# Ages and Cycles

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Moojan Momen, Ages and Cycles, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Ages and Cycles
> 
> Moojan Momen
> 
> 1995
> 
> Ages and Cycles. Bahá'í sacred history has been divided into
> 
> a number of ages and cycles by `Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi.
> 
> Although the Bahá'í Faith has its historical roots in the western line
> 
> of prophetic religions, Islam, Christianity and Judaism, its view of sacred
> 
> history also contains elements in keeping with Indian religion in that
> 
> it sees time as being cyclical as well as being linear in nature.
> 
> 1. Universal Cycles and the coming of Manifestations of God.
> 
> `Abdu'l-Bahá describes vast "Universal Cycles," stretching over hundreds
> 
> of thousands (perhaps millions) of years, at the end of which "great events"
> 
> take place as a result of which all traces of the previous cycle are obliterated
> 
> and a new cycle begins. 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).
> 
> At the heart of each Universal Cycle, `Abdu'l-Bahá states that there
> 
> appears a Manifestation of God whom he names the "great and universal Manifestation."
> 
> The appearance of this Universal Manifestation marks the maturity of the
> 
> Universal Cycle. All the Manifestations that appear after the Universal
> 
> Manifestation "arise under his shadow" and all the previous Manifestations
> 
> in that cycle were sent in anticipation of his advent. `Abdu'l-Bahá asserts
> 
> that we are now in the Universal Cycle beginning with Adam and that Bahá'u'lláh
> 
> is its Universal Manifestation (Foundations of World Unity 54).
> 
> Thus the Manifestations that have appeared before Bahá'u'lláh can be considered
> 
> to have been part of a cycle leading up to Bahá'u'lláh, a cycle called
> 
> the Adamic Cycle (or Cycle of Prophecy) which lasted about six thousand
> 
> years, and the Manifestations that will appear after Bahá'u'lláh are part
> 
> of the Bahá'í Cycle (or Cycle of Fulfillment, CF 80). This Bahá'í Cycle
> 
> initiated by Bahá'u'lláh, during which many further Manifestations of God
> 
> will arise and lasting about five hundred thousand years, should not be
> 
> confused with the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, which is expected to be
> 
> a period of a thousand years or more during which the specific teachings
> 
> given by Bahá'u'lláh will hold sway until the coming of the next Manifestation
> 
> of God. The Bab is seen as being at the interface between the Adamic and
> 
> Bahá'í Cycles--at one and the same time the conclusion of the first and
> 
> the start of the second (GPB 54).
> 
> Hence each individual Manifestation of God has his own individual cycle,
> 
> in which his religion grows, matures, and declines; is part of a larger
> 
> cycle, either the Adamic Cycle or the Bahá'í Cycle; and these larger cycles
> 
> are in turn set within the overall Universal Cycle. Although time is thus
> 
> in some ways cyclical, the cycles that occur within each Universal Cycle
> 
> do not result in a return to the initial point. Rather there is also an
> 
> element of progression. Each Manifestation of God has the function of guiding
> 
> humanity in its social and spiritual evolution (see "Progressive Revelation").
> 
> 2. Ages within the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh. Shoghi Effendi
> 
> has divided the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh into three ages. The first
> 
> of these, the "Primitive," "Heroic," or "Apostolic Age" began with the
> 
> Declaration of the Bab in 1844. It is divided into three epochs corresponding
> 
> to the ministries of the Bab (1844-53), Bahá'u'lláh (1853-92), and `Abdu'l-Bahá
> 
> (1892-1921). Shoghi Effendi states that this first age concluded with the
> 
> death of `Abdu'l-Bahá in 1921 and "more particularly" with the death of
> 
> Bahiyyih Khanum in 1932 (WOB 98).
> 
> The second age is called the "Formative" or "Iron Age." It also divided
> 
> into epochs. The first of these lasted until 1944 (CF 5) or 1946 (MBW 19)
> 
> and covers the period during which the Bahá'í administrative order was
> 
> being set up by Shoghi Effendi. The second epoch, which lasted until 1963,
> 
> was marked by the global spread of the Bahá'í Faith. The third epoch, which
> 
> lasted until 1986 was characterized by the emergence of the Bahá'í Faith
> 
> from obscurity and the initiation of social and economic development plans.
> 
> The present epoch, which is the fourth epoch of the Formative Age, is considered
> 
> to have begun in 1986 and is to be marked by the national Bahá'í communities
> 
> taking on the responsibility for their own development.
> 
> 3. Epochs and stages of the Divine Plan. In his writings, Shoghi
> 
> Effendi has also marked out various stages in the evolution of the process
> 
> of the spread of the Bahá'í Faith and the establishment of its administrative
> 
> institutions throughout the world set in motion by `Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablet
> 
> of the Divine Plan (q.v.). He writes of a twenty-year delay in the implementation
> 
> of this plan while the administrative institutions of the Bahá'í Faith
> 
> were being established (CF 32). The first epoch of the Divine Plan thus
> 
> began in 1937. The first stage of this epoch constituted the first American
> 
> Seven Year Plan (1937-44) and was marked by the spread of the Bahá'í Faith
> 
> in Latin America. The second American Seven Year Plan (1946-53) constituted
> 
> the second stage and was marked by activities spreading the Bahá'í Faith
> 
> throughout Europe. The Ten Year Crusade (1953-63) marked the third stage
> 
> of the first epoch and took the Bahá'í Faith to most of the rest of the
> 
> world. The second epoch of the Divine Plan began in 1964 and includes successive
> 
> stages marked by the Nine Year Plan (1964-73), the Five Year Plan (1974-79),
> 
> the Seven Year Plan (1979-86), the Six Year Plan (1986-92), and the Three
> 
> Year Plan (1993-96). (MBW 153; CF 62, 113-14; WG 25).
> 
> Bibliography. SAQ 160-61; PUP 220; GPB 100; CF 4-6; `Abdu'l-Bahá,
> 
> Foundations of World Unity 54
> 
> TABLE: BAHA'I SACRED HISTORY
> 
> I. 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. Bahá'u'lláh - 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 Bahá'u'lláh (1853-92)
> 
> iii. Ministry of `Abdu'l-Bahá (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 Epochs
> 
> c. Golden Age
> 
> Successive Epochs leading to the Most Great Peace
> 
> 3. Further Manifestations - under the shadow of Bahá'u'lláh
> 
> END OF PRESENT UNIVERSAL CYCLE
> 
> III. FURTHER UNIVERSAL CYCLES
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views42440 views since posted 2000; last edit 2024-10-28 06:25 UTC;
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> previous at archive.org.../momen_encyclopedia_ages_cycles;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> Citation: ris/417
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> — *Ages and Cycles (Used by permission of the curator)*