled, and Christ has been recognized, that there will be only one interpretation of the prophecies. Hence, Christians, themselves, must agree that fulfillment and recognition are necessary for the Christian world to have a unified vision of Christ's Return.

A Change of Policy?

The Bible gives, as I have attempted to demonstrate, clear evidence that at Christ's First Coming fulfillment and recognition were required in order to understand prophecy. Notwithstanding that this was the case at His First Coming, however, many Christians are certain that God clearly intends prophecies to lead them to Christ at His Second Coming. They will, in fact they are certain, accept Christ, and they will do so in a self-evident, overwhelming manner. This certainty is strikingly similar to that of the Jewish people at the First Coming.

God, it is true, is free to act in whatever way He wills. The fact that at His First Coming the prophecies could not be understood does not demand that this will be the case for the Second Coming. God is not bound to follow precedent. Whatever is His will, ours is to obey and accept it. If He intends that at His Return, people will have already understood how He should come, so be it.

But the fact that there is no evidence in the Bible or in the world today that the purpose of prophecy has changed cannot be taken lightly. While God can and does change His Ways of dealing with human beings, it is still the case that God is, more frequently, constant and regular in the Pattern of His dealings with mankind. Human beings, moreover, have shown a consistency of another sort - the notorious tendency, almost endlessly so, of repeating the same particularly grievous error: the error of assuming to know everything about scripture and the ways in which God will interact with humanity.

The assumption of many Christians that God made the prophecies of the New Testament about the Second Coming of Christ clear, and that they understand the meaning of these prophecies with a certitude that will enable them to recognize and accept Christ when He returns is all too similar to the assumption of the Jewish people that God made the prophecies of the Old Testament clear and that they would understand the meaning of those prophecies with such certitude that they would be able to recognize and accept Christ, the Messiah, at His First Coming. In the First Coming of Christ, the intention and wisdom of God's Will surpassed and confounded the wisdom and understanding of men; why is not the same Pattern likely to repeat itself in the Second Coming of Christ?

Surely, the approach to scripture is most fruitful and correct when it is informed more by open inquiry and humble seeking than by dogmatic self-assurance and an inflexible refusal to even consider other viewpoints. The Jewish people were singularly dogmatic and inflexible in their refusal to consider the claims of Christ that He fulfilled their prophecies; they preferred their own confident and certain interpretations of the Old Testament prophecies. It is one thing to examine, patiently and conscientiously, all the evidence in a disputed case before reaching a decision, and quite another matter to cling to a preconceived interpretation, and then refuse to hear, or otherwise dismiss, in cursory fashion, all contrary evidence.

The Jewish people at the time of Christ's First Coming and many Christians today appear similar in their attitude and approach to prophecy: (1) in their assumption that God has given insight and guidance to themselves only to the exclusion of the rest of humanity; (2) in their unquestioning assurance that God's Will can be completely known by human beings; and (3) in their refusal or fear to engage in open investigation and dialogue with others regarding prophecy and the fulfillment of God's Promised Manifestation to Humanity.

Why should we expect the policy of God to change, and the Pattern of God's dealing with humanity to be any different today than in the time of Christ? Why should we imagine the prophecies and the interpreters of prophecies today to be any less confused, perplexed, and subject to erroneous understanding in this time of Christ's Second Coming that at the time of His First Coming? If all Christians did agree on the meaning of prophecy, then certainly things would be different. But they do not agree. Might not this suggest that the purpose of these prophecies really hasn't changed?

The Pattern is quite clear at least in one respect: the ways of God and the prophecies of God will continue to surpass and confound the wisdom and understanding of men. Only the humble and pure in heart find any Right Understanding in the Path leading to the Presence of the Promised One.

Prophecies and Everlasting Life

At His First Coming, the prophecies did not play the role of leading people to Christ, but rather the same role that they play in this day: that of confirming the faith of those who believe in Him. Prophecies did not lead souls to the Christ because of their very nature: they can appear misleading; their tone can be either literal or symbolic or both with no clue to the seeker as to which instance is operative; they can seemingly state that certain things will surely come to pass when they do not actually come to pass; and they can seem to rule out things which, nevertheless, actually do come to pass. They are expressed in only a few words with little detail, but the mind of man takes the opportunity, often erroneously, to add details. Of course, in all cases, they speak the truth, the absolute truth. Before fulfillment, however, what that truth is, is simply not revealed. A knowledge of the prophecies do not, and can not lead, to the Christ.

