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WORLD
ORDER
AUGUST, 1945
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH’S TABLET TO THE POPE
THE PATH TO THE KINGDOM—‘Abdu’l-Bahá
THE MISSION OF THE LORD CHRIST—George Townshend
RELIGION AND THE SCHOOLS, Editorial—Garreta Busey
THE GIFT OF GOD—Thornton Chase
THORNTON CHASE: FIRST AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í—Carl Sheffler
FOR MY SONS—Evelyn V. Loveday
WITH OUR READERS
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
World Order was founded March 21, 1910 as Bahá’í News, the first organ of the American Bahá’ís. In March, 1911, its title was changed to Star of the West. Beginning November, 1922 the magazine appeared under the name of The Bahá’í Magazine. The issue of April, 1935 carried the present title of World Order, combining The Bahá’í Magazine and World Unity, which had been founded October, 1927. The present number represents Volume XXXVI of the continuous Bahá’í publication.
WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, Ill., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Garreta Busey, Gertrude K. Henning, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
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Mrs. Gertrude K. Henning, Secretary
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AUGUST, 1945, VOLUME XI, NUMBER 5
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3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1945 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title
registered at U. S. Patent Office.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED
ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
WORLD ORDER
The Bahá’í Magazine
VOLUME XI AUGUST, 1945 NUMBER 5
Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet to the Pope
O POPE! Rend the veils asunder.
He Who is the Lord of
Lords is come overshadowed with
clouds, and the decree hath been
fulfilled by God, the Almighty,
the Unrestrained. . . . He, verily,
hath again come down from Heaven
even as He came down from
it the first time. Beware that thou
dispute not with Him even as the
Pharisees disputed with Him
(Jesus) without a clear token or
proof. On His right hand flow the
living waters of grace, and on
His left the choice Wine of justice,
whilst before Him march the
angels of Paradise, bearing the
banners of His signs. Beware lest
any name debar thee from God,
the Creator of earth and heaven.
Leave thou the world behind thee,
and turn towards thy Lord,
through Whom the whole earth
hath been illumined. . . . Dwellest
thou in palaces whilst He Who
is the King of Revelation liveth
in the most desolate of abodes?
Leave them unto such as desire
them, and set thy face with joy
and delight towards the Kingdom.
. . . Arise in the name of
thy Lord, the God of Mercy,
amidst the peoples of the earth,
and seize thou the Cup of Life
with the hands of confidence, and
first drink thou therefrom, and
proffer it then to such as turn
towards it amongst the peoples
of all faiths. . . .
Call thou to remembrance Him
Who was the Spirit (Jesus), Who,
when He came, the most learned
of His age pronounced judgment
against Him in His own country,
whilst he who was only a fisherman
believed in Him. Take heed,
then, ye men of understanding
heart! Thou, in truth, art one of
the suns of the heaven of His
names. Guard thyself, lest darkness
spread its veil over thee, and
fold thee away from His light.
. . . Consider those who opposed
the Son (Jesus), when He came
unto them with sovereignty and
power. How many the Pharisees
who were waiting to behold Him,
and were lamenting over their
separation from Him! And yet,
when the fragrance of His coming
was wafted over them, and
His beauty was unveiled, they
turned aside from Him and disputed
with Him. . . . None save
[Page 130]
a very few, who were destitute
of any power amongst men,
turned towards His face. And yet,
today, every man endowed with
power and invested with sovereignty
prideth himself on His
Name! In like manner, consider
how numerous, in these days, are
the monks who, in My Name,
have secluded themselves in their
churches, and who, when the appointed
time was fulfilled, and
We unveiled Our beauty, knew
Us not, though they call upon Me
at eventide and at dawn. . . .
The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great majesty. Turn your faces towards Him, O concourse of the righteous! . . . This is the day whereon the Rock (Peter) crieth out and shouteth, and celebrateth the praise of its Lord, the All-Possessing, the Most High, saying: “Lo! The Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled! . . .” My body longeth for the cross, and Mine head waiteth the thrust of the spear, in the path of the All-Merciful, that the world may be purged from its transgressions. . . .
O Supreme Pontiff! Incline
thine ear unto that which the
Fashioner of moldering bones
counselleth thee, as voiced by
Him Who is His Most Great
Name. Sell all the embellished
ornaments thou dost possess, and
expend them in the path of God,
Who causeth the night to return
upon the day, and the day to return
upon the night. Abandon thy
kingdom unto the kings, and
emerge from thy habitation, with
thy face set towards the Kingdom,
and, detached from the
world, then speak forth the
praises of thy Lord betwixt earth
and heaven. Thus hath bidden
thee He Who is the Possessor of
Names, on the part of thy Lord,
the Almighty, the All-Knowing.
Exhort thou the kings and say:
“Deal equably with men. Beware
lest ye transgress the bounds
fixed in the Book.” This indeed
becometh thee. Beware lest thou
appropriate unto thyself the
things of the world and the riches
thereof. Leave them unto such as
desire them, and cleave unto that
which hath been enjoined upon
thee by Him Who is the Lord of
creation. Should any one offer
thee all the treasures of the earth,
refuse to even glance upon them.
Be as thy Lord hath been. Thus
hath the Tongue of Revelation
spoken that which God hath
made the ornament of the book
of creation. . . . Should the inebriation
of the wine of My
verses seize thee, and thou determinest
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to present thyself before
the throne of thy Lord, the Creator
of earth and heaven, make
My love thy vesture, and thy
shield remembrance of Me, and
thy provision reliance upon God,
the Revealer of all power. . . .
Verily, the day of ingathering is
come, and all things have been
separated from each other. He
hath stored away that which He
chose in the vessels of justice,
and cast into fire that which befitteth
it. Thus hath it been decreed
by your Lord, the Mighty,
the Loving, in this promised Day.
He, verily, ordaineth what He
pleaseth. There is none other God
save He, the Almighty, the All-Compelling.
“To Pope Pius IX, the undisputed head
of the most powerful Church in Christendom,
possessor of both temporal and spiritual
authority, He, a Prisoner in the army
barracks of the penal-colony of ‘Akká, addressed
a most weighty Epistle.”—God
Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi.
That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith.
The gift of God to this enlightened age is the knowledge of the oneness
of mankind and the fundamental oneness of religion. War shall cease between
nations, and by the will of God the Most Great Peace shall come; the
world will be seen as a new world, and all men will live as brothers.
A world community in which all economic barriers will have been
permanently demolished and the interdependence of Capital and Labor
definitely recognized; in which the clamor of religious fanaticism and strife
will have been forever stilled; in which the flame of racial animosity will
have been finally extinguished; in which a single code of international law—
the product of the considered judgment of the world’s federated representatives
—shall have as its sanction the instant and coercive intervention of the
combined forces of the federated units; and finally a world community in
which the fury of a capricious and militant nationalism will have been
transmuted into an abiding consciousness of world citizenship—such indeed,
appears, in its broadest outline, the Order anticipated by Bahá’u’lláh, an
Order that shall come to be regarded as the fairest fruit of a slowly maturing
age.
The Path to the Kingdom
‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
FROM the time of the creation
of Adam to this day there
have been two pathways in the
world of humanity; one the
natural or materialistic, the other
the religious or spiritual. The
pathway of nature is the pathway
of the animal realm. The animal
acts in accordance with the requirements
of nature, follows its
own instincts and desires. Whatever
its impulses and proclivities
may be it has the liberty to
gratify them; yet it is a captive
of nature. It cannot deviate in
the least degree from the road
nature has established. It is
utterly minus spiritual susceptibilities,
ignorant of divine religion
and without knowledge of
the kingdom of God. The animal
possesses no power of ideation
or conscious intelligence; it is
captive of the senses and deprived
of that which lies beyond
them. It is subject to what the
eye sees, the ear hears, the nostrils
sense, the taste detects and
touch reveals. These sensations
are acceptable and sufficient for
the animal. But that which is
beyond the range of the senses,
that realm of phenomena through
which the conscious pathway to
the kingdom of God leads, the
world of spiritual susceptibilities
and divine religion,—of these
the animal is completely unaware,
for in its highest station
it is a captive of nature.
