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[Page 287]

WEBERED

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December, 1948

Gospel Times Today

Annamarie K. Honnold

This Is Our Faith Floyd H. Munson

Do You Believe in Christ? Eleanor S. Hutchens

Crisis and Creation, Editorial Elsa Blakely

How “Practical” Is the Bahá’í Faith? Arthur Dahl

Modern Vikings

Amelia Bownlan

The Station of Christ, Compilation

With Our Readers

[Page 288]WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, 111., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Editor: Garreta Busey. Managing Editor: Eleanor S. Hutchens. Associate Editors: Victor de Araujo, Elsa Blakely, Robert Durr, Pearle Easterbrook, Gertrude Henning, F lora Emily Hones, Mabel H. Paine.

Publication Office 110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILL. C. R. Wood, Business Manager Printed in U.S.A.

Editorial Office Mrs. Eleanor S. Hutchens,

307 SOUTH PRAIRIE, CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS

DECEMBER, 1948, VOLUME XIV, NUMBER 9

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $2.00 per year, for United States, its territories and possessions; for Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Central and South America. Single copies, 20c. Foreign subscriptions, $2.25. Make checks and money orders payable to World Order Maguzine, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois. Entered as second class matter April 1, 1940, at the post office at Wilmette, 11]... under the Act of March 3, 1879. Content copyrighted 1948 by

3:111:15? Publishing Committee. Title Registered at U.S. Patent ce.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE

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THE birth of a new revelation of God’s will is inevitably attended by deep suffering for its Revealer. The cross of Christ has become His symbol, because it proclaims the sacrifice He was willing to make that the world might have more abundant life.

Bahá’u’lláh’s sufferings were many and they extended over a long period of time. The bastinado, the cruel dungeon in rl‘ihrein,

exile, and for twenty-four years the “Most Great Prison” at ‘Akká were only part of them.

The frontispiece shows the building in which Bahá’u’lláh suffered cruelty and deprivation as a prisoner in ‘Akká. It makes the same appeal to our love as does the cross of Christ. “Forget not My bounties while I am absent,” He wrote to one of His loved ones. “Remember My days during thy days, and My distress and banishment in this remote prison. And be thou so steadfast in my love that thy heart shall not waver, even if the swords of the enemies rain blows upon thee and all the heavens and the earth arise against thee.”

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The Bahá’í Magazine

VOLUME XIV

DECEMBER, 1948

NUMBER 9

Gospel Times Today

ANNAMARIE K. HONNOLD

AT THE time of a solar eclipse

the eyes of astronomers and laymen alike are cast heavenward. The moon passes between the sun and our planet. And a dark shadow is cast upon a portion of the earth’s surface. Light from the sun is temporarily obscured. A portion of our physical world is thrown into darkness.

Today the spiritual world of man is suffering a prolonged eclipse. Again we would turn heavenward. An obstruction stands between man and his God. This impediment is the loss of faith in God and the failure to understand the station of Prophethood. In its wake follows the darkness of materialism and atheism. And these in turn produce prejudice and hatred, selfishness and greed, and the lack of ethical standards. Today even science appears to condone as normal our low moral state. Mankind stands in a dark shadow. It knows not which way to turn to find the Light.

This essay is not an attempt to prove the existence of God. Prominent people are proving this in their own ways. And we need only open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to know that He exists. But a mere belief in God is not sufficient guarantee that we and our world will become ethical. How could it be? Belief in His existence in itself gifes us no clue as to why we are here or how we shall act or where we are headed. If belief stops here, life is frustration. For there is then no Guide to lead us.

Revealed religion, so little appreciated today, has the only answer. No other field can produce the missing link. God manifests Himself through the Prophet, the divine Teacher. This Manifestation of God is truly the “Forgotten Man.” The Bahá’í looks at history and discovers that such an Educator has come to the earth from time to time. Such an advent occurs but rarely, per 291

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haps once in a thousand years. But since man has inhabited the earth, the Prophet has stood within reach. And as long as man exists, there will be recurrent outpourings of the Truth through

this Intermediary between God and man.

In 1935 Pope Pius XI is said

to have told some pilgrims who visited him that “history tells us again and again that when men reached the lowest ebb and began to curse and deny God, then was the moment God manifested Himself and reinfused confidence into men and started the return to better things.” And in 1940, President Roosevelt wrote a Christmas message to Pope Pius XII in which he said, “I take heart_ in remembering that, in a similar time, Isaiah first prophesied the birth of Christ. Before His coming the world was not unlike it is today. Then, as now, a conflagration had been set, and nations walked dangerously in the light of the fires they had themselves kindled. But in that very moment, a spiritual rebirth has been foreseen . . . Humble people are looking for a guiding light. We remember that the Christmas star was seen by the shepherds long before the leaders knew. While statesmen are considering a new

order of things, a new order may well be at hand.”

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In 1940, also, George Townshend, then canon of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, published a book, The H eart of the Gospel. A bird’s-eye view of this book may prove thought-provoking. That writer regards our civilization as proof of “the futility of human wisdom.” Contemporary problems call for reason and experience, of course, but coupled with intuition and faith. And the concept of divine revelation is accepted as a starting point.

Townshend regards the Bible as universal history seen first through the eyes of the Jewish people and later through the eyes of the Christians, whose age would not end until the Gospel of Jesus had been carried to the ends of the earth. Strangely enough the Bible has no word for evolution, yet evolution is its theme from start to finish. And this history depicts man’s spiritual development, which “is the true business and meaning of his existence.” For man is not only a physical being. He is potentially spiritual. In this connection it is interesting to recall that William Jennings Bryan, the great orator at the turn of the century, at one time said that “man has a mind as well as a body, and a soul as well as a mind. The mind is greater than the body and the soul is greater than the mind, and

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I object to having man’s pedigree traced to one-third of him only

—and that the lowest third.”

But if man would evolve spiritually, he must put forth effort. “God must be sought if He is to be found; the truth must be striven for if it is to be realized.” A seed may not develop properly in poor soil. Worldly distractions may halt spiritual development. Even under the most favorable circumstance, growth is gradual. It comes only by degrees.

God, the “Over-Lord of Evolution,” places amongst men those Ministers of Evolution —- an Abraham, a Moses, 3. Jesus Christ—to aid them in their spiritual growth. Appearing quietly in the East and with great simplicity, these Souls have from the beginning of history enabled men “to live the life.” Their coming has always precipitated antagonism and apprehension on the part of those in power. Yet no amount of persecution has ever prevented Them from fulfilling Their destiny.