Of course, if the prophecies appear misleading, it is the seeker who is actually misleading himself. If they appear to rule out, or "rule in" certain things, it is nothing but the seeker's assumptions regarding those holy words that has done the "ruling". If the details of the seeker's vision are wrong, the seeker has simply chosen the wrong details. And if, even to this day, the whole manner in which the true meaning of prophecy is revealed seems backwards, then certainly we have simply illuminated a characteristic of the human mind in attempting to understand the Mind of God: it is our thinking that is backwards, not His.

The Bible begins: "In the beginning God . . . " God is first, and all things come afterward. The Bible does not state "In the beginning man . . . " Whenever we place ourselves first, place our trust in our own understanding first, or place our own desires first, etc., we have placed ourselves in opposition to the divine order of things. We are not first. We should not wonder therefore, that the meaning of prophecies has been revealed in a way that is diametrically opposed to that which we would like it to be: namely that we can understand it ourselves without divine assistance.

A pure heart and humble mind were far more important to gaining salvation at the time of Christ than any knowledge of the scriptures. In fact, the greatest barrier to receiving everlasting life, it seems, had absolutely nothing to do with any lack of knowledge of scriptures. Tragically, and rather ironically, it was actually an attitude of pride in one's knowledge of such scriptures, the same attitude that the religious leaders of His time manifested, and which the people followed, that led to the utter loss of the Jewish people in failing to recognize Christ at His First Coming.

Consider, who was it at the time of Christ that attained unto everlasting life? For the most part they were the poor, the lowly, the sinners who would turn humbly to Him. Knowledge of the scriptures was not a factor. Weakness, ignorance, and lack of capacity did not hinder souls from attaining unto Him. For the child is weak, ignorant, and without capacity, and Christ clearly states that we must become like the child in order to enter the Kingdom. This is not to infer that we are to become ignorant or weak. Christ was referring to the condition of the child's heart and mind. The child's heart is pure, and their mind is free from any pride, for the child knows in its very being that it is weak and utterly dependent on others for its very life. We too must know, that in the presence of God, no matter who we are, no matter what our knowledge, our attainments or our capabilities, we too are as children, weak and ignorant. Like the child, we must know this.

Even possession by a devil, the scriptures tell us, was not a barrier to Christ's divine love. He simply cast them out.

No, nothing came between the seeker and his Desire at Christ's First Coming, nothing caused the people to turn away and reject Him, nothing confounded those who had heard His message, except lack of humility and purity of heart - spiritual qualities which the Father has always, and will always desire, for His children.

The same qualities required of humankind at the First Coming will be required at the Second Coming.

PART TWO

The Claim that the Promised One Has Come

Christ has come the second time as He did the first time, largely unrecognized and unaccepted by those who should have been most prepared to receive and love Him, but accepted and recognized, as at His First Coming, by the poor and humble in spirit, and the pure in heart. He has come again, just as proclaimed in the New Testament, and He is once again inviting the world to receive Him.

In the year 1844, in the land of Iran, a religion was born which has grown to be the second-most widespread Faith in the world[6]. The Founder's name is Bahá'u'lláh, an Arabic title that means "The Glory of God". His claim is that in Him is fulfilled not only the prophecies referring to the Second Coming, but also that He is none other than the One promised to all of the religions of the world. His followers, themselves from all religious backgrounds, regard Him as the long awaited Messiah, and the deliverer of the teachings by which the world will finally attain to the great peace which humankind has for thousands of years longed to see. His followers are actively working in every land towards its establishment.

Of course, a greater claim than this can hardly be imagined. As in the case of Jesus' claim to be the Christ, it certainly must involve either the salvation of the world, or a great deception. For such a claim to be true, it must certainly be supported by divine testimony. It must withstand the scrutiny of every test. It must answer every question. It must fulfill every promise. In short, it must have the most conclusive proofs demonstrating its validity. And it does.

