Gods manifestations only male?

[Postmaster]

Do Baha'is have a view why God has only chosen males to be his manifestations. Are females incapable of this duty?

Creations that chaged society for the better seem to have been discovered mostly by man too. I want to say, man has a larger brain then a women he has a greater ability for logic, reason and theology. I say this with the greatest respect to sexual equality, I'm not chauvinistic or sexist. I think it's important that women are elevated to equal status in society for various good reasons.

[Mick]

Originally Posted by Postmaster

Do Baha'is have a view why God has only chosen males to be his manifestations. Are females incapable of this duty?

Creations that changed society for the better seem to have been discovered mostly by man too. I want to say, man has a larger brain then a women he has a greater ability for logic, reason and theology. I say this with the greatest respect to sexual equality, I'm not chauvinistic or sexist. I think it's important that women are elevated to equal status in society for various good reasons.

I am going to say that there is no Baha'i view on the maleness of the Manifestations. There is a view, though, on God not having a gender. We see Him as the Unknown. Notice I used Him and not Her. Simply dealing with the limitations of the English language, where "it" is not used to describe a being and not willing to get into a discussion why I would choose "Her" instead of "Him". I used "Him" more because of tradition than any other reason.

We also have a view on the equality of men and women. We recognize we are not the same, but we have equal capacities. I would think the only biological difference we would approach would be the amount of estrogen and testorene each gender has and the effect on us as individuals. There are many brilliant women in all the professions and as society allows women to study and enter diverse professions, we will see many more in the future. Much of what has been "male" discoveries were dictated by society. Some of the early female writers, remember, used a male pseudonym. We have denied society unjustly half of the thinking world for most of the history of the world. Can you now imagine the strides that mankind will make as we learn to use all the mental powers available to it, both male and female?

Our society in the past were based on warriors. So the strongest, men, ruled. Today, and in the future, as we strive for peace, we will be more willing for women to take an active and partisan role in the development of the New World Order.

Interesting question, Postmaster. Possibly somebody else will answer a little closer to your question than I am able to do.

Mick

[arthra]

Originally Posted by Postmaster

Do Baha'is have a view why God has only chosen males to be his manifestations. Are females incapable of this duty?

Creations that chaged society for the better seem to have been discovered mostly by man too. I want to say, man has a larger brain then a women he has a greater ability for logic, reason and theology. I say this with the greatest respect to sexual equality, I'm not chauvinistic or sexist. I think it's important that women are elevated to equal status in society for various good reasons.

The Baha'i Faith has a principle of recognizing the equality of men and women and brain size by itself is no clue to intelligence as far as I know ...Women work just as hard and more so than many men and yet receive smaller pay scales and women in many parts of the world do not have equal access to education and professions...so these are things our Faith hopes to address.

There is nothing in our Writiings that would preclude a female Manifestation of God... and we only know of about nine Manifestations. We are told there were many more so it is possible a female Manifestation already has appeared.

Some believe there is a hints of a future female Manifestation in the revealed Word of Baha'u'llah:

Say:

Step out of Thy holy chamber, O Maid of Heaven, inmate of the Exalted Paradise!

Drape thyself in whatever manner pleaseth Thee in the silken
Vesture of Immortality, and put on, in the name of the All-Glorious, the broidered Robe of Light.

Hear, then, the sweet, the wondrous accent of the
Voice that cometh from the Throne of Thy Lord, the Inaccessible, the Most High.

Unveil Thy face, and manifest the beauty of the black-eyed Damsel, and suffer not the servants of God to be deprived of the light of Thy shining countenance.

Grieve not if Thou hearest the sighs of the dwellers
of the earth, or the voice of the lamentation of the denizens of heaven. Leave them to perish on the dust of extinction. Let them be reduced to nothingness, inasmuch as the flame of hatred hath been kindled within their
breasts.

Intone, then, before the face of the peoples of earth and heaven, and in a most melodious voice, the anthem of praise, for a remembrance of Him Who is the King of the names and attributes of God.

Thus have We decreed Thy destiny. Well able are We to achieve Our purpose.

-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 282

[Popeyesays]

Only certain NAMES and Books are known, but Baha`u'llah tells us (and so does Muhammad) that every people has had it's own Messenger. Since we do not know the names of these other Manifestations and neither do we know the genders of those Manifestations. Was White Buffalo Calf Woman a Manifestation? We don't know. Kwan Yin was a Buddha, after all, and Kwan Yin being so enlightened we are told that he was able to change his gender to female to become the Buddha Kwan Yin.