But “the Christian community has not believed and does not now believe in a continuous and world-embracing scheme of Revelation in which Jesus Christ played a part,” says George Townshend. His Teachings are

regarded as final, notwithstanding the fact that He Himself said,

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“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now. Howbeit when the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you unto all truth.” And what of the world before Jesus? Before Him there appeared Moses.‘ Jesus taught a more mature people, and He heightened the Ten Commandments. While Moses told His people, the Israelites, that they were to have only one God, J esus bade all mankind have but one God. While Moses commanded man not to take the name of God in vain, Jesus went a step farther and said that “men were to hold God’s name and His attributes holy.” In an evolving world, religion, to be effective, must evolve also.

Each of the world’s great “religions” is as a link in the chain of the overall Religion of God. At the same time each has stood as an independent unit. “Abraham had founded a spiritual family. Moses founded a spiritual nation; Jesus spiritualized humanity.” Moses might have given the knowledge Jesus gave. But the people were not ready. Jesus withheld much knowledge which He might have given. Again mankind was not prepared. But the world in Jesus’ day was ready for His Gospel of love, and that He poured forth in

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great abundance. His one great commandment was that men should love their Lord and their neighbors. Material problems would vanish in proportion to the amount of love that was within the human heart.

Jesus was born a Jew. He lived and died amongst His people. His apostles were Jews. The customs and traditions of the day had a strong grip upon the people and the leaders. And the scribes were blind. Jesus asked a great deal of men when He asked them to change. To those few humble disciples goes the credit of carrying forward a Message out of which emerged a worldwide Christian community. Untaught and unlettered though that small group may have been, it caught the new spirit and it struggled to keep it alive, to live with it and to share it with others.

J esus’ task of tutoring those simple men was not an easy one. They had to learn that J esus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. They had to learn the meaning of self-sacrifice and humility. There came the bitter lesson that following Him would not reward them with the praise of men. Service, rather than worldly leadership, was to become their way of life. “Superiority belonged to God alone . . .” Jesus

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Himself washed the feet of the disciples. He lowered Himself in order that they might “learn the secret of divine leadership,” the only leadership to which man should properly aspire.

From those small beginnings almost two thousand years ago there emerged the church. Into it crept the kind of authority Jesus forbade. Into it crept personal ambition. This, though powerless to destroy the church, Weakened and split it. It rendered it less effective than it would have been had the heart of man been humble and pure even as Jesus desired. Today only twentyseven per cent of the world’s population is Christian. And everywhere, both inside and outside the church, are signs of spiritual illness.

Townshend closes The Heart of the Gospel by telling us that both secularism and the church are incapable of coping with the problems of the day. He finds “no universal plan of reconstruction to be a rallying point for the nations of the earth,” except one, and that is the one offered to the world from the pen of Bahá’u’lláh. Through Him, the problem of mankind is seen in its wholeness. Through Him, we become conscious of the essential oneness of the human race. Through Him, men gain spirit [Page 295]GOSPEL TIMES TODAY

ual knowledge and lose prejudice. Through Him, men around the globe in various walks of life advocate a federated world government. Through Him, men learn allegiance to a common revealed religion, which honors all those which have preceded it. His followers, the Bahá’ís, are filled with the zeal and devotion of the early Christians. They are well aware that this is a great age. It is the Machine Age. It is the Air Age. But it is far more than these. It is the Age of Bahá’u’lláh.

Someone once said that one can read about Alexander and Caesar and Napoleon and not feel that they are a matter of personal concern; but when one reads of Christ, one feels that somehow there is a cord that stretches from that life to one’s own. Those who have read the words of Bahá’u’lláh, searching in hungry fashion for truth, ready to give up preconceived notions, have found a wisdom and an insight, a sweetness and a beauty, a plan for the world and a way of life for the individual, such as man might only dream about and never hope to find. Through Bahá’u’lláh, the Bahá’í

is reborn.

There are numerous reasons why the name “Bahá’u’lláh should become a matter of per 295

sonal concern to all who are privileged to hear it. Only infrequently is the staggering claim to Prophethood made legitimately. When that claim is made, it invites investigation and an open mind. The claim is born in sorrow and grief. History can more easily elucidate its merits. Those of us who stand close to the time of declaration have the privilege of seeing the early beauty of the rising Sun at dawn. Few are awake, but to those few there comes an unmatched ‘ joy and challenge. Great is the inspiration that comes with the newborn day.

There are striking parallels between the days of Jesus and those of Bahá’u’lláh in the last century. At each time the spiritual leaders of the day were blind to the truth. At each time it was the obscure who first saw the light and carried it forward. Each Manifestation suffered mercilessly at the hands of a cruel enemy. Each asked a great deal from the people to whom He spoke. The people were to give up custom and tradition, old heliefs and thought-patterns. They were to be willing to accept the path of self-sacrifice and service and genuine humility. The disciples of neither would win the praise of most men. Each appeared in an age of arrogance

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and moral decay, an age of spiritual eclipse. Each gave the remedy for the illness of His day. Jesus taught love. Bahá’u’lláh taught love and world unity on every front, be it racial, national, economic, or religious.

In one world, which, with each passing day, we are more nearly approximating, it is essential that there be but one religion. If religion divides rather than unites, it defeats its own purpose. A few decades ago, Japan examined the world’s religions to discover if one other than its own might prove desirable. From a distance Christianity appealed, but on closer examination it was found unsuitable owing to its lack of unity and its lack of the ideal in action. The revival of ancient Shinto as the new allnational religion seemed preferable. However, there is a praiseworthy effort within Christianity to unite its ranks. But will the millions of people yet outside the fold of Christianity embrace it in preference perhaps to a more recent religion? An English historian has said that in the last hundred years more Christians have been converted to Muhammadanism than Muhammadans to Christianity. And a missionary from Persia once remarked that there are hundreds of millions of Muhammadans

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whom Christianity cannot reach. Yet, the Bahá’í Faith appeals to the peoples of many varying religious backgrounds. The people of no religion are regarded as “heathens.” Their faiths are but part of one master Religion. These faiths agree in their essential aspects. They differ from one another only in their nonessentials, which must change as conditions change. This offers fluidity to religion. Christ broke the Sabbath. He forbade divorce. But He sang the praises of one God. He restated the concept of the Golden Rule. The Bahá’í, in his new understanding, if of Jewish origin, reveres Jesus; if of Christian background, understands the work of Muhammad; if of Muhammadan upbringing, esteems J esus‘ and Moses; if formerly an atheist, he now sees the place of all the Prophets down through history.

A survey of the great living religions reveals that they frequently expect a Second Coming, a return of the Manifestation of God. J esus Himself said, “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore he ye also

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ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” In one world it is plausible enough that the Return expected in various religions must be through one Prophet, rather than through many. Yet, where but within the Bahá’í Faith is there this belief that one Manifestation might fulfill all the prophecies of the Return? Independent investi par

gation has convinced the Baha 1 that Bahá’u’lláh is that longexpected One, whose advent has been so eagerly awaited. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá warned wisely when he said that we should be seekers of Light, no matter from which Lantern it shines forth; should not he lovers of the Lantern.