One of the strangest things
witnessed is that the materialists
of today are proud of their natural
instincts and bondage. They
state that nothing is entitled to
belief and acceptance except that
which is sensible or tangible. By
their own statements they are
captives of nature, unconscious
of the spiritual world, uninformed
of the divine kingdom
and unaware of heavenly bestowals.
If this be a virtue the
animal has attained it to a superlative
degree, for the animal is
absolutely ignorant of the realm
of spirit and out of touch with
the inner world of conscious
realization. The animal would
agree with the materialist in
denying the existence of that
which transcends the senses. If
we admit that being limited to
the plane of the senses is a virtue
the animal is indeed more
virtuous than man, for it is entirely
bereft of that which lies
beyond, absolutely oblivious of
the kingdom of God and its
traces whereas God has deposited
[Page 133]
within the human creature an
illimitable power by which he
can rule the world of nature.
Consider how all other phenomenal existence and beings are captives of nature. The sun, that colossal center of our solar system, the giant stars and planets, the towering mountains, the earth itself and its kingdoms of life lower than the human,—all are captives of nature except man. No other created thing can deviate in the slightest degree from obedience to natural law. The sun in its glory and greatness millions of miles away is held prisoner in its orbit of universal revolution, captive of universal natural control. Man is the ruler of nature. According to natural law and limitation he should remain upon the earth, but behold how he violates this command and soars above the mountains in aeroplanes. He sails in ships upon the surface of the ocean and dives into its depths in submarines. Man makes nature his servant; harnesses the mighty energy of electricity for instance and imprisons it in a small lamp for his uses and convenience. He speaks from the east to the west through a wire. He is able to store and preserve his voice in a phonograph. Though he is a dweller upon the earth he penetrates the mysteries of starry worlds inconceivably distant. He discovers latent realities within the bosom of the earth, uncovers treasures, penetrates secrets and mysteries of the phenomenal world and brings to light that which according to nature’s jealous laws should remain hidden, unknown and unfathomable. Through an ideal inner power man brings these realities forth from the invisible plane to the visible. This is contrary to nature’s law.
It is evident therefore that
man is ruler over nature’s sphere
and province. Nature is inert,
man is progressive. Nature has
no consciousness, man is endowed
with it. Nature is without
volition and acts perforce whereas
man possesses a mighty will.
Nature is incapable of discovering
mysteries or realities whereas
man is especially fitted to do
so. Nature is not in touch with
the realm of God, man is attuned
to its evidences. Nature is uninformed
of God, man is conscious
of him. Man acquires divine
virtues, nature is denied
them. Man can voluntarily discontinue
vices, nature has no
power to modify the influence of
its instincts. Altogether it is
evident that man is more noble
and superior; that in him there
is an ideal power surpassing
nature. He has consciousness,
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volition, memory, intelligent
power, divine attributes and virtues
of which nature is completely
deprived, bereft and
minus; therefore man is higher
and nobler by reason of the ideal
and heavenly force latent and
manifest in him.
How strange then it seems that man notwithstanding his endowment with this ideal power, will descend to a level beneath him and declare himself no greater than that which is manifestly inferior to his real station. God has created such a conscious spirit within him that he is the most wonderful of all contingent beings. In ignoring these virtues he descends to the material plane, considers matter the ruler of existence and denies that which lies beyond. Is this virtue? In its fullest sense this is animalistic, for the animal is the greater philosopher because it is completely ignorant of the kingdom of God, possesses no spiritual susceptibilities and is uninformed of the heavenly world. In brief, this is a view of the pathway of nature.
The second pathway is that of religion, the road of the divine kingdom. It involves the acquisition of praiseworthy attributes, heavenly illumination and righteous actions in the world of humanity. This pathway is conducive to the progress and uplift of the world. It is the source of human enlightenment, training and ethical improvement; the magnet which attracts the love of God because of the knowledge of God it bestows. This is the road of the holy manifestations of God for they are in reality the foundation of the divine religion of oneness. There is no change or transformation in this pathway. It is the cause of human betterment, the acquisition of heavenly virtues and the illumination of mankind.
Alas! that humanity is completely
submerged in limitations
and unrealities notwithstanding
the truth of divine religion has
ever remained the same. Superstitions
have obscured the fundamental
reality, the world is darkened
and the light of religion is
not apparent. This darkness is
conducive to differences and dissensions;
rites and dogmas are
many and various; therefore discord
has arisen among the religious
systems whereas religion
is for the unification of mankind.
True religion is the source of
love and agreement amongst
men, the cause of the development
of praiseworthy qualities;
but the people are holding to the
counterfeit and imitation, negligent
of the reality which unifies;
so they are bereft and deprived
[Page 135]
of the radiance of religion. They
follow superstitions inherited
from their fathers and ancestors.
To such an extent has this prevailed
that they have taken away
the heavenly light of divine truth
and sit in the darkness of limitations
and imaginations. That
which was meant to be conducive
to life has become the cause of
death; that which should have
been an evidence of knowledge
is now a proof of ignorance; that
which was a factor in the sublimity
of human nature has
proved to be its degradation.
Therefore the realm of the religionist
has gradually narrowed
and darkened and the sphere of
the materialist has widened and
advanced; for the religionist has
held to imitation and counterfeit,
neglecting and discarding holiness
and the sacred reality of
religion. When the sun sets it is
the time for bats to fly. They
come forth because they are
creatures of the night. When
the lights of religion become
darkened the materialists appear.
They are the bats of night. The
decline of religion is their time
of activity; they seek the shadows
when the world is darkened and
clouds have spread over it.
His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has risen from the eastern horizon. Like the glory of the sun He has come into the world. He has reflected the reality of divine religion, dispelled the darkness of imitations, laid the foundation of new teachings and resuscitated the world.
The first teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the investigation of reality. Man must seek the reality himself, forsaking imitations and adherence to mere hereditary forms. As the nations of the world are following imitations in lieu of truth and as imitations are many and various, differences of belief have been productive of strife and warfare. So long as the imitations remain the oneness of the world of humanity is impossible. Therefore we must investigate the reality in order that by its light the clouds and darkness may be dispelled. Reality is one reality; it does not admit multiplicity or division. If the nations of the world investigate reality they will agree and become united. Many people and sects in Persia have sought reality through the guidance and teaching of Bahá’u’lláh. They have become united and now live in a state of agreement and love; among them there is no longer the least trace of enmity and strife.
The Jews were expecting the
appearance of the Messiah, looking
forward to it with devotion
of heart and soul but because
[Page 136]
they were submerged in limitations
they did not believe in His
Holiness Jesus Christ when He
appeared. Finally they rose
against Him even to the extreme
of persecution and shedding His
blood. Had they investigated
reality they would have accepted
their promised Messiah. These
blind imitations and hereditary
prejudices have invariably become
the cause of bitterness and
hatred and have filled the world
with darkness and violence of
war. Therefore we must seek the
fundamental truth in order to
extricate ourselves from such
conditions and then with illumined
faces find the pathway
to the kingdom of God.
The second teaching of Bahá’u’lláh concerns the unity of mankind. All are the servants of God and members of one human family. God has created all and all are His children. He rears, nourishes, provides for and is kind to all. Why should we be unjust and unkind? This is the policy of God, the lights of which have shone throughout the world. His sun bestows its effulgence unsparingly upon all, His clouds send down rain without distinction or favor, His breezes refresh the whole earth. It is evident that humankind without exception is sheltered beneath His mercy and protection. Some are imperfect; they must be perfected. The ignorant must be taught, the sick healed, the sleepers awakened. The child must not be oppressed or censured because it is undeveloped; it must be patiently trained. The sick must not be neglected because they are ailing; nay, rather, we must have compassion upon them and bring them healing. Briefly; the old conditions of animosity, bigotry and hatred between the religious systems must be dispelled and the new conditions of love, agreement and spiritual brotherhood be established among them.