Regards,
Scott

[Postmaster]

Thanks for your replys

So it’s possible that people like Joan of arc and Florence Nightingale to have been manifestations? Florence knightingale fort and protested with the suffrajets who were an organization that fort for womens rights especially the right to vote and Florence Nightingale also pioneered nursing as she seen lack of sanitation as a big cause of disease etc.

[Popeyesays]

Originally Posted by Postmaster

Thanks for your replys

So it’s possible that people like Joan of arc and Florence Nightingale to have been manifestations? Florence knightingale fort and protested with the suffrajets who were an organization that fort for womens rights especially the right to vote and Florence Nightingale also pioneered nursing as she seen lack of sanitation as a big cause of disease etc.

By definition a Manifestation lays claim to a Revelation from God. Joan of Arc never laid such claim, she said she had visions of Christ and spoke with the authority of Christ, not her own. Florence Nightingal refrained from any religious claims whatsoever. So i don't think those would be examples of a Manifestation. My own humble opinion of course, but the writings make pretty clear that A Manifestation speaks what He claims to be the Word of God on His (theManifestation's) own authority.

Baha`u'llah draws lessons and examples from Christ and Muhammad and Moses, but Baha`u'llah never used THEIR authority to make declarations, He spoke with His Own voice, and left it to the hearer to decide.

Regards,
Scott

[arthra]

Women have had leading roles in ancient religions and it's quite possible there was female Manifestation... We don't know for sure but it is possible.

Baha'is believe humanity has been on this earth for hundreds of thousands of years and also that man is never left alone without Divine Guidance so in the course of that time it's quite possible there could have been several female Manifestations...

Abdul-Baha is quoted as saying

"...it cannot be said there was a time when man was not. All that we can say is that this terrestrial globe at one time did not exist, and at its beginning man did not appear upon it. But from the beginning which has no beginning, to the end which has no end, a Perfect Manifestation always exists."

[Postmaster]

interesting

[Popeyesays]

Originally Posted by arthra

Women have had leading roles in ancient religions and it's quite possible there was female Manifestation... We don't know for sure but it is possible.

Baha'is believe humanity has been on this earth for hundreds of thousands of years and also that man is never left alone without Divine Guidance so in the course of that time it's quite possible there could have been several female Manifestations...

Abdul-Baha is quoted as saying

"...it cannot be said there was a time when man was not. All that we can say is that this terrestrial globe at one time did not exist, and at its beginning man did not appear upon it. But from the beginning which has no beginning, to the end which has no end, a Perfect Manifestation always exists."

"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God."

Regards,
Scott

[dianeb27]

I just came across this thread, but this quote may be of interest. In the Baha'i Faith, women are frequently referred to as "leaves" and men as "branches." Thus this quote could be read as saying that God might "pronounce" a woman to be "the manifestation of all His excellent titles...."

"Know thou moreover that in the Day of Revelation were He to pronounce one of the leaves to be the manifestation of all His excellent titles, unto no one is given the right to utter why or wherefore, and should one do so he would be regarded as a disbeliever in God and be numbered with such as have repudiated His truth." (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, 1978, p. 185) (In the Suriy-i-Vafa)

[Opal]

Originally Posted by Postmaster

Do Baha'is have a view why God has only chosen males to be his manifestations. Are females incapable of this duty?

Creations that chaged society for the better seem to have been discovered mostly by man too. I want to say, man has a larger brain then a women he has a greater ability for logic, reason and theology. I say this with the greatest respect to sexual equality, I'm not chauvinistic or sexist. I think it's important that women are elevated to equal status in society for various good reasons.

I was thinking about this a while ago. As far as im aware, theres nothing written about this topic in the Bahai writings.

However, this is my viewpoint:
Ages ago, the world didnt listen to women, so it wouldnt make sense for God to send a female messenger of God...so perhaps that is the reason why God always sent male prophets, because people would listen to a man.

A lot of work has been done in the world over these past few centuries and gradually, women are considered equal to men... the world is starting to respect females aswell. So, my idea is that it is possible that in the future there may be female prophets, becuse now people respect women.

But who knows ???

[arthra]

Thanks for your post Opal and welcome to the Forum!

- Art