In turning to Bahá’u’lláh, the Bahá’í finds his horizon expanding. He does not give up old loyalties. They simply broaden. If he loves J esus, he loves Him yet; but he loves Bahá’u’lláh also. If he loves his race, he loves it yet; but he would first be a member of the human race. If he loves his country, he loves it yet; but he considers himself first of all a

29’?

world citizen. In turning toward a Center the Bahá’ís draw near to one another. Unity' becomes “the monarch of all aspirations.”

To conclude, the loss of faith in God and in His Prophets has cast a dark shadow upon the soul of man. Mankind is suffering a spiritual eclipse. Religion has lost its hold over men’s hearts and minds. So far has man strayed that there are those who go to the trouble to prove the existence of God. But even this knowledge does not bring morality. There is need for a modern Mediator between man and his God. In the last century Bahá’u’lláh was indeed as “a voice crying in the wilderness” when he addressed Himself to the Pope of His day, saying, “The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest.” History repeated itself and once again God’s Promised One passed by persecuted

.and unheeded. And in more re cent times a Pope expected a Return. A canon of a Dublin Cathedral discovered Him.

Humble people in ninety-one countries around the globe have found religion renewed through the voice and pen and action of

Bahá’u’lláh.

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This Is Our Faith

FLOYD H.

NE hundred and four years ago, in the country of Per sia, there came into being 21 Faith, the birth of which shook .the pillars of established beliefs, the flame of which swept with increasing intensity over a land submerged in the lethargy of ignorance and superstition. Thus began that religion now known as the Bahá’í Faith, founded by Bahá’u’lláh, who, if judged by long-estahlished proofs of Prophethood, must be accepted as a

Prophet and Manifestation of God.

Therefore the adherents of this Faith assert it is not a sect or a division of one of the great religions of the world; neither is it, in one sense, a new religion, rather it is religion renewed, reconciling divine teachings, proving them to be essentially one, and in its proof giving the true interpretation and explanation of the Holy Books: the Zend Avesta of the Zoroastrians, the Qur’án of the Muhammadans, and the Old and New Testaments of our Bible. Thus a Bahá’í, in explaining the verities of his Faith, would first endeavor to confirm his listener in his own religion and cause him to appreciate the truths of God’s testament as re MUNSON

vealed by the Prophet of his own particular belief.

The Bahá’í Faith encompasses all religions, unifies them by the reassertion of their true principles, which are wholly in accord, inasmuch as these fundamental truths come to mankind from God, the Source of all knowledge.

All of the great religions of the past have had, for their origin, a true Prophet, a holy soul, who is chosen by God, inspired with Divine knowledge and filled with superior qualities and virtues for the purpose of guiding the people, educating them in such a way as will preserve them and cause them to progress toward a goal destined by the Creator. Thus these Prophets, these Divine Educators, are the sign-posts on the road to God, the seed-men of the new civilization which always follows; and were it not for their appearance, spiritual darkness would completely envelop mankind, and the hell of evil and its resulting chaos would be in ascendancy. Those qualities which are requisites of an ordered society, such as mercy, love, and rectitude of conduct, would cease to be expressed and the assertion

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of their opposites would naturally follow.

Now, when through the will of God, the Prophets, the Manifesters, appear, they reiterate the universal laws and principles which are eternal, the truths enunciated by other Divine Beings in ages past. They declare, and by their acts express, the absolute law of conformity with, and submission to, the One Supreme Being; they declare and express harmony and equity in our relation with one another; they reveal the image and likeness of God. The wisdom of the utterances from the Pen of Glory, through His Messengers of the time appointed, has been likened to the splendor of the morning sun, the light of which symbolizes knowledge, the warmth of which symbolizes the bestowals of life and blessings. The learning of the most renowned sages pales into nothingness before the radiation of one such as Jesus the Christ, Moses the Lawgiver, or Muhammad the Messenger of God, just as the stars give no light before the eflulgence of the rising sun.

Another part of their prescribed mission, their fore-ordained revelation, is the announcement of laws and ordinances relative to society and the affairs of men. These laws which

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have to do with administration, civil and criminal actions, marriage and divorce, prayers and Observances, are established according to the requirements of the advancing civilization. “For man has been created a social being and his life and permanence depend upon cooperation and society. Therefore, the institutors of divine laws have assigned the greater part of them to administrative affairs and have considered the assistance, advancement and development of the people as the most important part of their mission. As human minds are discordant, and as it is virtually impossible for the possessors of even sound minds to agree upon that which will secure the protection and development of peoples, God, in His wisdom, has assigned the enactment of such laws to the Manifestations of His Command. According, also, to this same Divine Command, many of the laws of the previous Prophet are annulled as they are no longer suitable to the time of the new proclamation.”

Now, coupled with the announcements of these Dawninglights of Revelation, there is a part devoted to prophecy. In every case we are given a “time appointed,” a promise of a harvest-time, of “the day of days.”

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Every Holy Book tells of this ‘hour”——this time of fulfillment, —when the Kingdom of God will be manifest on this earth. Jesus told of “the time of the end,” the end of an old order, and gave His followers a prayer which was both a supplication and a prophecy: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” He told of the coming of His Father, the Lord of Hosts, the Spirit of Truth who would lead us to all truth. Matthew, too, tells the story of this day, when no servants would be sent, no Son would be sent, but the Lord of the Vineyard Himself would come to take possession and manifest His Sovereignty and Dominion.

Isaiah glories in this last most fateful chapter of the history of man. Daniel and John extol this day and in the Holy Book give us in veiled language the exact number of years before this new and last cycle would be inaugurated; the year which would be the beginning of a new order, when the old would be shaken down; a period of refreshments, of new vibratory release from the Throne of Power that would make all things new.

In the year 1844, in the little town of Shíráz in Persia, the trumpet blast was sounded when

a Holy One called the Báb (the Gate) revealed Himself as the

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Primal Point of a new creation and the Herald of the One whom God would make manifest. The effect of His meteor-like appearance, though short in duration, was dazzling and far-reaching. Volumes have been written of those tumultuous years, when God spoke through this pure Being, and the impact of His mighty decrees struck with such bewildering power, until the soul-stirring spectacle of His departure to the realm of glory. Thousands became intoxicated with His beauty, believed in His mission and suffered tortured death at the hands of the evil ones who held the reins of authority. However, this moving drama was enacted, its purpose accomplished, and the way prepared for the Spirit of Truth to come. God Himself was made manifest, through the temple of man, in the person of a prince from the land of train.

