Only problem is I'm questioning the validity of how the Baha'is have made their calculations. You remember how in math class we had to show our work. Same thing, Baha'is need to show they did what they did to come up with the things they claim. But this math problem always starts with the Baha'i answer... 1844 and then works backwards from there. But, fear not, Christians have yet to step up to the plate and show how the Baha'is and William Miller aren't correct.
Good luck with that questioning.
I only matters what Baha'ullah did, not what the Baha'is do.
Baha'u'llah did not
ever say that the prophecies being fulfilled are the proof of who He was because Baha'u'llah was smart... Having the knowledge of God and all He knew that humans would fight over the meaning and thus the fulfillment of prophecies till the cows came home.
So instead of that Baha'u'llah gave prophecies of
future events that people of future generations could use to prove the truth of His Claim.
Chapter 4
BAHA'I PROPHECIES: HISTORICAL EVENTS
A tempest, unprecedented in its violence, unpredictable in its course, catastrophic in its immediate effects, unimaginably glorious in its ultimate consequences, is at present sweeping the face of the earth... The powerful operations of this titanic upheaval are comprehensible to none except such as have recognized the claims of both Baha'u'llah and the Bab.
- Shoghi Effendi
The word 'prediction' means one thing in science, another in religion. When we study religion scientifically, it is important to distinguish between these meanings. In science, a prediction is any testable inference we draw from a hypothesis or theory. It may equally well describe a future event, a past observation or an ongoing process. In religion, a prediction generally is a prophecy - a glimpse of the future disclosed through the words of a prophet. Although the scientific and religious meanings may sometimes overlap, they are not identical.
Bearing this distinction in mind, let us consider a scientific prediction (testable inference from a hypothesis) involving religious predictions (prophecies): if Baha'u'llah truly was a Manifestation of God, then He should have been, able to foretell coming events. To someone omniscient at will and free from all error, the future must be an open book.
This practical consequence of the revelation-claim of Baha'u'llah is something we can test on the basis of observation, reason, intuition and credible authority. As with any good scientific deduction, we can search for evidence to disprove it. 'When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, ' says the Old Testament, 'if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken... '53 Note how completely this approach agrees with modern scientific method: the Bible does not suggest that a single correct prophecy (or even several such) would constitute 'proof of a Manifestation's claim. All it says is that a demonstrable inability to make such prophecies would discredit that claim. The obvious corollary, however, is that if someone claiming divine inspiration makes a great many specific, seemingly improbable, testable prophecies - prophecies whose non-fulfilment would undermine our confidence - and they invariably come true, then we can hardly fail to be impressed. Two equally reasonable people may differ as to how much any given prophecy bolsters such a claim or how many 'hits' should be required to sustain a positive verdict. At some point, however, We might well find it more reasonable to accept that claim than to go on reserving judgement.
Baha'u'llah Himself writes:
We have laid bare the divine mysteries and in most explicit language foretold future events, that neither the doubts of the faithless, nor the denials of the froward, nor the whisperings of the heedless may keep back the seekers after truth from the Source of the light of the One true God. 54
... most of the things which have come to pass on this earth have been announced and prophesied by the Most Sublime Pen... All that hath been sent down hath and will come to pass, word for word, upon earth. No possibility is left for anyone either to turn aside or protest. 55
An impartial examination of such prophecies, in the light of subsequent events, will either confirm or falsify these assertions. This, then, is a good place to begin our investigation.
In considering Baha'u'llah's prophecies I shall, in a few instances, refer also to statements by the Bab and 'Abdu'l-Baha The Bab claimed to be not only the Herald of Baha'u'llah but a Manifestation in His own right - a claim fully endorsed by Baha'u'llah. Although 'Abdu'l-Baha is not considered a Manifestation, He was designated by Baha'u'llah as the unerring, divinely-guided Interpreter of the Faith, and beyond that as one whose words are as authoritative and as binding upon believers as Baha'u'llah's own. All authenticated statements of these three Central Figures therefore constitute Baha'i scripture, and their prophecies all are invested with Baha'u'llah's authority. *
*To put it another way, Baha'u'llah predicted (at least by implication) that the prophecies of the Bab and 'Abdu'l-Baha would prove as reliable as His own.
What are the developments that have, in the words of Baha'u'llah, 'come to pass on this earth' after being 'announced and prophesied by the Most Sublime Pen'? Those of which I am aware, and which I discuss in the following pages, include:
1. The fall from power of the French Emperor Napoleon III and the consequent loss of his empire.
2. The defeat of Germany in two bloody wars, resulting in the 'lamentations of Berlin'.
3. The success and stability of Queen Victoria's reign.
4. The dismissal of 'All Pasha as prime minister of Turkey.
5. The overthrow and murder of Sultan 'Abdu'l-'Aziz of Turkey.
6. The breakup of the Ottoman Empire, leading to the extinction of the 'outward splendour' of its capital, Constantinople.
7. The downfall of Nasiri'd-Din Shah, the Persian monarch.
8. The advent of constitutional government in Persia.
9. A massive (albeit temporary) decline in the fortunes of monarchy throughout the world.
10. A worldwide erosion of ecclesiastical authority.
11. The collapse of the Muslim Caliphate.
12. The spread of communism, the 'Movement of the Left', and its rise to world power.
13. The catastrophic decline of that same movement, triggered by the collapse of its egalitarian economy.
14. The rise of Israel as a Jewish homeland.
15. The persecution of Jews on the European continent (the Nazi holocaust).
16. America's violent racial struggles.
17. Baha'u'llah's release from the prison of 'Akka and the pitching of His tent on Mount Carmel.
18. The seizure and desecration of Baha'u'llah's House in Baghdad.
19. The failure of all attempts to create schism within the Baha'i Faith.
20. The explosive acceleration of scientific and technological progress.
21. The development of nuclear weapons.
22. The achievement of transmutation of elements, the age-old alchemist's dream.
23. Dire peril for all humanity as a result of that achievement.
24. The discovery that complex elements evolve in nature from simpler ones.
25. The recognition of planets as a necessary byproduct of star formation.
26. Space travel.
27. The realization that some forms of cancer are communicable.
28. Failure to find evidence for a 'missing link' between man and ape.
29. The non-existence of a mechanical ether (the supposed light-carrying substance posited by classical physics), and its redefinition as an abstract reality.
30. The breakdown of mechanical models (literal images) as a basis for understanding the physical world.
I will review each of these prophecies, describing when and how each was made and fulfilled. First, however, let us briefly consider their common historical setting.
The Challenge of Baha'u'llah, PROOFS OF THE BAHA'I REVELATION, pp. 35-40
