Posted by Nick Stone on May 26, 2101 at 20:16:35:

In Reply to: Re: Baha'u'llah can't be a prophet of God. posted by David on May 26, 2101 at 14:34:38:

Dave,

The Baha'i concept of the Manifestation of God is a little different from how you are imagining. The Manifestation of God has a human body like us, so he must suffer pain, tiredness, must eat and drink. His knowledge and perfections on the other hand, come from God. Baha'u'llah says many times that the knowledge He has, and the teachings He brings do not come from Himself, but come from God. Jesus says the same thing in the Gospels repeatedly.

The question of omnipotence is interesting. At some times, Baha'u'llah acted as if He knew things which He could not possibly know, such as events happening at the same time in far away towns. For example, when Baha'u'llah arrived in Akka the prison city, He walked straight from the boat to the prison. Akka is a town with very narrow streets and tall buildings, it's pretty much a labyrinth. You can't see where you're going, so how did Baha'u'llah know how to get directly to the prison? There are many examples of Baha'u'llah knowing things that normally He should not have been able to know. However, we might ask, why then did He sometimes ask people questions, because presumably if He was omnipotent He already knew the answers.

I think partly the answer lies in that it is God who knows everything, and God who decides when to supply His Manifestation with the appropriate knowledge.

I'd be interested to know what other Baha'is thought.

I'm sorry Dave, I actually had a proper answer to your question, but it is late and I am tired and I have forgotten what I was going to say! It's all tailed off now... well maybe tomorrow...

Best wishes,

Nick

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