Long has man prayed through the ages, long has he waited for this transcendant moment when the curtains of revelation would be parted and the Light of God stand revealed. Far beyond the ken of men the cosmic finger moves, and the lonely figure of one Soul, commissioned, writes with words of supernal beauty the destiny of Adamic man and

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the sovereign will of his Maker. These glistening words of Him

whom God has established on the

highest throne are words that re turn not void, but accomplish that whereunto they are sent. Majestic is the power of God who directs the ways of men. Great is the love that in thir darkness sends forth the shining Orb of Beauty. Bahá’u’lláh, the Promise of God in the Day of Fulfillment: the Spirit returned in the apogee of glory summoned all to the Seat of Mercy, called the hearts of men and laid the foundation of a

new moral order, establishing principles to which all activities of life must conform.

It is to Him we turn, and in that turning strive to enter the flow of His Will and to move with the stream of Life’s compulSion.

So the Bahá’í endeavors with heart and soul, in compliance with the dictates of that Will, to bring his Faith to the people, that we may all be gathered together “under the Tent of the Kingdom singing the song of Peace.”

LIKE BEASTS THAT PERISH

Love is the fundamental principle of God’s purpose for man, and He has commanded us to love each other even as He loves us. All these discords and disputes which we hear on all sides only tend to increase materiality.

The world for the most part is sunk in materialism, and the blessings of the Holy Spirit are ignored. There is so little real spiritual feeling, and the progress of the world is for the most part merely material. Men are becoming like unto beasts that perish, for we know that they have no spiritual feeling—they do not turn to God, and they have no religion! These things belong to man alone, and if he is without them he is a prisoner of nature, and no whit better than the animal.

—‘ABDU’L-BAHA

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Do You Believe in Christ? ELEANOR S. HUTCHENS

Dear Margaret:

The rich and varied strains of Tchaikowsky’s Fourth Symphony are being broadcast and can be blamed for any irregularities in syntax in this letter. Although my little radio spputters (with more than two “p’s”) whenever the furnaCe starts, and sinks to a scarcely audible whisper at the most inopportune times, still it provides companionship and good music.

For several days I’ve been wanting to answer the more serious portion of your letter asking my belief about Christ. It would be easy to give a brief answer, but I feel that you are genuinely perturbed about my religion and would like to understand my belief more fully.

Yes, I do believe that Jesus was the Christ, that He was God’s representative on earth, speaking as God instructed Him to, doing as God would have Him do, giving voice to the Word of God, Himself. Every word Jesus spoke was endowed with the power to change the hearts and lives of men, and was therefore more potent than the words of any philosopher or mere religious teacher. Furthermore, as God’s representative, He could say,

“Follow Me,” and every living soul was obliged to choose whether he would obey and be “saved,” or whether he would refuse and lose his spiritual life. Never since the days when Christ first walked the earth has anyone been able to turn his back on the teachings and pattern of Christ without endangering his soul’s future growth.

This is what you believe, too, isn’t it? Perhaps you express it in slightly different terms, but this is the essence of all Christian faith.

What, faith?

This. You say, “Jesus existed from the beginning. He is God.” We believe this to an extent most people do not understand, for what made Jesus distinctive was the Christ-spirit, God shining through Him. It is this spirit which must be present before any religion can exist. It is this that unites religions, so that Jesus would say “Before Abraham was, I am.” When the Semitic peoples were lost and unbelieving in the ancient land of Ur, the spirit of God became manifest in Abraham, who gave laws and spiritual instruction that could save the souls of the peo then, is my Bahá’í

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ple of His day. Through Him the Hebrew monotheistic faith deve10ped. Our faulty records prevent our seeing more clearly the Christ-spirit in Abraham.

Centuries later, when the Children of Israel were in captivity and were fast losing their faith, becoming pagan, God onCe again became manifest. He chose Moses, an exile and a homicide, to prove the power and strength of His Word in saving not only the individual, but a whole people. Moses became a temporal and spiritual leader, bringing to a downtrodden and barbaric people the law of God, “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and love thy neighbor as thyself.” Here was the spirit of Christ at an earlier time teaching the basic principles of worship and of working together and living together in society. Here was the Word of God adapted to the understanding of a primitive people. Later, Christ could say, “For had you believed in Moses ye would have believed in Me.”

The civilization brought by the Words of Moses rose to magnificent splendor in the times of David and Solomon, and gradually declined thereafter as materialism engrossed the people. Once again, after a series of minor prophets failed to regen erate the people sufficiently, God became manifest, this time in Jesus of Nazareth. By His life, Jesus demonstrated the vast gulf between the observance of law and ceremony, still sedulously practiced by the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the true worship of the spirit as reflected in the lives of men. Through Jesus, God not only brought the people back to religion, but He gave them an additional lesson, teaching that righteousneess goes deeper than action, touching the thoughts behind actions, that sin is not only the taking of a life, but the feeling of anger and enmity. Even our fragmentary reports of Jesus prove without a doubt that He was endowed with superhuman power from God to heal the sick, to revive the spirits, to transform the souls, and to Vchange the history of mankind.

The Jews had been given more warnings of the coming of Christ than any other people, but they misread the signs, and, for the most part, renounced the very Messiah for whom they had prayed. They were told that He would come out of an unknown place, but they said, “This man comes out of Nazareth. Can any good come out of Nazareth?” (not realizing that the spirit of Jesus came from heaven, an unknown place to men.) They were

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taught that He would sit upon the throne of David, and they said, “Herod sits upon the throne of

David while this man has no place to lay his head.” They did

not realize that Jesus would become the greatest of the descendants of David and that His kingdom in the hearts of men would encircle the globe.

Jesus gave many parables describing His second coming, yet He was fearful lest His loved ones would fail to recognize Him. Had he literally expected to descend upon clouds of glory, surrounded by hosts of angels, He would have had no fear that His followers would be unprepared for His coming. It is clear that His words carried veiled meanings and were to serve as a sieve to sift the pure in heart.

We Bahá’ís believe that Jesus has come againll Christ has once again walked the earth” All the signs are coming to pass, the false prophets, the wars and rumors of wars, the rising up of nation against nation, the famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, the persecution of the Christians, the hatreds, iniquity, the waxing cold of the love of many, the spreading of the Cospel in all the world, the gathering together of the tribes of Israel, the great tribulations. We believe that we would be disloyal

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to Christ if we did not recognize Him when He made His reappearance on earth, if we disobeyed His instructions for the world today.

Did He return in the same body? Did Christ come in the body of Moses, in the body of Abraham? The body of the Prophet is a physical thing. It can be crucified. It can perish. But the Spirit of God speaking through His Messengers is eternal and the same from age to age. That is what we mean when we say that Christ has returned.

