Baha'i What's Wrong with Baha'i?

[PsychoeDial]

What's Wrong with Baha'i?
(Part One of Two)
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe."

—Hebrews 1:1–2 NIV 1984

In the way that John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus, so a Persian prophet known as the Báb (the Gate) (1819–1850) prepared the way for Bahá'u'lláh (glory of God), the founder of Baha'i. While Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892) believed his messianic mandate was the unification of the world's religions, his message was fatally flawed.

First, Baha'is believe that Bahá'u'lláh is a greater manifestation of God than Moses, Muhammad, or the Christian Messiah. Thus the Baha'i thrust toward the unification of all religions is primed for failure. Islam, the mother religion of Baha'i would not and could not consider Bahá'u'lláh as a prophet of God greater than Muhammad. Likewise, Christianity is committed to Christ as "the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6, emphasis added; cf. Acts 4:12).

Furthermore, Baha'i teaches that every few hundred years the spirit and attributes of divinity are mirrored in a new messenger and manifestation of God. Each revelator reveals as much revelation as the faithful are ready to receive. As such, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Confucius, Christ, Muhammad, and Krishna all paved the way toward the ultimate revelations personified in the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. The fallacy, of course, is that the revelators and their revelations directly conflict with one another. For example, Moses was fiercely monotheistic, whereas Zoroaster and Krishna were polytheistic. Likewise, the Qur'an condemns Christ's claim to be the Son of God as the unforgivable sin of shirk. Logically, the messengers and manifestations can all be wrong, but they can't all be right.

CRI Source:http://www.equip.org/bible_answers/whats-wrong-with-bahai-2/


There's many a false teaching in the world today. Another inroad of that agenda is to claim that certain non-Christian traditions outside the Judeo-Christian scope worship the same God.
Not true. I hope this article posted invoking the Fair Use standard helps further a discussion on this important issue in these chaotic times. God Bless.

 

[Arthra]

Psychoedial:

With respect since this forum is for Christians only I will reserve my reply but if you wish I can respond to your quoted material in the Christianity and World Religion Forum. I leave it to you to decide.

- Art

God bless you.

 

[MoonofIsaiah]

I think the, same-god-train, is greater than we imagine if we consider that there are Christian pastors now teaching Universalism. There's a really popular book still that was very hot topic when first published that purports everyone on earth is saved due to Christ and his sacrifice on the cross for all the sins and sinners of the world.
A former Pentecostal pastor is the author. When he started teaching this the church he helped to grow threw him out. Then he found a more open community and has thrived ever since.

Then there are the pablum preachers like Joel Osteen. He's not a real pastor but a feel-good-materialist guru.

As for the middle eastern faiths today that glom onto the same-god ideology, save for our origin being in Judaism, they're liars too. But it makes people feel good when they think the Jesus that was God in the Christian Bible and that saved the world when he died on the cross can somehow be an insurance policy for them when they purport to follow that so called same - god by another name.

I have known many a Bahai and they were always kind and open hearted to people of other faiths. And I in return. However, theirs is not the same God as that of my own and mores the pity.

I will say, I don't blame you one bit for putting this article in this forum. I've ventured into the suggested world religions forum a time or two.

 

[Noxot]

there is only one God and people know God according to their capacity to know God.

as if God is male or female -_-

 

[MoonofIsaiah]

there is only one God and people know her according to their capacity to know her

Being God is a spirit I don't think a spirit would take offense to that gender pronoun. God is not a man that he should lie. How then can God that is not a man take exception to a female reference pertaining to their spirit identity. And at the crux of what you stated there, I agree. That is what the scriptures tell us.

 

[Noxot]

Being God is a spirit I don't think a spirit would take offense to that gender pronoun. God is not a man that he should lie. How then can God that is not a man take exception to a female reference pertaining to their spirit identity. And at the crux of what you stated there, I agree. That is what the scriptures tell us.

it is nice to see someone not freak over such a petty thing as calling God a her, a he, or it. as if that could really define him.

 

[Truthfrees]

MOD HAT

Moving from Deeper Fellowship to Non-Christian Religions as per SOPs.