The third teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is that religion must be the source of fellowship, the cause of unity and the nearness of God to man. If it rouses hatred and strife it is evident that absence of religion is preferable and an irreligious man better than one who professes it. According to the divine will and intention religion should be the cause of love and agreement, a bond to unify all mankind for it is a message of peace and good-will to man from God.
The fourth teaching of Bahá’u’lláh
is the agreement of religion
and science. God has endowed
man with intelligence and
reason whereby he is required
to determine the verity of questions
and propositions. If religious
[Page 137]
beliefs and opinions are
found contrary to the standards
of science they are mere superstitions
and imaginations; for the
antithesis of knowledge is ignorance,
and the child of ignorance
is superstition. Unquestionably
there must be agreement between
true religion and science. If a
question be found contrary to
reason, faith and belief in it are
impossible and there is no outcome
but wavering and vacillation.
Bahá’u’lláh has also taught that prejudices, whether religious, racial, patriotic or political are destructive to the foundations of human development. Prejudices of any kind are the destroyers of human happiness and welfare. Until they are dispelled the advancement of the world of humanity is not possible, yet racial, religious and national bias are observed everywhere. For thousands of years the world of humanity has been agitated and disturbed by prejudices. As long as it prevails, warfare, animosity and hatred will continue. Therefore if we seek to establish peace we must cast aside this obstacle, for otherwise agreement and composure are not to be attained.
Fifth: Bahá’u’lláh set forth principles of guidance and teaching for economic readjustment. Regulations were revealed by him which insure the welfare of the commonwealth. As the rich man enjoys his life surrounded by ease and luxuries, so the poor man must likewise have a home and be provided with sustenance and comforts commensurate with his needs. This readjustment of the social economic is of the greatest importance inasmuch as it insures the stability of the world of humanity; and until it is effected, happiness and prosperity are impossible.
Sixth: Bahá’u’lláh teaches that an equal standard of human rights must be recognized and adopted. In the estimation of God all men are equal; there is no distinction or preferment for any soul in the dominion of His justice and equity.
Seventh: Education is essential and all standards of training and teaching throughout the world of mankind should be brought into conformity and agreement; a universal curriculum should be established and the basis of ethics be the same.
Eighth: A universal language
shall be adopted and be taught
by all the schools and institutions
of the world. A committee appointed
by national bodies of
learning shall select a suitable
language to be used as a medium
of international communication.
[Page 138]
All must acquire it. This is one
of the great factors in the unification
of man.
Ninth: Bahá’u’lláh emphasized and established the equality of man and woman. Sex is not particularized to humanity; it exists throughout the animate kingdoms but without distinction or preference. In the vegetable kingdom there is complete equality between male and female of species. Likewise in the animal plane equality exists; all are under the protection of God. Is it becoming to man that he the noblest of creatures should observe and insist upon such distinction? Woman’s lack of progress and proficiency has been due to her need of equal education and opportunity. Had she been allowed this equality there is no doubt she would be the counterpart of man in ability and capacity. The happiness of mankind will be realized when women and men coordinate and advance equally, for each is the complement and helpmeet of the other.
The world of humanity cannot advance through mere physical powers and intellectual attainments; nay, rather, the Holy Spirit is essential. The divine Father must assist the human world to attain maturity. The body of man is in need of physical and mental energy but his spirit requires the life and fortification of the Holy Spirit. Without its protection and quickening the human world would be extinguished. His Holiness Jesus Christ declared “Let the dead bury their dead.” He also said “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.” It is evident therefore according to His Holiness that the human spirit which is not fortified by the presence of the Holy Spirit is dead and in need of resurrection by that divine power; otherwise though materially advanced to high degrees man cannot attain full and complete progress.
Address delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá June
9, 1912, at Baptist Temple, Philadelphia,
reproduced in The Promulgation of Universal
Peace.
All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth.
We must strive unceasingly and without rest to accomplish the development
of the spiritual nature in man, and endeavor with tireless energy to
advance humanity toward the nobility of its true and intended station.
The Mission of the Lord Christ
GEORGE TOWNSHEND
THE task of Christ differed
from that of any of the High-Prophets
who preceded Him in
that to Him was assigned the
duty of announcing that the
Supreme Advent of all time was
now at hand and of completing
the education of mankind for
that august event. His Dispensation
stands apart from all before
it in that it crowns the period
of preparation and opens directly
into that Age of God for
which all previous Messengers
had made ready the way.
Never till now was it given to men to view the work of Christ in its true perspective or to discern the full proportions of His wisdom and beneficence. Those who have felt themselves forgiven and redeemed through Him have throughout the Christian Era chanted in many accents His praise; and all that their lips could utter would not tell the tale of their gratitude nor express the felicity which He had brought to their lives. Historians, in belief and in unbelief, have extolled the radiant beauty of His character, the elevating influence of His teachings and the transformation of the western world which has been effected through His power. But not until the Dawn of God broke over the earth, not until Bahá’u’lláh told of the progressive revelation of God through a world-old sequence of Divine Teachers, could men regard Christ’s Message in its larger aspects or set it in its due relation to the complete redemptive purpose of the Eternal God.
Now that the faithful look
back upon the past through the
portals of God’s Age of Gold,
it is possible to discern from a
new angle values in Christ’s
teaching that before were hidden
and to probe with a clearer
insight the bearing and significance
of many of His utterances.
The directions of Jesus were, of
course, like those of every other
High-Prophet, measured with
loving care to the needs and
capacities of the people to whom
He ministered. Out of the limitless
treasury of His knowledge
He bestowed on them that which
would help them most. But His
special mission of preparing
humanity for the great climacteric
that drew so near gave to
His teaching a special character.
The substance of His revelation
was designed to prepare mankind
for that severe test of love
and spirituality to which they
[Page 140]
were so soon to be subjected. His
Heart was fixed upon the Kingdom
that was to be, and His
central aim was to fit the people
for this great enfranchisement
and to strengthen them against
the perils of the awful Day of
Doom.
Now in the twentieth century when that Doomsday has come upon us, when the principles of that Kingdom have been divinely revealed and when its outline is taking visible shape throughout the earth, now for the first time the believer is enabled to discern how the Revelation of Christ was so conceived as to lead by a natural gradation into the Age of Bahá’u’lláh; now for the first time he can appreciate something of the foreknowledge and the wisdom of Him whose far-reaching vision swept down the long vista of His own Dispensation to the happenings of this new-born Day of God.
The central message of Jesus was His promise and His warning that before long (at the end of one more Era, the Era then begun) God would in deed and in fact establish the Kingdom upon earth; its foundations would be laid in the hearts of men, and those who were found to be unworthy would be destroyed. The Event of which poets had dreamed, which seers had descried, which prophets had predicted, was soon to be no more a dream or a hope or a forecast but an accomplished fact of history.
This was from the first to the last throughout His ministry the great theme of Jesus’ preaching, as it had been the theme of His forerunner, John:
“From that time Jesus began to preach to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The coming of that Kingdom was by this command to be the prayer of the faithful all through His Dispensation: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as in heaven.” And the prediction that one day He will again hold communion with the faithful on earth in His Father’s Kingdom is one of the parting thoughts of His discourse at the Last Supper.