Bahá’u’lláh came to revive the hearts, to draw the people to God once more. He brought the same moral teachings as His predecessors, but just as Moses could bring more teachings to the people of His day than could Abraham, and just as Jesus could bring more to a people that had lived for centuries under the discipline of the Mosaic Law; so Bahá’u’lláh was able to bring a larger measure of truth to a people who had been matured under the teachings of Christ and the other founders of world religions (for we believe that they too came from God and were the same spirit, that they were Manifestations of God.) He has brought laws for the unification of religion, for intemational government, for the de [Page 305]BELIEVE IN CHRIST? 305

struction of the prejudices that separate the members of differing races, religions, nations, and classes, providing the impetus for the welding together of humanity into one harmonious unit.

Just as every soul was required by God to follow Jesus when God became manifest in Him, so today, every soul must turn to Bahá’u’lláh, the revealer of God’s Word for this day, obeying His laws, leading the life He taught. It is the choice Christ tried to prepare us for when He said, “Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.”

Knowing how dearly you love God and strive to do His bidding, I hope you will make a thorough

t,r

and serious study of the Baha 1

teachings. I am sending you The Promise of All Ages, for which your Bible study has prepared you. Then, if you wish, I will send other books too.

The afternoon and evening have slipped away without my having been able to convey on paper the burning faith and love that are in my heart. Yet, you may understand.

Lovingly, ELEANOR

THE HOLY CHILD RETURNS

The performance of this mystery play [Eager H cart, by Miss Alice Buckton] at the Church House, Westminster, was honored by the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. This was a memorable occasion, as it was the first time He had ever

witnessed a dramatic performance.

The Master wept during the scene in which the Holy Child and His parents, overcome with fatigue, and suffering from hunger, were met by the hesitation of Eager Heart to admit them to the haven of rest which she had prepared, she, of course, failing to recognize the sacred visitors.

The Master afterwards joined the group of players. It was an arresting scene. In the eastern setting, the Messenger, in His Eastern robes, speaking to them in the beautiful Eastern words of the Divine significance of the events

which had been portrayed.

From The Chosen H ighway, by Lady Blomfield, pp. 154-5

[Page 306]Crisis and Creation

aa/floria/

HIRTY-FIVE hundred years ago, Amenhotep IV, that spiritually minded, reforming monarch of Egypt, envisioned and prayed for the brotherhood of man under the beneficent protection of one God. The chant of hope has constantly been repeated down the centuries.

Now we stand in the midst of the upheaval and chaos of the birth of that era.

All birth ‘is upheaval, as the positive force of creation struggles to bring new life away from the negative pole of that which already has reached its apogee and is passing.

Historians philosophically reassure us that at every change in the social order, major or minor, human beings have been dismayed and fearful over “the crisis” facing them. Progress is a series of crises. Our cartoonists portray the caveman’s dire fear of a slingshot superseding the bludgeon; today we face atomic, germicidal and ray weapons instead of TNT and other explosives. Maybe five thousand years hence our progeny will regard our crisis as we regard the caveman’s.

Thus we may be philosophic and even grimly humorons over our problem today——one world or none.

We may take a long perspective of our road from caveman to United Nations and find assurance that the answer cannot be “none.” Even if the hurdle facing us is greater than those passed by our ancestors, it is scarcely logical to think that the story of human development on this planet can be ended summarily by man’s crass stupidity just at the moment when he has completely discovered the physical dimensions of his earth home, can move about in it freely and speedily, and is, from now on, keenly aware that from every sociological, economic, and cultur: a1 angle, verily “the earth is one country and mankind its citizens.”

That is a point of beginning, not ending.

Science witnesses that there is so much more to be discovered than is already known. All that has gone before would be purposeless if we stopped now.

So a long range perspective may assure us of a glorious fu 306

[Page 307]CRISIS AND CREATION

ture ahead. But is philosophic consolation enough to sustain us during the gruelling crisis of the next few decades?

We face an inhuman burden of taxation; whole populations are still starving; millions are still homeless and while they starve and wander, propaganda of hatreds assail us from all sides, the preparation of armaments and the roll call are on for the next world war, while local wars continue.

Where shall we turn for such inspiration as will give us the tremendous courage, fortitude, and clear vision we need?

Where have men turned before?

If we could have listened in on the conversations of the citizens of the classical era when Rome ruled the world, we would have peculiarly understood and sympathized with their complaints about the burden of taxation, the toll of the wars, the political intrigue, the difficulties of doing business, the moral corruption.

Also we would have heard discussion of many schools of philosophy, cults, and political creeds to find a path out of the confusion.

We might, too, have heard of a miserable sect that started in Palestine.

Would we have agreed with

307

the sophisticates that they were a curious lot of fanatics not worth bothering about? Would we have agreed with the mobs at‘ the games who believed they were a nuisance, only fit for extermination, and it was exciting to see what they would do in the arena facing the beasts?

Would we have pondered on “what they had” that seemed to give them power to rise not only above the burdens and problems that swamped them in common with the other citizens, but also endowed them with the sublime courage to take everything those worthy citizens hurled at themignominy, persecution, martyrdom?

They, too, were witnessing and devotedly serving the birth of a

'new era amidst the chaos of the

old.

Faith, not philosophic contemplation, enabled them to do it.

A faith that, being in such close perspective, could not evaluate the implications of. their own acts for future generations. A new “cultural pattern” as ethnologists say, had been started by One through the adoring faith of eleven men and one superb woman. The result —— Christendom, with its stress on the law of love and brotherhood, still expressed today in the social services and institutions of humani

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308 WORLD ORDER

tarian service that have given it such distinction down the centuries.

It has happened, and is happening today, in global dimensions in a global crisis, this creation of a new “cultural pattern,” at the price of sacrifice. Sacrifice of what? Not only the twenty thousand Bahá’í martyrs who gave their lives in torture and death, but the daily expenditure of life energy poured out in constant service to this Faith; of home, leisure, comfort, health, money or means of livelihood, so gladly given to bridge the world from the 01d era of nationalism, racialism, political and religious division, into the new era of one world, one citizenry.

It is the command of the Founder of their Faith to achieve Unity.

The individual citizen’s mind, heart, and soul are the atomic structure of civilization. To the extent that this Unity becomes the new social consciousness will the legislative measures of a oneworld society succeed or fail.

This is our job, now and in the next few decades of chaotic suflering~to overthrow the idols of national, political, racial, and class loyalties which men so falsely deem to be eternal values, to which they tenaciously cling and which constitute the greatest

obstacle to a peaceful one-world. They are more deadly than the new weapons we dread, for these weapons are merely the tools of these false idols. They ride men into a delirium of fear and from there into the frenzied suicide of war. “Religion,” as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, “is man’s attitude towards Cod reflected in his attitude towards his fellow man.”