 

[PsychoeDial]

there is only one God and people know her according to their capacity to know her

I agree Gender pronouns aren't the crux of the issue.
For Christians there is only one God and their capacity to know him is largely through th teachings of Jesus Christ. Teachings that inform the reader there is only one way to God and that is through him.
Bahai is a false religion just like every faith not Christian.
That's the Christian teachings that are passed down from the teachings of God in Christ himself.
While every Christian hopes those in false practice will find their way to the Truth of God in Christ before they pass from this world.

 

[Arthra]

Since this thread was originally in a Christian board for Christians I could only ask PsychoeDial if he could meet me in the Christianity and World Religion forum but the thread has been transferred to a debate forum. I would like to share some information from Baha'i sources in response to the initial post above and here I'm more interested in doing this not in a way to start a long protracted argument but rather to simply share some information about the Baha'i Faith. I think it's always better to share what we have in common and in a positive way than to denigrate another religion. So what I decided to do here would be respond in "italics" after those sections of the following post that appear to me to be inaccurate.

PsychoeDial, post: 69510983, member: 385504"]What's Wrong with Baha'i?
(Part One of Two)
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe."

—Hebrews 1:1–2 NIV 1984

In the way that John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus, so a Persian prophet known as the Báb (the Gate) (1819–1850) prepared the way for Bahá'u'lláh (glory of God), the founder of Baha'i. While Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892) believed his messianic mandate was the unification of the world's religions, his message was fatally flawed.

First, Baha'is believe that Bahá'u'lláh is a greater manifestation of God than Moses, Muhammad, or the Christian Messiah. Thus the Baha'i thrust toward the unification of all religions is primed for failure. Islam, the mother religion of Baha'i would not and could not consider Bahá'u'lláh as a prophet of God greater than Muhammad. Likewise, Christianity is committed to Christ as "the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6, emphasis added; cf. Acts 4:12).

Actually Baha'is accept that all the Manifestations of God are in a sense one... not one greater than another as the above sentence suggests.. I quote from the Writings of Baha'u'llah:

"These Manifestations of God have each a twofold station. One is the station of pure abstraction and essential unity. In this respect, if thou callest them all by one name, and dost ascribe to them the same attributes, thou hast not erred from the truth. Even as He hath revealed: "No distinction do We make between any of His Messengers." For they, one and all, summon the people of the earth to acknowledge the unity of God, and herald unto them the Kawthar of an infinite grace and bounty. They are all invested with the robe of prophethood, and are honored with the mantle of glory."

~ Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 50-51

PsychoeDial, posted:

Furthermore, Baha'i teaches that every few hundred years the spirit and attributes of divinity are mirrored in a new messenger and manifestation of God. Each revelator reveals as much revelation as the faithful are ready to receive. As such, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Confucius, Christ, Muhammad, and Krishna all paved the way toward the ultimate revelations personified in the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh.

"Confucius" by the way is not considered a Manifestation of God or a "Prophet" by Baha'is. He is considered a reformer who "...renewed morals and ancient virtues.."

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 165



Actually the part of the above sentence that has "....the spirit and attributes of divinity are mirrored in a new messenger and manifestation of God. Each revelator reveals as much revelation as the faithful are ready to receive." is fairly accurate, but it is not "...every few hundred years.." Again from the Writings of Baha'u'llah:

"Once in about a thousand years shall this City be renewed and readorned....
That City is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age and dispensation."

~ Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 269



PsychoeDial, posted:

The fallacy, of course, is that the revelators and their revelations directly conflict with one another. For example, Moses was fiercely monotheistic, whereas Zoroaster and Krishna were polytheistic. Likewise, the Qur'an condemns Christ's claim to be the Son of God as the unforgivable sin of shirk. Logically, the messengers and manifestations can all be wrong, but they can't all be right.


For Baha'is since the Manifestations of God reflect "....the spirit and attributes of Divinity ... mirrored in a new messenger and manifestation of God." They do not contradict each other in terms of spiritual teachings. There are doctrinal formulations that have formed over time in some of the great religions that in our view have required a new Manifestation to correct or explain. I quote from the Writings of Baha'u'llah regarding Jesus:

"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."

~ Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 84


PsychoeDial, posted:

There's many a false teaching in the world today. Another inroad of that agenda is to claim that certain non-Christian traditions outside the Judeo-Christian scope worship the same God.
Not true. I hope this article posted invoking the Fair Use standard helps further a discussion on this important issue in these chaotic times. God Bless.

For Baha'is there is one religion of God:

"There is one God; mankind is one; the foundations of religion are one. Let us worship Him, and give praise for all His great Prophets and Messengers who have manifested His brightness and glory."

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 20

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

What I don't understand is why if Baha'u'lla was a follower of the Bab did the Bab not recognise him?
John the Baptist recognised and affirmed Jesus immediately.
Its only after the Bab's death that Baha'u'lla suddenly realised he was the one the Bab foretold leading to a split in the Bab's followers. This makes little sense to me if we are going to apply such a strong term like Manifestation of God.

I admit my knowledge on specifics is quite murky here, but I don't see why the Forerunner should not be able to see the manifestation if they are within his circle of followers.
Or do the Bahai hold he only later became a manifestation? If so, what happened to the man? Did he disappear or continue?

 

[Arthra]

What I don't understand is why if Baha'u'lla was a follower of the Bab did the Bab not recognise him?
John the Baptist recognised and affirmed Jesus immediately.
Its only after the Bab's death that Baha'u'lla suddenly realised he was the one the Bab foretold leading to a split in the Bab's followers. This makes little sense to me if we are going to apply such a strong term like Manifestation of God.

I admit my knowledge on specifics is quite murky here, but I don't see why the Forerunner should not be able to see the manifestation if they are within his circle of followers.
Or do the Bahai hold he only later became a manifestation? If so, what happened to the man? Did he disappear or continue?

Thanks for your question!

Well I think an analogy can be made between Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist and some of John's followers later recognizing Jesus and many of the followers of the Bab later recognizing Baha'u'llah... But in truth there were some signs of the Bab affirming the station of Baha'u'llah.

First though let me fill in a few of the historical steps in the process of the declaration of Baha'u'llah which we are observing at this time we call the Ridvan season. The summary is supplied by Abdul-Baha Himself ... the eldest Son of Baha'u'llah and this is His summary:

He became well known in regard to these qualities before His Holiness the Bab appeared. Then Bahá'u'lláh declared the Báb's mission to be true and promulgated His teachings. The Bab announced that the greater manifestation would take place after Him and called the promised one: "Him whom God would manifest," saying that nine years later the reality of His own mission would become apparent. In His writings He stated that in the ninth year this expected one would be known; in the ninth year they would attain to all glory and felicity; in the ninth year they would advance rapidly. Between Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab there was communication privately. The Bab wrote a letter containing three hundred and sixty derivatives of the root "Baha." The Bab was martyred in Tabriz, and Bahá'u'lláh exiled into Iraq-Arabie in 1852, announced Himself in Baghdad.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - , p. 220

"The Bab sent Bahá'u'lláh a scroll with three hundred and sixty derivatives of the word Baha' written in the form of a pentacle"

http://bahai-library.com/cameron_disconnected_letters_nineteen

So there is evidence that the Bab recognized the Station of Baha'u'llah.

Quid writes above:

"Its only after the Bab's death that Baha'u'llah suddenly realised he was the one the Bab foretold leading to a split in the Bab's followers."

My suggestion to you is that it was not just a case where Baha'u'llah "suddenly realized he was the one..." If you read the history of Baha'u'llah you may recall that He was imprisoned in the Siyal Chal prison in Tehran for around three or four months in what at the time was essentially a "death row" for the Babis... People were being executed for the attempt on the life of the Shah. It was in those circumstances that Baha'u'llah experienced while "sleeping on His couch" the following:

"O KING! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing."

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/PB/pb-12.html

Also this was not just a "couch" it was a prison and He was in chains that left their marks on His body long afterwards.

So this occurred around 1852-1953.

His declaration that He was "Him Whom God would make manifested" to a few family members occurred in 1863 and later He made His public declaration as a prisoner in Akka around 1868 when He wrote Tablets to the Kings and Rulers. So this process occurred over a span of around nine years from the Siyya Chal to the declaration in the Ridvan Garden in 1863 ... this was not just a momentary or sudden thing.