Proof, like beauty, however is in the eyes of the beholder. At Christ's First Coming, certainly there were conclusive proofs demonstrating the validity of His claim. God had not fallen short in providing everything people would have needed in order to recognize Him. To an open and unbiased mind, the proofs were overwhelming that He was indeed the Christ. In considering God's justice and mercy, it does not seem possible that He would have withheld from the people testimony that could have led to their salvation. The fact that those who persecuted Christ were punished for their actions speaks to the fact that they must have been given sufficient evidence that He was indeed their Savior, and that therefore they should have recognized Him.

If anyone can provide testimony of the truth, surely God can. It is axiomatic that His proof must be the greatest proof of all. However, as the New Testament clearly demonstrates, it is equally axiomatic that not even His proof can persuade a mind bent on unbelieving: At Christ's First Coming, some believed, and some didn't. And even after two thousand years, some believe in Him, and some do not. I think it's safe to say that if someone does not want to believe, a choice they are free to make, they will simply never believe.

So, although the claim of Bahá'u'lláh can be proved, proof in itself and of itself- even the proof of God - is not conclusive to the listener who does not believe

Why is this? Why does not proof cause belief? The purpose of proof is not to force the mind to believe. Christ did not force people to believe in Him. His generation wanted Him to perform miracles on demand, but He would not. If we are forced, where then is our freedom of choice? And if we don't believe by choice, what merit is there in such belief, and why would we be rewarded for it? The purpose of proof is to attract, so that the seeker may begin to open his or her mind and heart to God's message. But faith is not simply based on proofs. It is essentially a spiritual connection one has with his Lord. The mind plays a part, but more importantly, the heart.

Bahá'ís are happy to demonstrate the truth of Bahá'u'lláh's claim, but only engage in such a dialogue if the listener is truly interested. Bahá'u'lláh exhorts His followers: The wise are they that speak not unless they obtain a hearing[7] . . . To argue or to push one's beliefs on others is fruitless, and only leads to bad feelings between people. None of us want to be the cause of this. However, if someone is interested in discussing Bahá'u'lláh's claim, even if the reason is to try to demonstrate to the Bahá'í that the claim is false, then the Bahá'í is free to present what he or she considers proofs of Bahá'u'lláh's mission.

Just as Christ provided divine explanation through His life and teachings of the true meaning of the prophecies referring to Him, Bahá'u'lláh has done the same for the prophecies referring to the Second Coming. It is through Bahá'u'lláh's life and teachings that the proofs of His mission and the fulfillment of prophecy are evident. Thus, the proofs of Bahá'u'lláh's mission require knowledge of the story of His life and His teachings.

The Christian may object to using the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, whom he regards as having no authority, in a discussion of the Second Coming, raising the issue that the Bible alone is the repository of God's Word. This is perfectly understandable. The Jews are free to raise the same objection regarding the use of the life of Christ and the New Testament in a discussion of the Coming of the Messiah. None of us want to be unfaithful to what we consider Holy Scripture.

In the case of the Jewish person and the Christian person, the Christian would, therefore, be left to prove that Jesus is the Christ using only the Hebrew scriptures - quite a challenging task. I have asked Christian friends whether they can do this - prove that Jesus is the Christ using only the Old Testament. The initial reaction is that it can be done. Upon close examination, however, it really cannot.

Scriptures Don't Explain Themselves

Consider the prophetic references to Christ found in the Old Testament. Try yourself, if you like, to see if you can find a single one among them which you could use to demonstrate the truth that Jesus is the Christ without making any reference to the New Testament. I, myself, certainly cannot, and I haven't found anyone who can. Although there are hundreds of such references, they require illumination from the New Testament to reveal their proper meaning.

Remember, if we are to do without the New Testament completely, then we are not allowed to use proofs such as this: "The Hebrew Scriptures state that the Messiah was to be born of a virgin, and Jesus was indeed born of a virgin. This, therefore, is evidence of His fulfilling prophecy." To this, the Jew could respond, "What proof do you have that Jesus was born of a virgin?" Knowledge of the virgin birth is contained in the New Testament only, which the Jews do not regard as truth. If the ground rules of the discussion were to be followed, the story of Christ's birth is inadmissible evidence.

