Bahá'u'lláh and the New EraEsslemont, J. E. (John Ebenezer)
Religion
Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era
Esslemont, J. E. (John Ebenezer)
Bahai Faith; Bahá'u'lláh, 1817-1892
The phrase “end of the world” used in the Authorized Version of the Bible
in this and similar passages has led many to suppose that when the Day of
Judgment comes, the earth will suddenly be destroyed, but this is
evidently a mistake. The true translation of the phrase appears to be “the
consummation or end of the age.” Christ teaches that the Kingdom of the
Father is to be established on earth, as well as in heaven. He teaches us
to pray: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
In the parable of the Vineyard, when the Father, the Lord of the Vineyard,
comes to destroy the wicked husbandmen, He does not destroy the vineyard
(the world) also, but lets it out to other husbandmen, who will render Him
the fruits in their season. The earth is not to be destroyed, but to be
renewed and regenerated. Christ speaks of that day on another occasion as
“the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his
glory.” St. Peter speaks of it as “the times of refreshing,” “the times of
restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began.” The Day of Judgment of which Christ
speaks is evidently identical with the coming of the Lord of Hosts, the
Father, which was prophesied by Isaiah and the other Old Testament
prophets; a time of terrible punishment for the wicked, but a time in
which justice shall be established and righteousness rule, on earth as in
heaven.
In the Bahá’í interpretation, the coming of each Manifestation of God is a
Day of Judgment, but the coming of the supreme Manifestation of
Bahá’u’lláh is the great Day of Judgment for the world cycle in which we
are living. The trumpet blast of which Christ and Muḥammad and many other
prophets speak is the call of the Manifestation, which is sounded for all
who are in heaven and on earth—the embodied and the disembodied. The
meeting with God, through His Manifestation, is, for those who desire to
meet Him, the gateway to the Paradise of knowing and loving Him, and
living in love with all His creatures. Those, on the other hand, who
prefer their own way to God’s way, as revealed by the Manifestation,
thereby consign themselves to the hell of selfishness, error and enmity.
The Great Resurrection
The Day of Judgment is also the Day of Resurrection, of the raising of the
dead. St. Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians says:—
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality.—I Cor. xv, 51–53.
As to the meaning of these passages about the raising of the dead,
Bahá’u’lláh writes in the Book of Íqán:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account