The Babis after the execution of the Bab until the declaration of Baha'u'llah were already split into various camps. After the declaration of Baha'u'llah became well known most of the Babis recognized His claim.

 

[Four Angels Standing]

Acts 4:10-12

 

[Arthra]

Thanks for your post "Four Angels Standing"!

 

[Four Angels Standing]

Thanks for your post "Four Angels Standing"!

You're welcome.
It may be my firewall causing this but the scripture link that attached to my post isn't showing the scripture itself. Below is that passage.

Acts 4:10-12
let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

 

[PsychoeDial]

Good post Four Angels Standing. Welcome to the forums.

There are a great many things wrong with the Bahai faith when it is promoted as standing equal with the teachings of Christ.
It is not and in fact trumpeting that falsehood stands to mislead those who are not aware of the teachings of Christ.

Bahai promotion sites such as this teach the following:
Throughout the ages, God has sent Divine Messengers known as Manifestations of God—among them Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and, in more recent times, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh—to cultivate humanity’s spiritual, intellectual and moral capacities. Following the coming of a Manifestation of God extraordinary progress occurs in the world. Reaching to the roots of human motivation, His teachings awaken in whole populations capacities to contribute to the advancement of civilization to an extent never before possible.


This isn't true. As the Bible tells us in John 1:1-14 and Revelation 1:8.

Bahai also do not believe in evil nor in the sin nature of man, therefore making repentance and redemption and the entire mission of Christ irrelevant.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Thanks for your question!

Well I think an analogy can be made between Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist and some of John's followers later recognizing Jesus and many of the followers of the Bab later recognizing Baha'u'llah... But in truth there were some signs of the Bab affirming the station of Baha'u'llah.

First though let me fill in a few of the historical steps in the process of the declaration of Baha'u'llah which we are observing at this time we call the Ridvan season. The summary is supplied by Abdul-Baha Himself ... the eldest Son of Baha'u'llah and this is His summary:

He became well known in regard to these qualities before His Holiness the Bab appeared. Then Bahá'u'lláh declared the Báb's mission to be true and promulgated His teachings. The Bab announced that the greater manifestation would take place after Him and called the promised one: "Him whom God would manifest," saying that nine years later the reality of His own mission would become apparent. In His writings He stated that in the ninth year this expected one would be known; in the ninth year they would attain to all glory and felicity; in the ninth year they would advance rapidly. Between Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab there was communication privately. The Bab wrote a letter containing three hundred and sixty derivatives of the root "Baha." The Bab was martyred in Tabriz, and Bahá'u'lláh exiled into Iraq-Arabie in 1852, announced Himself in Baghdad.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - , p. 220

"The Bab sent Bahá'u'lláh a scroll with three hundred and sixty derivatives of the word Baha' written in the form of a pentacle"

http://bahai-library.com/cameron_disconnected_letters_nineteen

So there is evidence that the Bab recognized the Station of Baha'u'llah.

Quid writes above:

"Its only after the Bab's death that Baha'u'llah suddenly realised he was the one the Bab foretold leading to a split in the Bab's followers."

My suggestion to you is that it was not just a case where Baha'u'llah "suddenly realized he was the one..." If you read the history of Baha'u'llah you may recall that He was imprisoned in the Siyal Chal prison in Tehran for around three or four months in what at the time was essentially a "death row" for the Babis... People were being executed for the attempt on the life of the Shah. It was in those circumstances that Baha'u'llah experienced while "sleeping on His couch" the following:

"O KING! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing."

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/PB/pb-12.html

Also this was not just a "couch" it was a prison and He was in chains that left their marks on His body long afterwards.

So this occurred around 1852-1953.

His declaration that He was "Him Whom God would make manifested" to a few family members occurred in 1863 and later He made His public declaration as a prisoner in Akka around 1868 when He wrote Tablets to the Kings and Rulers. So this process occurred over a span of around nine years from the Siyya Chal to the declaration in the Ridvan Garden in 1863 ... this was not just a momentary or sudden thing.

The Babis after the execution of the Bab until the declaration of Baha'u'llah were already split into various camps. After the declaration of Baha'u'llah became well known most of the Babis recognized His claim.