Another problem, touched on earlier, that the Christian would face, would be that there is essentially no way, based on the words of the Old Testament alone, to understand what should be taken literally and what symbolically. For example, how could a Christian explain to a Jew that in the prophecy of Micah, "Bethlehem" has a literal meaning but "ruler"[8] a symbolic one? If we consider the prophetic references to Christ, we see that they are certainly not self-explanatory.

A Christian who would require the proof of Bahá'u'lláh's mission to be based solely upon the Bible is essentially asking the Bahá'í to perform what the Christian cannot: namely, to have the scriptures explain themselves. If the Old Testament could explain itself, then the Jews would have known how the Christ was to come. And if the New Testament could explain itself, then the Christians should agree on His Second Coming. Neither is the case, however.

If the true test of whether or not Jesus is the Christ is based on whether or not He has fulfilled the outward meaning of the scriptures, then certainly everyone must reject Him, because He did not fulfill the prophecies in this way.

And if the true test of whether or not Bahá'u'lláh's claim to be the Promised One of all ages is based on whether or not He has fulfilled the outward meaning of the prophecies referring to the Second Coming, then certainly, too, His claim must be false, for neither has He fulfilled prophecies in this way.

At His First Coming, the Christians were not deceived by the outward meaning of the prophecies. They obviously did not base their faith in their Lord on the literal meaning of the prophecies. At His Second Coming, are they to change the basis of their faith in Him?

The heart of the matter is this: what is our faith based upon? How do we know that Jesus is indeed the Christ?

Faith explains Scripture, but all Faith itself is a mystery

It is easily demonstrated that there is no simple answer to this question. Faith is in many ways a mystery, and mysteries, by definition, do not lend themselves to being fully understood. Upon questioning, we see that one's faith simply cannot be fully explained. If you ask people why they believe, you will get many different answers.

For example, people might say that they believe that Jesus is the Christ because He was raised from the dead after His crucifixion. The question then becomes "How is it that you believe that He was raised from the dead?" The response may be "It is stated in the Bible, the Word of God." The question then becomes, "How is it that you believe that the Bible is the Word of God?" The response may be "It is evident because of the many truths it contains." The question then becomes, "So, is it that you first believe in the Bible, and then you believe in Jesus because He is written about?" . . . and the questioning can continue forever.

Or, one might say, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ because I can feel His love in my heart, and because I can see how He has blessed my life." The question then becomes, "So, if a person of a non-Christian faith, feels the love of their founder, and sees how he has blessed their life, does this, therefore mean that he is also from God?"

When it comes right down to it, we believe for one overwhelming experience or reason, or for a number of experiences and reasons, some of greater and some of lesser value. Each one of us must have had some sort of divine confirmation, some special blessing from God to enable us to believe. And this confirmation is a personal thing that only we ourselves can fully understand. We can tell others our reasons for belief, but the reality of it cannot be conveyed.

Of course, many aspects of our faith make sense, and can indeed be explained. But in the end, regardless of our personal experiences, we believe in Him because He is our Savior, and our hearts have responded to His divine call. Words cannot contain fully the reality of our faith in Him, neither can they express our love for Him. Such faith and love belong not in the realm of full explanation. Faith remains a mystery, though a partially intelligible, but not irrational mystery.

God is love, and His creatures respond to that love. Is it not possible, therefore, that at His Second Coming, the peoples of the world may simply respond to that divine love that He will again manifest, regardless of the manner of His Coming? Is this not, in fact, a far more fitting response on the part of God's children, than seeking to test His truth with our own limited knowledge, even as the people did at His First Coming? Is it ours to judge Him Who is, Himself, our Judge?

No, certainly not. We know that we cannot judge the Christ. At the same time, however, we cannot just disregard the prophecies that we know refer to His Second Coming. We want to understand what they mean. We want to know that they will all be fulfilled. Although we are not to use the prophecies against the Christ as was done at His First Coming, nevertheless, God has given us minds through which we are to understand things, and surely we want to understand the true meaning of the prophecies referring to the Second Coming.