Jesus’ revelation was not exclusively
spiritual. It was in part
historical. He opened not only
the gates of a future life beyond
the grave, but the gates of humanity’s
future life upon the
earth. He teaches men not only
to look inward where God has
set His shrine in the human heart,
but to look forward to a time
when God shall set His tabernacle
among men. Hope became
a Christian virtue; and the object
of hope was not only the
spiritual salvation of the individual
[Page 141]
but the social salvation
of the race. He bade believers
have no fear, for it was the
Father’s pleasure to give them
the Kingdom (in which utterance,
of course, as when He
said “Watch, for ye know not
what hour your lord cometh,”
or “I am with you always
even to the end of the dispensation,”
He addressed not
only those who stood before him
at the moment but all the faithful
of His “generation” and
after). The Gospel of Matthew
quotes four of Christ’s most
famous discourses. In every one
of these—the Sermon on the
Mount, the charge of the Twelve,
the Seven Parables of chapter
13 and the Words on Mount Olivet
—reference is made to the
coming of the Father’s Kingdom;
and in one of them, and
not the least sublime, no leading
reference is made to anything else.
The intensity of Jesus’ spirituality, the vigor of His insistence that the vital matter in life is the right relation of the individual soul to God, seem to make more startling, more arresting by contrast, those historical predictions in which He deals with outward happenings and worldwide events and speaks not alone to the individual but especially to nations and the human race as a whole.
Not that in their character and essence the laws and injunctions of Jesus are different from His forecasts and promises. The outlook and the spirit is ever unchanging. Indeed, in the light of the further revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, the connection between the two portions of Jesus’ teaching is seen to be close and intimate. The distinction is real; yet it is now evident that the spiritual principles which Christ most strongly urged are the self-same principles on which His Father’s Kingdom in the world today is based. His religious teachings seem to have been directed to the purpose of preparing mankind for the promised gift of the Kingdom, and to have been designed to elevate and strengthen them for the task of establishing it upon the earth.
For the Kingdom of the Father
is indeed an earthly kingdom in
the sense that it is set down foursquare
upon the solid earth for
all men to see it, know it and inhabit
it. But it is not less certainly
a spiritual kingdom. The
rule of the Father is primarily
over the hearts of men, and it is
as the winner of their hearts that
He controls their wills and their
actions. Till the human heart is
opened to God and is made fit
and ready to receive Him, such
a rule is impossible; and it is to
[Page 142]
the preparation of the heart for
God that Christ addresses the
main body of this teaching. Set
the instruction of Jesus beside
that of the mighty Prophet who
preceded Him, and in nothing
does it show a greater heightening
than in its insistence on spirituality
and love. Moses, meting
His message to a cruder people in
a cruder age, had said nothing
of eternal life. His religion was
a religion of one world. They
who faithfully obeyed the commandments
of God would dwell
long in the land enjoying peace
and plenty. But Christ’s was a
religion of two worlds, the outer
and the inner, the material and
the spiritual; and of the two by
far the more important was the
latter. He did not teach believers
to set much store by temporal
rewards, but rather to desire the
everlasting blessedness of the
vision of God, admission to His
presence, and the enjoyment of
His mercy. Moses had given a
comprehensive code of statutes
and regulations; Jesus—so far
as our Canon informs us—gave
two material ordinances only.
He loosed men from the law of
the sabbath and made more tight
the law of divorce. He removed
a complicated system of ritual
and material sacrifice; and no
record remains of His having instituted
in its place more than two
ceremonies, both of which were
essentially symbolic. In contrast
to the offerings demanded by the
old law these rites involved no
material outlay of any moment.
The ancient ordinance that no
worshipper should appear before
the Lord empty-handed was not
fulfilled in them. No gift of bullock,
ram or sheep, not even
of a little dove or two young
pigeons, was called for. A running
brook, an ordinary meal,
supplied the Christian with all
he needed for baptism and the
breaking of bread. The meaning
and the value of the observance
lay wholly in that spiritual thing
which it signified. The baptism
with water typified that baptism
with the Holy Spirit and the fire
of the love of God (spoken of by
John) which Christ conferred on,
those who were able to receive it.
The blessedness of the memorial
feast was its renewing of that
spiritual love which gave to the
Lord’s last passover its unique
and imperishable glory.
Moses, like every High-Prophet
before or since, proclaimed
the law of love. Every
High-Prophet has done so—“All
laws and ordinances,” said Bahá’u’lláh,
“have been changed according
to the requirements of
the times, except the law of love,
which like a fountain ever flows
and the course of which never
[Page 143]
suffers change.” Moses commanded
(Deut. vi, 5), “Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, with all thy soul,
with all thy might” and (Lev.
xix, 18), “Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself.” But Jesus
revealed the law more fully and
insisted on a larger obedience to
it. “A new commandment I give
unto you: that ye love one another.”
He made love the test of
discipleship. “By this shall all
men know ye are my disciples:
if ye have love one to another”
(John xiii, 35). If He taught that
God was Spirit, men learned
from Him that God was Love.
The whole duty of man towards
his Maker and towards his fellow-creature
was comprehended in
the practice of Love. When He
carried men to the summit of all
His most exalted and exacting
demands, He bade them to be
perfect as their Father whose
nature He revealed as being
Spirit and Love.
Had men during the Christian Era learned from their Master this lesson of spirituality and love, the establishment of the Father’s Kingdom upon earth would be an easy task today. The fact that the Kingdom has— as the Bahá’ís believe—in very fact been inaugurated, stands now fixed upon irremovable foundations, and takes shape amidst the chaos of the nations, is the greatest proof existing of the wisdom and the power and the triumph of the Lord Christ.
Not only did Christ reveal the leading principles of the Kingdom which was—He said—so soon to come, but He gave many signs by which the approach of that Kingdom and of His own advent might be recognized. The date He did not give: it was known only to the Father. But He presaged a number of events and omens, some of them unmistakable and portentous, for which He bade men watch. The period was to be distant. The Gospel would be carried to all lands; and, nevertheless, before the Son of Man came, faith would be hard to find and the people growing careless and disobedient, would indulge in oppression and tyranny and would give themselves up to worldly pursuits. The fate of the Jews, however, would be the most definite prognostic of the time of the end. During the Christian Era they were to be scattered abroad and held in exile. When they had served their sentence and were permitted to return to their own land, the world might know that an epoch had ended and a new world-age begun.
Such a prediction was so clear
that it would seem Christ had
[Page 144]
made any failure to identify His
coming impossible. Yet He went
further. He spoke repeatedly
about His own coming. His
language was (as always) simple,
yet it was such as to arrest
attention and to demand scrutiny.
He announced that He would
come with power in the glory of
the Father; that He would send
His angels throughout the world
and would destroy the ungodly;
and that His splendor would
shine in the darkness from the
east to the west. But He also said
with not less emphasis that His
coming would take mankind by
surprise: as a thief enters stealthily
at night and is in the house
while the master sleeps and
knows it not, so He would come
into a world wrapt in spiritual
ignorance and would not be observed
by those to whom He
came.
It is not put on record that His disciples asked Him the meaning of forewarnings so important and seemingly so contradictory, nor is there extant the explanation of any inconsistency. He gave men enough information to guide them aright when the emergency arose, and left the rest to their own efforts.
The tone in which He delivered these prophecies about the dawn of the Last Day was not that which His hearers might have expected. He did not speak of the approach of world-redemption in a joyous and triumphant strain. On the contrary, His words were those of premonition and anxiety. Though the great Day which He had the privilege to foretell was the time of the Victory of God, was to purge away sorrow and tears and spiritual death, and to usher in the reign of concord and peace and divine felicity when the righteous would shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of the Father, yet His language about its drawing near was imbued with grave foreboding. He dwelt on the thought of a Great Assize in which He would figure as Judge and would be called on to condemn many who used His name and counted themselves His friends; and impressed firmly on men’s minds an apprehension of a strict and universal judgment and of a final exculpation that would only be gained after an ordeal of unprecedented calamity.
George Townshend, M.A., is Canon of St.
Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, and Archdeacon
of Clonfert. This article is a chapter
in Dr. Townshend’s book entitled The
Promise of All Ages, Bahá’í Publishing
Committee, 1935.
This is the Day, O my Lord, which Thou didst announce unto all mankind as the Day whereon Thou wouldst reveal Thy Self, and shed Thy radiance, and shine brightly over all Thy creatures.
