The
Oneness of Religion
The principle of the unity of religion is at the center
of Bahá'í teachings. Bahá'u'lláh states that
humanity is engaged in a collective growth process quite similar to the
growth process of an individual: just as a person begins life as a helpless
infant and attains maturity in successive stages, so humankind began its
collective social life in a primitive state, gradually attaining maturity.
In the case of the individual, it is clear that his or her development
takes place as a result of the education he or she receives from parents,
teachers, and society in general. But what is the motive force in humankind's
collective evolution?
The answer the Bahá'í Faith provides to this question is
"revealed religion." In one of His major works, the Kitab-i-Iqan
(the Book of Certitude), Bahá'u'lláh explained that God,
the Creator, has intervened and will continue to intervene in human history
by means of chosen Messengers. These Messengers, Whom Bahá'u'lláh
called "Manifestations of God ," are principally the Founders
of the major revealed religions, such as Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster,
Jesus, Muhammad, and so forth. It is the spirit released by the coming
of these Manifestations, together with the influence of Their teachings
and the social systems established by Their laws and precepts, that enable
humankind to progress in its collective evolution. Simply put: the Manifestations
of God are the chief educators of humanity. With regard to the various
religious systems that have appeared in human history, Bahá'u'lláh
has said:
These principles and laws, these firmly-established and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source and are the rays of one Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated.
Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1976), pp. 287-88.
Thus the principle of the unity of religion means that
all of the great religious Founders--the Manifestations--have come from
God, and that all of the religious systems established by Them are part
of a single divine plan directed by God.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------