Understanding Prophecy

The understanding of these prophecies can be approached in different ways. A common approach is to assume that they can be understood through our own efforts. Another approach is to assume that their meaning is too great to be understood without divine assistance. If we assume that they can be understood by our own efforts, then we have made the same assumption that those who rejected Him made at His First Coming. In this day is not this assumption the cause of the widely differing interpretations regarding the Second Coming that Christians currently profess?

If we assume that the true meaning of prophecy must be revealed then where would that revelation come from if not from the Christ Returned?

Just as the Christians claim, and rightly so, that they have been given, through their belief in Christ, the true understanding of the Old Testament prophecies referring to Him, Bahá'ís claim that through belief in Bahá'u'lláh, they have been given the true understanding of the prophecies referring to the Second Coming. Bahá'ís see that the same spirit which enlightened the Christians at the time of Christ has returned to enlighten any and all who accept Him at His Return.

This is the basis of the Bahá'í interpretation of prophecies referring to the Second Coming. In the Bahá'í view, Christ has returned, and he has given through His life and teachings the proper interpretation of prophecy. As in the case of the Christians interpreting prophecies referring to the First Coming, Bahá'ís see that their interpretation is based not on man's efforts, but on the divine explanation given by God's chosen messenger, the Messiah - the Christ of the First and Second Coming.

An important aspect of Bahá'í interpretation is that the prophecies of the Second Coming contain great spiritual and symbolic significance, which, until His Return, could not have been discovered by His followers. As in the case of His First Coming, He, Himself, had to reveal their meaning. Bahá'u'lláh states that Christ, in referring to His Return, intended none other than the coming of Bahá'u'lláh; He, Bahá'u'lláh, would fulfill all those things that Christ promised. With the coming of Bahá'u'lláh, Christ's divine love, His holiness, and power returned into the world. With His coming, Christ's sacred authority to judge the peoples of the earth returned. And with Bahá'u'lláh's coming, the exalted spirit of faith returned into the world, a spirit of Faith that thousands have manifested by sacrificing their very lives for His sake.

Bahá'ís understand the return of Christ as a return of those qualities which make Him divine and through which everlasting life and salvation is bestowed upon the world. These same qualities have appeared in Bahá'u'lláh, through whose love of God, innate knowledge, unearthly power, and lifetime of sacrifice for God, they are made manifest.

Although we have assumed, understandably, that Jesus Himself would come down from the sky upon the clouds, it seems, that just as the return of Elijah was fulfilled by a different individual with a different name though with the same qualities (namely, John the Baptist), so also the Return of Christ in our time has been fulfilled by a different individual with a different name though with the same qualities, namely by the individual whom history and prophecy alike proclaim as Bahá'u'lláh, the Glory of God.

To illustrate this point, I quote below an explanation given by the son of 'Bahá'u'lláh when asked regarding the meaning of "return". The explanation is rather long, but absolutely essential for understanding the Bahá'í view of the Second Coming of Christ. I ask you therefore, to read it carefully.

We will begin to elucidate it from the Gospel, for there it is plainly said that when John, the son of Zacharias, appeared and gave to men the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God, they asked him, "Who art thou? Art thou the promised Messiah?" He replied, "I am not the Messiah." Then they asked him, "Art thou Elijah?" He said, "I am not." These words prove and show that John, the son of Zacharias, was not the promised Elias. But on the day of the transfiguration on Mount Tabor Christ said plainly that John, the son of Zacharias, was the promised Elias.

In chapter 9, verses 11-13, of the Gospel of Mark, it is said: "And they asked Him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? And He answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that He must suffer many things, and be set at nought. But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him."

In chapter 17, verse 13, of Matthew, it is said: "Then the disciples understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist."

They asked John the Baptist, "Are you Elias?" He answered, "No, I am not," although it is said in the Gospel that John was the promised Elias, and Christ also said so clearly. Then if John was Elias, why did he say, "I am not"? And if he was not Elias, why did Christ say that he was?