Editorial
RELIGION AND THE SCHOOLS
THE United States has been a
pioneer among nations in providing
education for all its people.
The public school system is
designed, at least theoretically,
to give every child a basic education
and to offer higher learning
on easy terms to those who
desire it. Some such system is
corollary to democratic government,
for the people cannot
govern unless the citizens are
able to read and to think for
themselves. Another fundamental
principle on which this nation
was founded is that of freedom
of worship, which is guaranteed
by the Constitution to all the
people. No system of religious
belief is to be forced on any
of the people by individuals or
by any agency of the government.
The necessary result of the
working out of these two principles
is a widespread public
school system from which all
religious teaching is prohibited.
In earlier times this divorce between education and religion mattered less than it does now. Institutions of worship were strong, children were sent to Sunday Schools, and in most families some religious training was provided in the home. But recently certain tendencies have been at work to upset the original balance between mental and spiritual education.
On the one hand, the school is absorbing more and more of the children’s time. Social and athletic activities fill the hours outside the regular curriculum to such an extent that much of the time when formerly the child was at home is now spent under the auspices of the school.
On the other hand, the influence
of the religious institutions
is generally weaker. Faith
has declined. In few homes is
religion ever mentioned. The
parents themselves do not attend
church regularly and the children
are not sent to the Sunday
Schools. The Sunday Schools
themselves, in an effort to hold
the young people, dilute religious
training and often replace
a serious study of the basic
religious scriptures with social
attractions. The result of this
situation is a vast ignorance on
the part of most young people
of their own or any other religion.
A literature class at one
of our state universities, not long
ago, asked to explain an allusion
to Sinai, produced only blank
[Page 146]
bewilderment. Perhaps it is not
surprising that the Ten Commandments
have lost some of
their force.
The public as a whole is beginning to be aware that something is wrong. There is a demand in many places that ethics be taught in the schools, a demand that, in itself, is an admission of the inability of the home and the church to provide sufficient moral background for the children. Because it is hard to find a powerful system of ethics unconnected with any religion, some schools have made provision for a period of religious instruction to be given by ministers and rabbis of the faiths to which the children belong. School time is used and the authority of the school is exercised to insure attendance.
Such an arrangement has drawn protest, however, and indeed it is charged with potential trouble. It may threaten religious freedom by forcing the child of a minority faith with no teacher available to the school into one of the more powerful groups. The plan calls the attention of the children to religious differences between them and may very well cause prejudice.
And yet the present artificial division between mental and spiritual education is disastrous in itself. Knowledge is indeed one point and the present system only serves to multiply it. The human being is not meant to be divided into air-tight compartments, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Religion can serve to integrate the personality of the individual. It can draw all knowledge together into a whole and supply a point of orientation for the student which will make learning easier and give it an adequate purpose. The study of the physical universe, for instance, is enhanced by a sense of reverence for its Creator, and by a realization that the knowledge we gain is to be used for the glory of God and the advancement of mankind.
Our young people feel an acute need of such orientation, but it cannot be given them in the schools until the religions have become united. The rift in the education of children is a symptom of the illness of the world, which Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed could be healed only by one common Faith, a Faith which He promised would soon prevail on the earth. We can anticipate, then, a time when educators will have a spiritual renaissance, when teaching will be illumined by the love of God and study will become an act of devotion.
The Gift of God
THORNTON CHASE
GOD loved the world—not
only the Jews at Jerusalem,
but all mankind; not only
at the time of Jesus but before
and since. Always, since the
world began He has given His
Word to all men, at all times,
in so far as they were able to
receive it. Whence came the
wonderful instructions for life
in the ancient writings of Enoch,
Moses, David, and the Psalmists,
in the Vedas, the Avesta, the
Gathas and Upanishads, in Isaiah
and Lao Tse? Were they of
human or divine manufacture?
They were always higher than
the imaginations of man, and
they were opposed to his natural
desires. When their inner significances
and realities are
pierced, the oneness of their
essentials is so evident there can
be no doubt that they originated
from a single source. They all
had their origins in the Word
of God, which in its essence is
the same today, yesterday and
forever. That which is different
is not His Word.
Each of the great religions bases its teaching, faith, loyalty and existence upon confidence in the word of a single human founder. Each points back to him as the reliable one, the superlative one, the infallible one. But no word is infallible save that of God, and if those great ones were truly reliable, their word must have been the Word of God. The expression of that Word through such prepared human instruments has always been the method whereby man has learned the Will of God for his own life. They were the “mouths” of the Lord.
That the Almighty God chooses a man to be His representative and His mouthpiece is shown in the interesting account, related in Exodus 3 and 4, of His appointment of Moses to be the Deliverer of his people of Israel. After God called to him out of the burning bush and told him that he was God of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He said: I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. (God is always trying to bring His children out of the Egypt of darkness and ignorance.)
But Moses did not seek such
an appointment; he dreaded it
and tried to escape it, although
he desired to serve God. And
Moses said unto God, Who am
I, that I should go unto Pharaoh,
[Page 148]
and that I should bring forth the
children of Israel out of Egypt?
Then God gave His mighty
Name—I am that I am: and He
said, Thou shalt say unto the
children of Israel, I am hath
sent me unto you. He also gave
further instructions to Moses to
tell the people how God had
appeared unto him and given
these commands.
And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not sent thee. Then the Lord showed him how to manifest signs of power by the symbols of the rod and of the right hand, but still Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? Have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
Yet Moses could not entirely sever his thought of self and trust the Lord. And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou shouldest send. How prone we are, even to this day, to decide in our minds whom the Lord shall send as His Representative to man, and how He shall come. But, after all this, God chose Moses to be His Representative to Israel, and even appointed Aaron, his brother, to be a mouthpiece for Moses, saying, I know that he can speak well. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shalt be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shalt be, even he shalt be to thee instead of a mouth and thou shalt be to him instead of God.
Thus God puts His Word into the mouths of His Chosen Ones, and thus He appoints a man to be as God unto men. It is by the might of the Word that man is saved. The power of God is in the Word, but it saves only him who takes it into his heart that it may spring up there into a fountain of living Water, from which he shall be born into a new Life. In its lower, outer aspect, it is for the advantage of man’s present living; it teaches him morals and ethics which are the only source of all true ethical training, but its deeper meanings and, instructions are to prepare man for an inner life, widely different and incomparable to this life. Indeed, the best outer life is but death compared to this inner life; it is an old life compared to a new life.
[Page 149]
The speech of these Mouthpieces
of God was in the language
and terminology of the
time and place where it was
given, but the teachings were
offered and accepted only up to
the degree of capacity in their
hearers. In the ages of spiritual
infancy man could receive but
little of the strength of the Word,
and its doctrine was according
to his capacity. First came the
laws of fear and obedience; then
reverence, justice, wisdom and
love were inculcated as mankind
progressed in the Schools of
the Prophets. Each revealer of
the Word was a heavenly schoolmaster
and each divine lesson
became the fountain for the
further teaching of a later day.
Each manifestor of the commands
of God referred to the
teachings of those before him as
witness to his own authority. For
had ye believed Moses, ye would
have believed me.
Age after age, through history, One has appeared, who gave to man the Word of God, divine instruction how to live and what to do to attain a higher and heavenly station, to overcome former conditions and rise to a manner of life which should be permanent, sinless, perfect and valuable. With each one there was no earthly power, no armies, royalty, riches nor honor, but rather poverty, apparent weakness, oppression, hatred and rejection. Whatever the circumstance, time or place, he was, or became, poor in all things except the riches of the Word which ever went forth from the door of humility and lowliness. It was simply delivered and left to itself without human aid (except the life illustrating it) that it might prove its divine power by its own penetrative, creative and transforming effect upon mankind. At first it entered the hearts of the few, changed their lives, opened their minds to the Truth and Love of God, and then went on from generation to generation, altering the destinies of nations, overthrowing dynasties, forming new peoples and giving life and hope to untold millions of souls throughout centuries of time.