You didn't answer the question. What happened to the man? Was he consumed by divinity in your eyes? Ceased to exist? Or did god and the man live together in one body? If it wasn't a sudden revelation, then all the more reason to ask, why did Baha'a'lla not know he was a Manifestation of God himself initially? Did he become one or was he born one? There are too many variables here.

In fact, could you please explain what Bahai's mean with Manifestation of God? I assumed it is like the Incarnation of Jesus, but your explanation seems quite different, so could you define it for us so we all can understand what the Bahai's mean when they equate such disparate figures as Krishna, Zoroaster, and Jesus as Manifestations?

The fact is that the Bab never publically recognised Baha at all, only in private correspondence apparently, which unfortunately is not very conclusive evidence. In fact, the Bab recognised Mirza Yahya as leader after him until 'he whom god would make manifest' appears. Why not Baha'u'lla then? It makes little sense to me. Likewise Mirza Yahya attempted to discredit Baha'u'lla which prompted him to leave Baghdad and Mirza's poor leadership caused the split amongst the Babis.
This is very different from John the Baptist's immediate and public acknowledgement of Jesus, even before he baptised Him.
I don't see how the weird numerologic and syncretic article you posted proves any sort of recognition by the Bab of Baha'u'llah at all.

 

[Arthra]

why did Baha'a'lla not know he was a Manifestation of God himself initially? Did he become one or was he born one? There are too many variables here.

In fact, could you please explain what Bahai's mean with Manifestation of God? I assumed it is like the Incarnation of Jesus, but your explanation seems quite different, so could you define it for us so we all can understand what the Bahai's mean when they equate such disparate figures as Krishna, Zoroaster, and Jesus as Manifestations?

Quid,

I'll be happy to supply you with a succinct review of the qualities of a Manifestation Of God:

http://bahai-library.com/books/quest/quest.06.html

But I would also let you know that Baha'is do not believe that God physically incarnates Himself as many Christians believe.

 

[Arthra]

The fact is that the Bab never publically recognised Baha at all, only in private correspondence apparently, which unfortunately is not very conclusive evidence. In fact, the Bab recognised Mirza Yahya as leader after him until 'he whom god would make manifest' appears. Why not Baha'u'lla then? It makes little sense to me. Likewise Mirza Yahya attempted to discredit Baha'u'lla which prompted him to leave Baghdad and Mirza's poor leadership caused the split amongst the Babis.

Quid,

Thanks for your post!

It may be you are unfamiliar with the conditions of the ministry of the Bab and Baha'u'llah.. Sometimes secrecy was important as the early Babi movement itself and the Bab were under extreme conditions... many losing their lives as martyrs for a new Faith... not unlike the conditions of the early Christians who were also being persecuted.

For your information the spelling of Baha'u'llah usually has an "h" in transliteration from Arabic to English as the name Baha'u'llah means "Glory of God".

Mirza Yahya was the younger half brother of Baha'u'llah and was recognized as the "nominee of the Bab"... this was recognized however the declaration of Baha'u'llah that He was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Bab eventually came to be recognized by most of the early believers. For your information the reason Baha'u'llah had to leave Baghdad was not because of Mirza Yahya attempting to discredit Him, the reason was that the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire required it.

He also gained sympathy from government officials and Sunni clerics.[27] Bahá'u'lláh's rising influence in the city, and the revival of the Persian Bábí community, gained the attention of his enemies in Islamic clergy and the Persian government.[32] The Persian government asked the Ottoman government to extradite Bahá'u'lláh to Persia, but the Ottoman government refused and instead chose to move Bahá'u'lláh from the sensitive border region to Constantinople.[27]

(Wikipedia article:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahá'u'lláh#Declaration_in_the_Garden_of_Ridvan

 

[Arthra]

Bahai also do not believe in evil nor in the sin nature of man, therefore making repentance and redemption and the entire mission of Christ irrelevant.

Thanks for your post "PsychoeDial"!

