How do Baha'i view Akhenaton

[kai]

i wondered if there was a baha'i opinion on the Pharoah Akhenaton

Akhenaten - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[arthra]

Originally Posted by kai

i wondered if there was a baha'i opinion on the Pharoah Akhenaton

Akhenaten - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There's no official view of Akhenaten.....

Within each Universal Cycle, many Manifestations of God (q.v.) appear, each linked to a cycle. Thus each of the religions founded by one of these Manifestations goes through a period of growth, reaches its zenith or maturity, and then declines. When the decline is complete and the religion is no longer capable of guiding humanity spiritually, another Manifestation comes (PUP 93-96).

Our Writings specify Adam, Zoroaster, Krishna, Abraham, the Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab and Baha'u'llah.. but we believe there are many unknown or not known Manifestations previously. Here is a schemata:

. PREVIOUS UNIVERSAL CYCLES - of which no trace remains

II. PRESENT UNIVERSAL CYCLE
A. ADAMIC CYCLE, CYCLE OF PROPHECY - lasted approximately 6,000 year 1. Adam 1. Indian religious figures
2. Noah - Krishna
3. Abraham
4. Moses 2. Zoroaster
5. Jesus 3. Buddha
6. Muhammad
+ Other unknown or unspecified prophets

B. BAHA'I CYCLE, CYCLE OF FULFILLMENT - to last 500,000 years

1. The Bab

2. Baha'u'llah - Universal Manifestation for this Universal Cycle a. Heroic, Primitive, or Apostolic Age - 1844-1921 (or 1932 - the death of Bahiyyih Khanum) i. Ministry of the Bab (1844-53)
ii. Ministry of Baha'u'llah (1853-92)
iii. Ministry of `Abdu'l-Baha (1892-1921)b. Formative, Transitional, or Iron Age - 1921 - i. First Epoch (1921-44/46) - Erection of the Administrative Order
ii. Second Epoch (1946-63) - spread of the Faith beyond the confines of the Western Hemisphere
iii. Third Epoch (1963-86) - emergence of the Faith from obscurity and initiation of social and economic development plans
iv. Fourth Epoch (1986- ) - national communities taking on the responsibility for their own development
v. Successive further Epochsc. Golden Age
Successive Epochs leading to the Most Great Peace3. Further Manifestations - under the shadow of Baha'u'llah- END OF PRESENT UNIVERSAL CYCLE

III. FURTHER UNIVERSAL CYCLES

For us Baha'is the most recent Manifestation of God is Baha'u'llah and we have the record of His Revelation and documentation.

- Art

[kai]

and unoficially do you think he could be a contender?
Aten's name is also written differently after Year 9, to emphasise the radicalism of the new regime, which included a ban on images, with the exception of a rayed solar disc, in which the rays (commonly depicted ending in hands) appear to represent the unseen spirit of Aten, who by then was evidently considered not merely a sun god, but rather a universal deity. It is important to note, however, that representations of the Aten were always accompanied with a sort of "hieroglyphic footnote", stating that the representation of the sun as All-encompassing Creator was to be taken as just that: a representation of something that, by its very nature as something transcending creation, cannot be fully or adequately represented by any one part of that creation.

Akhenaten - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Adib]

Interesting, he had monotheistic inclinations.

Like Arthra said, there is no official Baha'i stance on the ontological status of this ruler. However, 9 different dispensations are explicitly recognized by the Kitab-i-Iqan (the Book of Certitude), one of our two primary holy books, and as far as I am aware there is no mention of Akhenaten. The book also states that there were also prophets that predate recorded time, but Akhenaten was evidently a part of recorded history.

If I had to guess, since he appears to be preaching monotheism in Egypt during the 1300s BC (I only skimmed the first paragraph or two), I would say that Akhenaten and his teachings were perhaps divinely inspired, holding him and his ordinances in the same light as Guru Nanak and Sikhism (my opinion, again), but that Akhenaten himself does not share the same reality as the Baha'i views on Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.

Keep in mind that this is just an opinion of mine.

[arthra]

Kai wrote:

and unoficially do you think he (Akhenatron) could be a contender?

My reply:

Well we don't really have a contest where you vote on this sort of thing... If he's not mentioned then we can't say for sure that he was.. I think there were likely Manifestations that appeared but we have no records of Them, this is what our Writings indicate..

Here are what I would call some salient quotes:

"And now regarding thy question, "How is it that no records are to be found concerning the Prophets that have preceded Adam, the Father of Mankind, or of the kings that lived in the days of those Prophets?" Know thou that the absence of any reference to them is no proof that they did not actually exist. That no records concerning them are now available, should be attributed to their extreme remoteness, as well as to the vast changes which the earth hath undergone since their time."

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 172)



"Ten thousand Prophets, each a Moses, are thunderstruck upon the Sinai of their search at His forbidding voice, "Thou shalt never behold Me!"; whilst a myriad Messengers, each as great as Jesus, stand dismayed upon their heavenly thrones by the interdiction, "Mine Essence thou shalt never apprehend!"

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 62)


"The Revelation which, from time immemorial, hath been acclaimed as the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God, and the most cherished Desire of His Messengers, hath now, by virtue of the pervasive Will of the Almighty and at His irresistible bidding, been revealed unto men."

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 5)

[kai]

thank you for your responses, i have always thought Akhenaton to be a visionary well ahead of his time

[BruceDLimber]

Originally Posted by arthra

Our Writings specify Adam, Zoroaster, Krishna, Abraham, the Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab and Baha'u'llah.

And we also recognize Noah, Hud, and Salih, please note!

Regards, :-)

Bruce