There lie our loyalties—to God and to our fellow man; loyalties that are eternal and abiding, unassailable by any propaganda loosed upon them.

Where can we turn for the inspiration, courage, and faith we need now in this crisis of our era? To such authoritative truth as “In the Name of God, the Victor of the most victorious, proclaim: God will assist all those who arise to serve Him. No one is able to deprive Him of His majesty, His dominion, His sovereignty, for in the heaven and the earth and in all the realms of God, He is the Victorious and the Conqueror.”

Triumph will ever ring from this clarion call of the martyred Báb.

And from Bahá’u’lláh “He is supreme over His servants, and standeth over His creatures. In His Hand is the

[Page 309]CRISIS AND CREATION 309

source of authority and truth. He maketh men alive by His signs, and causeth them to die through His wrath. He shall not be asked of His doings and His might is equal unto all things. He is the Potent, the All-Subduing. He holdeth within His grasp the empire of all things, and on His right hand is fixed the Kingdom of His Revelation. His power, verily, embraceth the whole of creation. Victory and overlordship are His; all might and do minion are His; all glory and greatness are His. He, of a truth, is the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful, the Unconditioned.”

“Unity in its true meaning is that God alone should be realized as the one Power that animates and dominates all things which are but manifestations of Its energy.”

There, then, is the source of Unity this travailing world is

struggling to achieve. —E. B.

J UDGE NOT

Who are we that we should judge? How shall we know who, in the Sight of God, is the most important man? God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts! How many men who have seemed saint-like to their friends have fallen into the greatest humiliation. Think of Judas Iscariot; he began well, but remember his end! On the other hand, Paul, the Apostle, was in his early life an enemy of Christ, whilst later he became His most faithful servant. How then can we flatter ourselves and despise others?

Let us therefore be humble, without prejudices, preferring others’ good to our own! Let us never say, “I am a believer but he is an Infidel,” “I am near to God, whilst he is an outcast.” We can never know what will be the final judgment! Therefore let us help all who

are in need of any kind of assistance. —‘ABDU’L-BAH£

[Page 310]

How “Practical” Is the Bahá’í Faith?

ARTHUR DAHL

E IN the United States, with

our fabulous success in the production of material goods, have been prone arbitrarily to classify all ideas and suggested ventures as either “practical” or “impractical.” Since people who think in these terms are apt to dismiss the Bahá’í Faith, after a superficial acquaintanceship with its basic principles, as “impractical” “idealistic,” and “utopian,” it might be well to consider their point of view more fully.

“Practical-Minded” people are generally those who are in the front lines of our economic, pO‘ litical, and social activity. They are the doers, as distinct from from the thinkers and the planners. They are acutely conscious of the reality of things as they are today, and have a relatively short—term outlook. They evaluate any suggested course of action by the extent to which it fits in with the status quo and has a chance for success in the near future. They are acutely aware of human weaknesses, and accept them as fixed, permanent, and an important element in the calculations. In most cases they have little interest in the broad movements of past history, nor are they apt to look very far ahead.

They are usually suspicious of those who live primarily in the world of ideas, particularly broad or general ideas, or concepts based upon historical perspective. They consider such people to be out of touch with “reality” and therefore “impractical." An idea is worthwhile only if it has an immediate, concrete application.

As is usually the case, there are elements of truth in both positions. Certainly any idea, to have value, must have some relationship to reality. But reality is not confined to the immediate, and the “practicaI-minded” people are themselves being shortsighted and unrealistic when they ignore longer term trends and the gradual process of change. The current position, its relationship to the past, and the trend pointing to the future must all be taken into consideration to give a true and balanced picture of reality.

Based upon the point of view of the “practical-minded” people, as defined above, the Bahá’í Faith could probably be correctly classified as “impractical.” Before its goals can be reached widespread and drastic changees in human behavior and motiva 310

[Page 311]HOW “PRACTICAL”?

tion must take place, which the “practical-minded” person would be apt to regard skeptically. And in any case these changes are not expected to take place overnight. The Faith does not provide an immediate solution for the world’s ills. A casual observer might even feel that, at least in the Western world, it had made little progress to date, in terms of total number of believers and other outward accomplishments. And a cornerstone of the Faith is an idea based upon historical perspective, the concept of progressive revelation. No, on his own grounds there is ample reason for the “practical-minded”

person to be dubious about the Bahá’í Faith.

One may seriously question, however, whether this approach is the proper one to use in evaluating any attempt to solve the basic problems facing mankind today. These problems are too complex, too profound, too vast to admit of any short-term solution. As defined by the “practical” answer to these problems now available. Hence much of the feeling of hopelessness and despair that is so prevalent today.

Yet is this not far too narrow a use of the word “practical”? Fundamentally, a thing is practical if it will work, if it will be successful. This should be just as

311

true whether the success is achieved tomorrow or a hundred years from now. And so a decision as to whether or not the Bahá’í Faith is workable should rest solely upon whether or not it seems to be on the right track and stands a chance of ultimately achieving its goal of unifying mankind and establishing universal peace and security.

This is where historical perspective comes in. If one looks only at conditions as they are throughout the globe today, one can easily be overwhelmed by the extent and the power of the negative forces that are tearing the world apart and threatening to overthrow our civilization; the forces of nationalism, of materialism, of racial prejudices, of class warfare, of conflict between religions. Seemingly these are insurmountable. One will also be struck by the weakened position of religion as a direct influence on the lives and actions of great masses of people, by the widely accepted notion that religion is old-fashioned and passé in this

“enlightened” age. Based upon an analysis of current conditions

alone, the claim of the Bahá’í Faith that we are on the threshold of a great resurgence of spiritual power and religious feeling,

which will bring about an entire

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312

1y new concept of world unity, seems far-fetched indeed.

Yet if we study our own age in relation to the past, the Bahá’í explanations seem eminently sensible, so much so that it is a wonder that it is taking so long for them to be generally accepted. For countless historians have recorded the rise and fall of civilizations. Bahá’ís understand that each one was initiated and inspired by One who claimed to be, and was accepted by His followers as, a Manifestation of God, and Who brought the Word of God to the world in a form needed to meet the problems of the age in which He lived. And history corroborates the progressive advancement of these civilizations, each reaching a higher level of attainment than its predecessor. How logical that the goal of the era that lies ahead of us, the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, should be the unification of mankind.

There have been periods in the past when religion has weakened, when it has had little influence on the people, and when, as a result, chaos, violence, immorality and destruction have prevailed. But always such periods were followed by the appearance of a new Prophet, and a renaissance of spiritual values in the forming of a new and greater civilization

WORLD ORDER

and the resolving of the basic points of conflict. Is it either logical or scientific to assume that our own age is going to be an exception, that'we have reached a dead-end of spiritual progress?