By the way...I wanted to thank you for quoting from the Baha'i site:

http://www.bahai.org/beliefs/god-his-creation/revelation/

You may under a misapprehension regarding your views of Baha'is so if you don't mind allow me to provide an excerpt from the Baha'i Writings concerning evil and sin. I think it's important for you to have a more accurate perspective!

I'm quoting from the revealed Writings of Baha'u'llah:

"The earth hath been shaken, and the mountains have passed away, and the angels have appeared, rank on rank, before Us. Most of the people are bewildered in their drunkenness and wear on their faces the evidences of anger. Thus have We gathered together the workers of iniquity. We see them rushing on towards their idol. Say: None shall be secure this Day from the decree of God. This indeed is a grievous Day. We point out to them those that led them astray. They see them, and yet recognize them not. Their eyes are drunken; they are indeed a blind people. Their proofs are the calumnies they uttered; condemned are their calumnies by God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. The Evil One hath stirred up mischief in their hearts, and they are afflicted with a torment that none can avert. They hasten to the wicked, bearing the register of the workers of iniquity. Such are their doings."

~ Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 40

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Quid,

I'll be happy to supply you with a succinct review of the qualities of a Manifestation Of God:

http://bahai-library.com/books/quest/quest.06.html

But I would also let you know that Baha'is do not believe that God physically incarnates Himself as many Christians believe.

I apologise about the h, I shall attempt to spell correctly henceforth.

On your article, so essentially the Manifestations are Perfect souls with a pre-existence before their earthly life. So, does this mean they have always existed and all future Manifestations are already in existence? Or are they created in a spiritual realm before being born, but have not always been? I see in the third aspect of a Manifestation (Material, human, divine) they are equated to the eternal Logos of Christianity and Hellenistic philosophy, but does this mean they are all aspects of one subsidiary being or are there multiple Logoi? If the latter, how can this be if there revelations differ so, especially in light of the different mirrors analogy.
This still begs the question of how a Perfect Soul did not know he was a Manifestation until later.

I understand the part of the different manifestations reflecting different aspects of the Divine like mirrors, but then this means that all the previous Manifestations views are somehow present in God. So God would be One like Judaeo-Christianity and Islam, but also locked in dualism like Zoroaster and Polytheistic like Krishna? How can both the sinless conceptions of Hinduism with Karma be equated with Christianity's views of Sin and Atonement in one worldview? As they apparently had 'universal divine minds transcending human knowledge', why did Mohammed say the Christian revelation was incomplete and idolatry wrong, when Krishna essentially supports idols and Jesus said He was the only way to Truth?

Quid,

Thanks for your post!

It may be you are unfamiliar with the conditions of the ministry of the Bab and Baha'u'llah.. Sometimes secrecy was important as the early Babi movement itself and the Bab were under extreme conditions... many losing their lives as martyrs for a new Faith... not unlike the conditions of the early Christians who were also being persecuted.

For your information the spelling of Baha'u'llah usually has an "h" in transliteration from Arabic to English as the name Baha'u'llah means "Glory of God".

Mirza Yahya was the younger half brother of Baha'u'llah and was recognized as the "nominee of the Bab"... this was recognized however the declaration of Baha'u'llah that He was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Bab eventually came to be recognized by most of the early believers. For your information the reason Baha'u'llah had to leave Baghdad was not because of Mirza Yahya attempting to discredit Him, the reason was that the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire required it.

He also gained sympathy from government officials and Sunni clerics.[27] Bahá'u'lláh's rising influence in the city, and the revival of the Persian Bábí community, gained the attention of his enemies in Islamic clergy and the Persian government.[32] The Persian government asked the Ottoman government to extradite Bahá'u'lláh to Persia, but the Ottoman government refused and instead chose to move Bahá'u'lláh from the sensitive border region to Constantinople.[27]

(Wikipedia article:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahá'u'lláh#Declaration_in_the_Garden_of_Ridvan

Why would the appointed successor of the Bab oppose Baha'u'llah at all if he was known to be the Manifestation? Especially if they were related. Is Mirza Yahya considered an apostate?

I was not referring to his leaving to Constantinople, but Baha'u'llah leaving for Kurdistan due to tensions in Baghdad, when the initially post-Bab movement started to splinter due to Mirza Yahya's absentee style leadership, from what I read.