BahÃĄâ•Žuâ•ŽllÃĄh and the New Era - Knowledge Rush

Proofs of ProphethoodBahá’u’lláh asked no one to accept His statements and His tokensblindly. On the contrary, He put in the very forefront of Histeachings emphatic warnings against blind acceptance of authority,and urged all to open their eyes and ears, and use their ownjudgement, independently and fearlessly, in order to ascertain thetruth. He enjoined the fullest investigation and never concealedHimself, offering, as the supreme proofs of His Prophethood,His words and works and their effects in transforming the livesand characters of men. The tests He proposed are the same asthose laid down by His great predecessors. Moses said:—When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if thething follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing whichthe Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken itpresumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.—Deut. xviii,22.Christ put His test just as plainly, and appealed to it in proofof His own claim. He said:—Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’sclothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shallknow them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, orfigs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth goodfruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.... Whereforeby their fruits ye shall know them.—Matt. vii, 15–17, 20In the chapters that follow, we shall endeavor to show whetherBahá’u’lláh’s claim to Prophethood stands or falls by applicationof these tests: whether the things that He had spoken have followedand come to pass, and whether His fruits have been goodor evil; in other words, whether His prophecies are being fulfilledand His ordinances established, and whether His lifework has