There are men in this day,
reputed to be learned, who try
to deny that the historical Jesus
ever lived. The histories of him
are hearsay accounts, written by
unknown authors; not a word of
his own writing is in existence
as far as known; indeed there is
no record that he ever wrote,
except with his finger upon the
ground (what a wonderful symbol
was that, if it be understood)
even as God wrote with his finger
upon the tables of stone borne
by Moses from Sinai. Yet the
evidence that the Christ lived in
[Page 150]
that age of the world, and that
he gave such teachings as are
recorded, is as certain as the existence
of the sun, because there
must have been a Speaker of the
Words which have lived and
proved their divine quality
through nineteen centuries in
every way possible for the mind
or heart of man to conceive.
None but a Christ could have
conceived such a character as
the man, Christ Jesus.
The proof of the sun is its shining and its effect On the physical world; the evidence of the Word of God is its educative power and the light of life, which it kindles in the souls of men, making each heart a living flame, never to be quenched. No one, who has felt the elixir of the Word penetrating his soul and the fountain of eternal youth springing up within him, can ever deny the reality of the Christ and the fact of human Manifestation, the bearer of the Cup of Life.
That which distinguishes man from the lower kingdoms, that which makes him a man, is the power of the Word of God working in him to will and to do, to create new methods of thinking and doing, to implant new ideas which later become ideals toward which he strives, because he perceives them to be more valuable than his former knowledge and possessions, and so he grows in favor with God and man.
Many can bear witness to the power of the Word in their lives. It enters through the brain into the mind of man, and if not rejected it goes deeper, penetrating his heart, piercing through the shells of self-sufficiency and self-conceit, and becomes the new motive power of his life. For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Sometimes the effect is sudden, in the twinkling of an eye. Sometimes a great grief or disappointment is the cause of his awakening, because such experiences drive man, as it were, to God for relief from despair. He finds in time of sorrow and trial that there is no comforter but God and consolation comes through the revealed Word which always invites the hungry, the thirsty, the weary, to water, food and rest. Therefore the Manifestation of the Word is indeed the Comforter sent by God to those who turn to Him.
It teaches us of the realities
of things, what we are and what
we may be. It tells of the destiny
[Page 151]
made possible to us by the Love
of our Father. It is so plain that
no farer in the way need err
therein; it is so full that infinite
riches reward him who enters its
depths. It is the pearl of great
price, the treasure of mankind,
the guerdon of immortality, the
path of eternal life. Its rewards
are love, wisdom, service, bounty
and joy.
The divine proof, the permanent and reliable evidence of the mission and authority of any one of God’s Chosen Manifestations is the effect of the Words he speaks. Man’s word is of little weight, meaning or permanence; it is only for the circumstance and time; it soon fades and is forgotten, but the Word of God passes not away. It changes the very nature of man; it lives, grows, spreads in ever widening influence, has depths and mountains of meanings, is exhaustless, boundless, mighty, and rides in triumph over innumerable graves and generations of the works of men. So it is said in the Revelation of St. John that he who went forth conquering and to conquer riding upon the white horse and followed by the hosts of heaven, he who was the Lord of hosts, was called: The Word of God.
Is it not sufficiently evident that the great means for the salvation of men from themselves, for the overcoming of all satanic desires and the attainment of Eternal Life, is the Word of God? All the mighty names surround the Word. The one redeeming, creative, life-giving Power, the Angel of Light, the King of Righteousness, the Son, the Father, the Manifestation, the Glory of God, his Right Arm, his Holy One, his Redeemer and Saviour, is his Word Incarnate, revealed through the mouths and manifested in the lives of his holy and chosen Ones from the beginning of the world.
Reprinted from The Bahá’í Revelation by
Thornton Chase, published in 1919.
The purpose of the one true God, exalted be His Glory, in revealing Himself unto men is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the mine of their true and inmost selves. That the divers communions of the earth, and the manifold systems of religious belief, should never be allowed to foster the feelings of animosity among men is, in this Day, of the essence of the Faith of God and His Religion. These principles and laws, these firmly established and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are the rays of one Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated.
Thornton Chase: First American Bahá’í
CARL SCHEFFLER
PERHAPS the complete story
of the life of Thornton Chase,
the first Bahá’í in America, will
never be written. There is no
question but that future students
will enter upon exhaustive researches
to discover the details
of the life of the man who,
through the grace of God, was
given that great distinction.
Even though I was closely associated with him for a period of about seven years and there was given me the privilege of being his traveling companion on the memorable pilgrimage to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the prison at ‘Akká, I had then practically no knowledge of his early life. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on the 22nd of February, 1847. He showed me a picture of the home of his childhood which I recall was a large, rather ornate white frame dwelling, located at the intersection of two sharply converging streets. Of his early school or college life I know nothing. He told me that as a youth he had been engaged in fishing and on one occasion when we were quietly chatting together he described the sea, the waves, the oilskin hat and coat that he wore. At such a time I also learned that he at one time had a serious interest in music. I am under the impression that he sang in the opera, because he had a glorious voice.
His interest in religion was a life-long one. A profound student of comparative religion, he was, he said, convinced that this undoubtedly was the “Day of God”, and he neglected no avenue in his search for the Truth of God. Not only did he study the existing great organizations in the religious world but no new sect that sprung up was likely to escape his scholarly scrutiny. A few years previous to his contact with the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh he became a follower of Emanuel Swedenborg, without, however dropping his indefatigable search for a greater light which he felt must surely appear in this age.
He was of a deeply mystical nature, as well as an exact and methodical student whose appraisal of ideas and facts was most searching and critical. Logical, kindly, even sympathetic, he was certainly not easily led in his religious life by the many voices that clamored for recognition in that day of cults and “isms”.
[Page 153]
He wrote many articles, poems
and essays about God, Faith, and
Divine Love and he was so engaged
when he finally found the
Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. While
writing a poem about God one
day he was interrupted by the
visit of a business acquaintance
who expressed an interest in his
activity, perhaps because he was
so busy typing. Mr. Chase read
a portion of what he was writing
and he was astounded when his
friend told him that he had recently
come upon a man who
had declared that God had
“walked upon the earth”. Immediately
Mr. Chase expressed
interest and asked to be conducted
to this person, who it
transpired was Ibráhím Kheirella.
I believe that the friend who
led Mr. Chase to Dr. Kheirella
was William F. James. In the
roster of early believers which
is part of the National Bahá’í
archives, there appears under the
date of 1894 four names, William
F. James, Miss Marian A.
Miller, Edward W. Dennis and
Thornton Chase.
That Thornton Chase was the first Bahá’í in America stands without question. He was designated so by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. His acceptance of the Faith on the date that is recorded is also certain. In the early days of the Faith there were many hundreds of names inscribed on the roll of believers but unquestionably Thornton Chase was the leader and inspirer of the entire company. His steadfastness and zeal continuing undiminished through the storm and stress of question and doubt that was the result of the deflection of Ibráhím Kheirella himself and of those who, through too meager understanding of the Faith, followed him, marks him as a stalwart champion as well as the first one to arise in behalf of the Faith in America.
During the entire period of
his residence in Chicago Thornton
Chase held the position of
superintendent of agencies of the
Union Mutual Life Insurance
Society. His business caused him
to travel a great deal. Whenever
possible, in whatever city his
business took him, he endeavored
to scatter the seeds of the Faith,
and as the years passed and believers
became scattered throughout
the country he constantly
contacted and inspired them to
greater effort in its behalf. Whenever
he traveled it was his custom
to carry a typewriter, and
regardless of where he was, at
home, in his office, or in his compartment
on the train, he always
gave every spare moment to the
service of the Faith. He wrote
numberless papers, (he never
gave a public address extemporaneously);
he carried on a
[Page 154]
voluminous correspondence and
he wrote books, articles and
poems, many of which have been
published.