Once one accepts the validity of revealed religion and the Bahá’í principle of progressive revelation, one must decide on the truth of Bahá’u’lláh’s claim to be a Manifestation of God, the Prophet for this day. This can only be done by a careful, independent study of His writings, and those of His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, of His great-grandson, Shoghi Effendi. Once this hurdle is crossed all of the pieces that make up the vast panorama of the Bahá’í teachings fit logically into place. And it is only then that one can begin to appreciate just how practical the Bahá’í Faith is, in the senSe that it is the only means whereby the world can find its way to peace and unity.

For it is evident that no permanent cure for the world’s ills can be achieved without some basic worldwide change in people themselves. Today’s hopelessness, cynicism, immorality, and dishonesty do not provide a solid foundation for a good society. But history shows that, in the past, revealed religions, and they alone have lifted entire peoples

[Page 313]HOW “PRACTICAL”? 313

above such levels. To say that this can’t be done is to ignore the lessons of the past. And the Bahá’í Faith shows signs of achieving this renaissance again in our own time. But further than that, within the body of the Bahá’í teachings lies a framework of a new world society, broader in scope and more profound in conception than anything else before the public today. And so the Bahá’í Faith offers the two essential elements for overcoming the divisive forces rampant throughout the world and establishing a new era of peace and unity: the spiritual power to turn men once more toward the ageless virtues as a guide to their daily lives, and a specific and detailed program for a new universal order, providing for a world government, an international system of economics, the abolition of racial, class, and religious prejudices, equality of men and women, universal education, an international language, and many other provisions in the social, political, and economic fields. How can such a program be “impractical,” when anything short of it is bound to fail? And when failure may mean the virtual destruction of our civilization?

Webster’s New International Dictionary defines “practical” as: “opposed to theoretical,

ideal, or speculative . . . given or disposed to action as opposed to speculation . . . capable of applying knowledge to some useful end.” On the basis of this definition the Bahá’í Faith is eminently practical. It is a very real and specific, not a theoretical, concept, and it is a religion of action, which is being applied daily to decidedly useful ends. The results are not superficially spectacular, since they concern neither total numbers of believers nor quantity of physical property accumulated, but they are nonetheless very real and impressive to one who takes the trouble to examine them.

The Bahá’í community consists of believers in over ninetyone countries. These people have a multitude of religious, economic, and social backgrounds, and truly represent a cross-section of humanity. Yet no matter where their previous interests lay, no matter what their approach to the fundamental Problems of life had been, they have found a satisfactory answer in the extensive teachings of the Faith. And in spite of the contrary attitudes of the world around them, they are putting into practice and living the Bahá’í principles today, both individually and as a group. The Bahá’í Administrative Order as

[Page 314]314

it is now functioning is a pilot model of the world order of the future, the working nucleus around which this new society can grow. Within this community the caste distinctions in India and the antagonism between black and white in America disappear, a feeling of close kinship exists between Bahá’ís of different races and nations, a spirit of love, cooperation, and fellowship predominates. And as a result one finds a well-balanced, thoroughly adjusted

WORLD ORDER

group of people looking toward the future with hope and confidence. If it can happen to them, why not to the world at large? And so, once one realizes that the great religions of the past have overcome negative forces that were, relatively speaking, fully as strong as those we face today, and then grasps the breadth and scope and logic of

'the Bahá’í Faith, it looms as the

only “practical” road to that united, peaceful world of the future for which we all yearn.

Each Manifestation is the heart of the world and the proficient Physician of every patient. The world of humanity is sick, but that skilled Physician hath the remedy and He bestoweth divine teachings, exhorations and advices which are the remedy of every ailment and the dressing for every wound. Undoubtedly, the wise physician discovereth the needs of the patient at every season and prescribeth medicine . .1 . The prescription of the proficient physicians of the past and the future will not be the same; nay, rather they will be in accord with the ailment of the patient . . . In former dispensations the sick body of the world could not bear the strong and overpowering remedies. That is why His Highness the Christ said: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of

the Comforter, who is sent by the Father, is come, He will guide you into all

truth. —‘ABDU’L-BAH£

[Page 315]Modern Vikings

AMELIA BOWMAN

“ HE youth of Sweden need adventure,” a Swedish au thor said to me at a dinner shortly after my arrival in Stockholm last October, “so that the viking spirit may find expression. Swedish youth have not participated in the recent wars, and have not, therefore, had contact with new people and new lands as the youth of neighboring countries. They need to feel the spirit of adventure.”

“What could be a greater adventure today,” I replied, “than to become a part of a great New World that would bring together the ends of the earth? The challenge today,” I continued, “is just as real and vital as was the challenge to the early Vikings to venture out in search of new lands. The same courage and daring are needed today to establish a new way of life, to become unifiers of mankind and bridge the divisions of race, religion, nation and class. To find these Vikings I have crossed the ocean! and when I find them to tell them of the course which Bahá’u’lláh, the Master Pilot, has charted to guide the world to unity and peace.”

“Just how do you expect to find these Vikings?” he inquired,

“F or youth today does not want to investigate religion. It would be impossible to get them to see religion as an adventure!”

“Well, first of all, these modern Vikings must be sincere. They must also want a better world! It is not those with great intelligence, necessarily, or those with wealth and position that we must seek but those whose hearts have felt the great love and compassion for mankind.”

One of the first of the modern vikings to arise in Sweden was inspired to work for the peace of mankind when, as a small child, he accompanied his father on a

trip. On the train were many‘

wounded men being returned to Germany after the first world war. One man, who was dying, talked with him, and he realized that this man had a child just his own age, whom this father would never see. He tried to comfort the man, and, in those moments of human compassion a great desire for peace was aroused. When fourteen years of age he became an ardent E'sperantist, because he felt that in this way he could advance the cause of peace. When Martha Root, the star Bahá’í teacher, visited Stockholm and spoke before the Es 315

[Page 316]

316 WORLD ORDER

peranto club on November 21, 1934, she placed the manuscript of her Bahá’í talk in the hands of this youth! He took it home and filed it away until, in 1947, thirteen years later, two Bahá’í pioneer teachers, spoke again at that Club. He went home and searched out the manuscript and read it. Today he is an enthusiastic Bahá’í, working for all the principles of a new way of life, which include the adoption of an international auxiliary language to promote understanding and

good-will among the peoples of the world.

