Manifestation of God - Religious Perennialism

Religious Perennialism

See also: Progressive revelation

Bahá'u'lláh taught that Manifestations have always been sent by God, and always will, as part of the single progressive religion from God bringing more teachings through time to help humanity progress. In the Bahá'í view the succession of Manifestations of God had no beginning and will have no end. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, stated that Manifestations will continue to come about every thousand years, extending "over many ages into the unborn reaches of time."

While Manifestations of God are explained to have always come to humanity and will continue to do so, `Abdu'l-Bahá explained that there are distinct cycles within this process. The cycles consist of hundreds of thousands of years and are characterized by three periods. The first period involves the coming of a series of Manifestations of God who prepare humanity for a universal theophany; the second period involves the appearance of the Manifestation of God that brings the universal theophany and his dispensation; finally the third period includes the Manifestations of God that come after. `Abdu'l-Bahá stated that in the current cycle, the first period was started by Adam and extended to the time of the Báb. Bahá'u'lláh is seen as the universal Manifestation of God, and the current cycle will continue for another 500,000 years.

There is no definitive list of Manifestations of God, but Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá referred to several personages as Manifestations; they include Adam, Noah, Krishna, Moses, Abraham, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad. The Báb, as well as Bahá'u'lláh, were included in this definition. Thus religious history is interpreted as a series of periods or "dispensations", where each Manifestation brings a somewhat broader and more advanced revelation, suited for the time and place in which it was expressed.

Bahá'ís do not claim that the Bahá'í revelation is the final stage in God's direction in the course of human spiritual evolution. The Bahá'í writings contain assurances that after 1000 years of Bahá'u'lláh's coming, another Manifestation of God will appear to advance human civilization.