His thirst for knowledge was unquenchable, as witnessed by his unending search for the Truth, which finally led him to discover the Faith. His understanding was so great that even the repudiation of the Faith by him through whom he first learned of it, made not the slightest difference. His understanding of the Teachings, even in the earliest period when practically no authentic material regarding them was available, transcended that limitation and he was able to explain esoteric meanings in the Scriptures as well as to make clear phases of the Bahá’í Teachings that were difficult for others. The things that he said were later upheld by the clear explanations made by the great souls who were sent to this country by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as well as by the Tablets of the Master.
I vividly recall an afternoon at 475 W. Monroe St., Chicago, the headquarters of the Bahá’í Community. Mr. Chase was endeavoring to assist a young Persian (Ameen Fareed) in the first attempt to translate into English the Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh. My part was, with the help of several dictionaries, to look up words or synonyms. The young Persian had some knowledge of English, but Thornton Chase’s demands for words that might adequately express the meanings that were concealed in the Persian taxed him beyond his capacity. The translation that finally was obtained was, of course, only for our own satisfaction. Mr. Chase had no idea of preparing it for general use, but his burning desire for the Words of Bahá’u’lláh and his readiness to understand the significance of the words as they were in a painfully painstaking manner translated, made a deep impression on my youthful consciousness.
Another evidence of his penetrating understanding of the Faith was his eager acceptance of every element of the administration as it was gradually unfolded by the Master in those early days. He was, undoubtedly, inclined toward it by his natural, highly developed sense of order. His appreciation of the principle of order and law is attested to by many writings and poems.
There were many in the early
days of the Faith in America
who were inclined to question,
and of those a goodly number
actually abandoned the Faith because
they learned that its
[Page 155]
Teachings included an actual
organization. This continued
through a number of years and
even up to the time of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
visit in 1912. Thornton
Chase’s endeavors in behalf of
the establishment of the House
of Spirituality caused some who
were opposed to the whole idea
of organization to violently oppose
him. Many meetings which
ordinarily would have served to
promote the welfare of the Cause
were therefore torn by dissension
and strife. Through it all, however,
he stood kind but firm, and
it undoubtedly was largely his
loyalty and constant endeavor
that kept alive and functioning
the administrative work of the
Faith. In those early days the
numbers of those Who upheld
him naturally were small, and
there were periods when it was
exceedingly difficult to gather
together a sufficient number of
men to serve on the administrative
body. It was through this
circumstance that both Mr. Albert
Windust and I were invited
to sit in with the members of the
newly established House of
Justice. The administrative body
functioned under that name only
one year, but under the conditions
prevailing at the time and
at the suggestions of Thornton
Chase, we two younger men in
the Faith were invited to attend
the deliberations of the members.
After a period our names
were proposed to the community
as a whole and we were accepted
and installed as members
of that body. The exigency of
the moment was, of course, the
justification for what now would
certainly be regarded as highly
irregular. It must be borne in
mind that at that time membership
was limited to men. When
later the name of the body was
changed to House of Spirituality
and both men and women were
enabled to serve, the need for
such devices to keep intact the
institution of the Faith of God
was obviated. It is referred to
here only to point out the anxiety
of Thornton Chase to uphold and
to keep functioning the institution
of the Spiritual Assembly,
which, in spite of still meager
information from the authorities
in the Faith, Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, he deemed a
sacred institution and worthy of
every endeavor and sacrifice.
To those who have had a long
continued association with the
Faith and who have witnessed
the skillful unfoldment of the
administration by our Guardian,
Shoghi Effendi, Thornton Chase’s
example, his deep insight into
the reality of the Teachings and
his early championship of that
administration, there must come
a deep feeling of gratitude to
God for awakening a vision so
[Page 156]
profound in one of our number.
For the benefit of the reader of
this statement who may still be
somewhat unfamiliar with the
unfoldment of the establishment
of the Bahá’í Faith in America,
it should be said that from the
earliest days when actual contact
with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself
had been established there was
no longer possible even a reasonable
doubt regarding the character
of the administrative bodies
that were to be established by
the Bahá’ís. The Spiritual Assemblies
were definitely established
by the Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
and through every other
contact that was made with Him.
It remained for the Guardian,
after the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
to establish the National
organization, not only in America
but in every other country
where the numbers of adherents
of the Faith made such an establishment
feasible. Nevertheless it
is wonderful to recall that in the
earliest days, Thornton Chase
saw clearly the possibility of this
great unfoldment, and he had in
mind the vision of the establishment
even of the Supreme House
of Justice.
Undoubtedly the greatest period in the life of Thornton Chase was that which began with his pilgrimage to ‘Akká in 1907 and the years that followed to the end of his earthly life. Since it was my privilege to accompany him on that journey, I am perhaps better able to tell about it than about the time that follows, for shortly after his return from ‘Akká business changes demanded his moving to California. Of his labors there others, no doubt, are able to tell.
His story of his visit to
‘Abdu’l-Bahá published as a
booklet under the title “In
Galilee”, gives the reader some
impressions of that visit. It does
not, however, present any idea
of the way that great soul responded
to the loving influence
of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He was by
nature a kindly and affectionate
person. His great smile quickly
overcame the reserve that his
eminent dignity usually inspired.
In the presence of the Master
he seemed completely melted and
overcome by the love of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
and the love and kindness
of the believers. Not all of the
experiences in that Holy Household
were purely pleasurable,
for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in his kindly
manner corrected many concepts
that, in spite of a broad vision
and deep understanding, still
were wrong. That ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
loved him dearly was obvious,
and his response was that of a
loving trusting son. The radiant
joy of the four days spent there
was counterbalanced by the sorrow
that came when we were told
[Page 157]
that, because of agitation on the
part of those who opposed the
Faith, our stay would have to be
shortened. On leaving ‘Akká our
party was driven to the Holy
Tomb at Bahjí and there we were
individually permitted to enter
and pray. Thereafter the garden
in which Bahá’u’lláh found surcease
from the rigors of His
prison life was visited, and the
journey back to America began.
Mr. Chase was so moved by this departure that he spoke no word during the entire journey and not until he again entered the hospice of the Little Child in Haifa were his tears dried. As we descended the stairs leading from the small second story patio surrounded by the rooms that were ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prison home and which we had so eagerly ascended only four days before, four days that were in their significance to our lives like eternity, Mr. Chase said, “The Master has assured me that I will return to this place soon. This reconciles me to this unbearable departure.”
It will be recalled that shortly before ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived in America, Mr. Chase passed on. Without question all who knew him will testify that he knew the reality of the meeting with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and even though it was not destined that he should once again physically visit that abode of light, he attained that visit in the true spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice for the love of God which was the animating and dominating force in his life.
Mighty indeed have been the tasks accomplished and the victories achieved by this sorely-tried undefeatable Faith within the space of a century! Its unfinished tasks, its future victories, as it stands on the threshold of the second Bahá’í century, are greater still. In the brief space of the first hundred years of its existence it has succeeded in diffusing its light over five continents, in erecting its outposts in the furthermost corners of the earth, in establishing, on an impregnable basis its Covenant with all mankind, in rearing the fabric of its world-encompassing Administrative Order, in casting off many of the shackles hindering its total emancipation and world-wide recognition, in registering its initial Victories over royal, political and ecclesiastical adversaries, and in launching the first of its systematic crusades for the spiritual conquest of the whole planet.
For My Sons
EVELYN V. LOVEDAY
FOR YOU, my young sons, I
wish as does any mother that
life may be kind to you. I wish,
too, that you may be kind to life.
There is so much to do, so much
to give and a lifetime is very
brief. I wish for you a full and
a rich life; knowing as I say it
that it will be thus only as you
live fully and richly.
You will make many mistakes. But it is the wise man who can make his mistakes work for him —who can wring the last drop of knowledge there is to be gained from those mistakes.