The explanation is this: not the personality, but the reality of the perfections, is meant--that is to say, the same perfections that were in Elias existed in John the Baptist and were exactly realized in him. Therefore, John the Baptist was the promised Elias. In this case not the essence[9], but the qualities, are regarded. For example, there was a flower last year, and this year there is also a flower; I say the flower of last year has returned. Now, I do not mean that same flower in its exact individuality has come back; but as this flower has the same qualities as that of last year--as it has the same perfume, delicacy, color and form--I say the flower of last year has returned, and this flower is the former flower. When spring comes, we say last year's spring has come back because all that was found in last year's spring exists in this spring. That is why Christ said, "You will see all that happened in the days of the former Prophets."

We will give another illustration. The seed of last year is sown, branches and leaves grow forth, blossoms and fruits appear, and all has again returned to seed. When this second seed is planted, a tree will grow from it, and once more those branches, leaves, blossoms and fruits will return, and that tree will appear in perfection. As the beginning was a seed and the end is a seed, we say that the seed has returned. When we look at the substance of the tree, it is another substance, but when we look at the blossoms, leaves and fruits, the same fragrance, delicacy and taste are produced. Therefore, the perfection of the tree has returned a second time.

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-Bahá, Some Answered Questions p. 134

So the light and essence of Christ has returned in Bahá'u'lláh, but not the individuality of Christ.

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 Bahá'u'lláh 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.

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.

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.

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.

The Suffering of the Chosen Ones of God

How could He have come a second time and once more suffered and been rejected by man? Wasn't all this supposed to be different at His return? Didn't Christ Himself give clear prophecies regarding His triumph?

He did, indeed. The fact is, however, that even at His First Coming, the prophecies seemed to point clearly to an earthly and visibly established sovereignty of the Ruler in Israel during His lifetime here on earth.

The problem is, of course, our interpretation. At His Second Coming, yes, we must believe that He will come “in the clouds"[10], but the question is, exactly what does this mean? Yes "every eye shall see Him"[11], but does this have a literal meaning, or a symbolic one? And yes He will reign as "King of kings"[12], but are we to assume, as those living at the time of His First Coming assumed, that He will rule as an earthly king?

Bahá'u'lláh has explained that the word of God has many meanings. In fact, it can never be exhausted. Human beings tend to reduce the meanings to one, to something that is immediately and easily understandable - in many cases taking a purely literal meaning of those words. The First Coming has shown us, however, that the literal meaning can be very misleading.

In His writings, Bahá'u'lláh has expounded the meaning of some of the prophecies referring to the Second Coming. Regarding the meaning of "clouds", He writes:

It is evident that the changes brought about in every Dispensation constitute the dark clouds that intervene between the eye of man's understanding and the Divine Luminary which shineth forth from the day spring of the Divine Essence. Consider how men for generations have been blindly imitating their fathers, and have been trained according to such ways and manners as have been laid down by the dictates of their Faith. Were these men, therefore, to discover suddenly that a Man, Who hath been living in their midst, Who, with respect to every human limitation hath been their equal, had risen to abolish every established principle imposed by their Faith--principles by which for centuries they have been disciplined, and every opposer and denier of which they have come to regard as infidel, profligate and wicked,--they would of a certainty be veiled and hindered from acknowledging His truth. Such things are as "clouds" that veil the eyes of those whose inner being hath not tasted the Salsabíl[13] of detachment, nor drunk from the Kawthar[14] of the knowledge of God. Such men, when acquainted with those circumstances, become so veiled that, without the least question, they pronounce the Manifestation of God as infidel, and sentence Him to death.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 27

It behoveth us, therefore, to make the utmost endeavor, that, by God's invisible assistance, these dark veils, these clouds of Heaven-sent trials, may not hinder us from beholding the beauty of His shining Countenance, and that we may recognize Him only by His own Self.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 27

In His writings, Bahá'u'lláh also refers to yet other meanings of the word "clouds". In referring to the causes of the rejection of the Promised One, Bahá'u'lláh speaks of the "clouds of tyranny"[15], "clouds of oppression, which obscure the day star of justice"[16], the "intervening clouds"[17], “the thick clouds of waywardness”[18], and “the clouds of idle fancy which the foolish ones have conceived”[19]. Furthermore, in referring to the power of God and His blessings, Bahá'u'lláh speaks of the “clouds of heaven”[20], “clouds of revelation”[21], "clouds of His bountiful favor"[22], "clouds of His limitless grace"[23], "clouds of Divine glory"[24], and “the clouds” through which God’s “never-failing providence rain down their gifts upon the realities of all created things.”[25]