I would have you feel all about you the infinite mercy and love of God. This will be in direct proportion to your own love for God, and your desire for spiritual growth and understanding. I care not how you find Him, or by what path you travel toward Him. But this I do know, that until you constantly “practice the presence of God” you will be but an empty shell of a human.
I wish that you may be always alert and sensitive to the sufferings and needs of your fellow humans. The greatest need of the world in this time is for all people to realize their fullest potentialities religiously, socially and economically.
I wish that I may make you see very clearly the way in which hatred, bigotry and prejudice are the worst enemies confronting the world today. And I would wish still further that you may become leaders in your generation to wipe out these enemies that are constant deterrents toward a peaceful and sane world.
I suppose I would be a strange mother indeed, did I not wish for you material success. This need not concern me unduly, for you have within you the potentialities for such success. Rather am I concerned that you maintain a sense of good balance between reality and unreality; between the “things of the spirit” and the “things of the flesh.” I would wish that you be fully conscious that in the final reckoning, material success will be as nought, and only the amount you have given of yourselves to the world will be worth counting.
I wish that you may constantly and increasingly become aware of two great attributes; loving kindness and understanding. With these as your goal you cannot help achieving all and more than I dare hope for you.
WITH OUR READERS
THIS August issue of World Order
is planned especially to show the
relation of Bahá’u’lláh to Christ and
of the Bahá’í Faith to Christianity.
We hope it will answer the questions
of many inquiring Christians; definitely
refute the rather prevalent idea
that the Bahá’í Faith is simply another
cult not worthy the time for investigation;
turn sincere souls into
the path of search so that they may
realize that we are living in the Day
of Days, the Day promised in all the
Holy Scriptures, that we are living
in a time unparalleled in the past
and not to be repeated for a full
100,000 years.
The leading place in this number is given to Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet to the Pope, one of many Tablets or letters addressed by Bahá’u’lláh to kings and ecclesiastics of Christendom. Of this Tablet Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, has written: “To Pope Piux IX, the undisputed head of the most powerful church in Christendom, possessor of both temporal and spiritual authority, He, a prisoner in the army barracks of the penal colony of ‘Akká, addressed a most weighty epistle, in which He announces that ‘He who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds,’ and that ‘the Word which the Son concealed is made manifest’.”
When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in this country in 1912 he gave His universal message to all types of audiences and very often in churches. “‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s first public appearance before a western audience,” writes Shoghi Effendi, “significantly enough took place in a Christian house of worship, when on September 10, 1911, He addressed an overflowing congregation from the pulpit of City Temple.” This was in London. And in speaking of the miracle of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s extensive western tour and addresses in western cities Shoghi Effendi writes: “He, Who, in His Own words, had entered prison as a youth and left it an old man, Who never in His life had faced a public audience, had attended no school, had never moved in Western circles, and was unfamiliar with Western customs and language, had arisen not only to proclaim from pulpit and platform, in some of the chief capitals of Europe and in the leading cities of the North American continent, the distinctive verities enshrined in His Father’s Faith, but to demonstrate as well the Divine origin of the Prophets gone before Him, and to disclose the nature of the tie binding them to that Faith.”
The address of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
“The Path to the Kingdom”, which
we print this month is typical of
many of His addresses in that it
shows the universal need of true religion
and expounds clearly the new
and fundamental principles necessary
for this age which have been revealed
by Bahá’u’lláh. This address
was given in the Baptist Temple,
Philadelphia. Our readers will remember
that in the October, 1944,
issue of World Order we called attention
in this department to the
uniqueness of the occasion of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
appearance in this church.
We repeat this in part for the benefit
[Page 160]
of new readers of the magazine.
“A most interesting and unusual
church visited by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was
the Baptist Temple in Philadelphia.
Dr. Russell H. Conwell, founder and
pastor at that time, had made a visit
to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in ‘Akká in 1908
and while there he extended an invitation
to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to speak in
his church if He should ever come
to Philadelphia.” This is the only
recorded case when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá fulfilled
an engagement in a Christian
church previously requested in ‘Akká
when there seemed no prospect of
His coming to America.
“The Mission of the Lord Christ” is a chapter in the book entitled The Promise of All Ages by George Townshend. Canon Townshend is Archdeacon of Clonfert, Ireland. This scholarly Christian has delved deeply into Bahá’í scriptures, has written extensively about the Bahá’í Faith with deep love, appreciation and understanding and, as is clear, from the chapter here printed accepts Bahá’u’lláh as “The Promised One.”
The first one to accept the Bahá’í Faith in the United States was Thornton Chase. As a student of Oriental languages and philosophies he sensed the importance of the Bahá’í message when he first learned of it and upon investigation accepted it. “The Gift of God” is a chapter from his book, now out of print, entitled The Bahá’í Revelation, in which he presents this Revelation as a fulfillment of Bible teachings and prophecies.
The interesting account of Thornton Chase’s life and experience, which we are printing in this number, is told by Carl Scheffler who knew him intimately for many years and was associated with him in Bahá’í activity. Mr. Scheffler has contributed several articles to World Order. The most recent was in the June, 1944, number on “The Significance of the Universal House of Worship.” Mr. Scheffler was for a number of years a member of the Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly, has served the Cause as a teacher and lecturer and in many other ways. He is an artist residing in Evanston, Illinois.
The following excerpt, taken from a weekly column written by the Rev. C. W. Chandler and published in a New Zealand paper, gives us the thoughts of one thoughtful Christian clergyman.
“Nothing short of a Second Coming, or sudden appearance, or the birth of a prophet will effect the transformation that is needed. Wilson’s Fourteen Points were thought to be too Utopian, and the Atlantic Charter itself will need more than wishful thinking to bring it into effect . . .”
Fifty years ago the great Christian scholar, Professor Jowett of Oxford University wrote concerning the Bahá’í Revelation: “This is the greatest light the world has seen since Christ, but it is too great and too close for the world to appreciate its full import.”
Garreta Busey in her editorial shows that instruction in religion is an indispensable part of education of the whole personality and that this need is in no way met in our present system of education.
“For My Sons” is Evelyn V. Loveday’s first contribution to World Order. Mrs. Loveday is a member of the Bahá’í Assembly in Brookline, Massachusetts, and has served at Green Acre Bahá’í School.
Bahá’í World Faith
This book contains a representative selection of the Writings of
Bahá’u’lláh and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and is the largest collection of Bahá’í
literature in English translation now available in one volume.
A detailed Table of Contents and an Index make the Bahá’í teachings readily accessible for study as well as reading and meditation.
The plan of the book arranges the contents in nine chapters, as follows:—
- Part One—Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
- Chapter One—The Great Announcement
- Chapter Two—The Promised One
- Chapter Three—The Life of the Soul
- Chapter Four—Laws of the New Age
- Chapter Five—The Mystery of God
- Part Two—Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
- Chapter Six—The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh
- Chapter Seven—Soul, Mind and Spirit
- Chapter Eight—The Loom of Reality
- Chapter Nine—The Divine Plan
Each of these chapters has been treated as a unit of significance, and the sequence of the nine chapters conveys a sense of the unfoldment of the Bahá’í Dispensation in the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, His Will and Testament, the Tablets and Addresses of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and in His Testament and Plan for the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
The passages selected have been taken from fifteen different publications as well as from the National Archives.
Printed on thin light paper and bound in green fabrikoid. 465 pages. Per copy, $1.50.
BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois
TRUTHS FOR A NEW DAY
Promulgated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Throughout North America in 1912
These teachings were given by Bahá’u’lláh
over seventy years ago and are to be
found in His published
writings of that time.
The oneness of mankind.
Independent investigation of truth.
The foundation of all religions is one.
Religion must be the cause of unity.
Religion must be in accord with science and reason.
Equality between men and women.
Prejudice of all kinds must be forgotten.
Universal peace.
Universal education.
Spiritual solution of the economic problem.
A universal language.
An international tribunal.