Bahá'ís believe, that He has indeed come again, and that He has once again suffered for the salvation of the world. The sacrifice of Christ, far from being an indication of His weakness or humiliation, is, according to the Bible, the sign of His glory and the cause of the outpouring of God's mercy upon His creatures. That which His followers chose as the sign of His Faith, symbolizing at once His sacrifice and glory, was the cross. It was through His very blood, willingly offered in the path of God that the world was redeemed. The greatness of the gift of His sacrifice is magnified by the fact that despite His being All-Powerful, He Himself never arose to inflict pain on His persecutors who eventually crucified Him. His mission was to sacrifice. And through this sacrifice, all blessings come.

Bahá'u'lláh writes of Christ's suffering and the outpouring of this mercy:

Reflect how Jesus, the Spirit of God, was, notwithstanding His extreme meekness and perfect tender-heartedness, treated by His enemies. So fierce was the opposition which He, the Essence of Being and Lord of the visible and invisible, had to face, that He had nowhere to lay His head.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 57

Know thou that when the son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.

We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.

Leprosy may be interpreted as any veil that interveneth between man and the recognition of the Lord, His God. Whoso alloweth himself to be shut out from Him is indeed a leper, who shall not be remembered in the Kingdom of God, the Mighty, the All Praised. We bear witness that through the power of the Word of God every leper was cleansed, every sickness was healed, every human infirmity was banished. He it was Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 85

It was through Christ's suffering that His followers received the blessings of everlasting life. Bahá'u'lláh also suffered at the hands of the people and government, and was called upon to sacrifice everything in the path of God. Once again, the Holy One of God, come to bestow spiritual life and happiness both in this world and in the next, was feared, rejected, and persecuted by the religious leaders. Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned and exiled for forty years under the cruelest conditions. His crime: He claimed that God had fulfilled those ancient promises given to all the peoples of the world.

Bahá'u'lláh writes:

The Revelation which, from time immemorial, hath been acclaimed as the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God, and the most cherished Desire of His Messengers, hath now, by virtue of the pervasive Will of the Almighty and at His irresistible bidding, been revealed unto men. The advent of such a Revelation hath been heralded in all the sacred Scriptures. Behold how, notwithstanding such an announcement, mankind hath strayed from its path and shut out itself from its glory.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 5

I sorrow not for the burden of My imprisonment. Neither do I grieve over My abasement, or the tribulation I suffer at the hands of Mine enemies. By my life! They are My glory, a glory wherewith God hath adorned His own Self. Would that ye know it!

The shame I was made to bear hath uncovered the glory with which the whole of creation had been invested, and through cruelties I have endured, the Day Star of Justice hath manifested itself and shed its splendor upon men.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 100

Say: Tribulation is a horizon unto My Revelation. The day star of grace shineth above it, and sheddeth a light which neither the clouds of men's idle fancy nor the vain imaginations of the aggressor can obscure.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 42

Moving Forward

Does this suffering and outward humiliation experienced once again by the Holy One of God, imply that in the Bahá'í view history simply repeats itself; that at His Second Coming there has been no more furtherance of God's plan than at His First Coming; that He has returned with no more power or authority than at His first; or that we will not see that peace and justice promised us in God's word at the Second Coming? No. Everything moves forward according to God’s will.

To observe and interpret events with the outer eye of observation and external appearance only is one way to see and understand the world and history; to perceive and interpret events, on the other hand, with the inner eye of insight and discernment is another way, and yields a deeper and more accurate understanding of the world and history as they are.

Thus, for example, to the outer eye only, a tree, experiencing the winter before its first fruit-bearing season, might seem to have returned to the state of its previous winter - with its leaves fallen, its limbs barren and dormant, and everything about it outwardly dead and lifeless. One, who did n