Another of our modern vikings here in Stockholm recalled reading a newspaper clipping which epitomized Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet to Queen Victoria. His foster parents in England had framed this clipping and hung it in their library. Later, in 1927, Mrs. Marguerite Kinlock had spoken to him about the Bahá’í Faith. He had helped Mrs. Jennie Anderson, when she came to Stockholm, to get a proper transfer from one street car to another, and she had told him more about the Faith. On his return to Stockholm after his summer vacation he went to her to get something to read and to study, and subsequently became a believer.

Another, a neighbor here on Rindogaten, where I have found

lodgings in overcrowded Stockholm, had investigated many religions and had come to believe in the fundamental oneness of all religions and the brotherhood of man. As a member of the Theosophical Society she secured their cooperation in a showing of the film, ‘The End or The Beginning,” which presents the challenge that science brings to the peoples of the world to establish peace or be annihilated. Before the showing of the picture “The Bahá’í Peace Program” was presented, pointing out the need for world federation and world religion.

The newspapers have carried many items about the Bahá’í World Faith, and a long article about the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, appeared in one of Stockholm’s daily papers. The writer is an ardent worker for peace, both through her pen and through her lectures given throughout Sweden. An editor of a newspaper in northern Sweden wrote Mrs. Schopflocher in Maine that he would appreciate receiving material about the Bahá’í Faith, about which she had spoken to him on her visit to Sweden.

Other vikings working for the advancement of Sweden, whom I have met, include Miss Kirsten Hesselgren, a former member of

[Page 317]MODERN VIKINGS

Rihstag, who is earnest, openminded, and eager to know about the Bahá’í teachings for Universal Peace. She is the most beloved woman in all Sweden, I am told, and this is easy to understand, for she has the simplicity of greatness, the directness of a great and clear vision and the love of humanity in her heart. Mr. Gunnar Hirdman, director of the Workers’ Educational Movement, a vital man whom one recognizes as a fearless worker and educator. Editors, educators, authors, as well as organizations working for peace, for equality of men and women, and other universal principles, are all striving for a better world.

It is the little group of Bahá’ís, dedicated to the service of the Divine Plan of God for this Day, however, that constitute that nucleus of the new race of men, the new world civilization, whom history will one day record as the spiritual descendants of the early vikings. They are every day advancing the cause of peace in the hearts of the people through the regenerating spirit released in this Revelation. One day this

317

small nucleus will be a dynamic and vital link in the world-encircling Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Through the election of the Stockholm Spiritual Assembly on April 21, 1948, Sweden became part of the structural framework of the New World Order, which already extends throughout North and South America, Australia and New Zealand, the British Isles, Germany, Austria, Norway, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland, Egypt and Sudan, ‘Iráq, Palestine, iran, India and Burma.

Thus a faith which had its beginnings in the Message of its Founder to the rulers of the world, in which they were offered “The Most Great Peace,” finds itself established as a world religion, bringing together in an organic unity the various religions, races, and nations of the world. These modern vikings, working for a Divine Plan, are constantly realizing new spiritual values. They are of those of whom Bahá’u’lláh said, “That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race.”

[Page 318]

The Station of Christ

A Compilation from the Bahá’í Writings

HE DIVINE Prophets came

to establish the unity of the Kingdom in human hearts. All of them proclaimed the glad tidings of the divine bestowals to the world of mankind. All brought the same message of divine love to the world. His Holiness Jesus Christ gave His life upon the cross for the unity of mankind. Those who believed in Him likewise sacrificed life, honor, possessions, family, everything, that this human world might be released from the hell of discord, enmity and strife. His foundation was the oneness of humanity. Only a few were attracted to Him. They were not the kings and rulers of His time. They were not rich and important people. Some of them were catchers of fishes. Most of them were ignorant men, not trained in the knowledge of this world. One of the greatest of them, Peter, could not remember the days of the week. All of them were of the least consequence in the eyes of the world. But their hearts were pure and attracted by the fires of the divine spirit manifested in Christ. With this small army Christ conquered the world of the east and the west. Kings and nations rose against

Him. Philosophers and the greatest men of learning assailed and blasphemed His cause. All were defeated and overcome; their tongues silenced; their lamps extinguished; their hatred quenched; no trace of them now remain. They have become as non-existent while His kingdom is triumphant and eternal.

The brilliant star of His cause has ascended to the zenith while night has enveloped and eclipsed His enemies. His name beloved and adored by a few disciples now commands the reverence of kings and nations of the world. His power is eternal; His sovereignty will continue forever while those who opposed Him are sleeping in the dust, their very names unknown, forgotten. The little army of disciples has become a mighty cohort of millions. The Heavenly Host, the Supreme Concourse, are His legions, the Word of God is His sword, the power of God is His victory.

His Holiness Jesus Christ knew this would come to pass and was content to suffer. His abasement was His glorification; His crown of thorns a heavenly diadem. When they pressed it upon His blessed head and spat

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[Page 319]STATION OF CHRIST

in His beautiful face they laid the foundation of His everlasting kingdom. He still reigns while they and their names have become lost and unknown. He is eternal and glorious; they are non-existent. They sought to destroy Him, but they destroyed themselves and increased the in tensity of His flame by the winds of their opposition.

Through His death and teachings we have entered into His kingdom. His essential teaching was the unity of mankind and attainment of supreme human virtues through love . . .

Christ was a divine center of unity and love. Whenever discord prevails instead of unity, wherever hatred and antagonism take the place of love and spiritual fellowship, anti-Christ reigns instead of Christ . . . He loved even His enemies and prayed in the hour of his crucifixion for those who killed Him. Therefore to be a Christian is not merely to~ bear the name of Christ and say, “I belong to a Christian government.” To be a real Christian is to be a servant in His cause and kingdom, to go forth under His banner of peace and love toward all mankind, to be self-sacrificing and obedient, to become quickened by the breaths Of the Holy Spirit, to be mirrors reflecting the radiance

319

of the divinity of Christ, to be fruitful trees in the garden of His planting, to refresh the world by the water of life of His teachings; in all things to be like Him and filled with the spirit of his love.

Therefore let your faces be more radiant with hope and heavenly determination to serve

the cause of God . . . to kindle

anew the spirit of humanity with divine fires and to reflect the glory of heaven to this gloomy world of materialism. When you possess these divine susceptibilities you will be able to awaken and develop them in others. We cannot give of our wealth to the poor unless we possess it. . . .

Array yourselves in the perfection of divine virtues. I hope you may be quickened and vivi fied by the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Then shall ye indeed become the angels of heaven whom Christ promised would appear in this day to gather the harvest of divine planting. This is my hope. This is my prayer for you.

., S(frumulgation of Universal Peace, pp.

His Holiness Jesus Christ was an Educator of humanity. His teachings were altruistic; His bestowal universal. He taught mankind by the power of the Holy Spirit and not through human agency. . . . If you reflect upon

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the essential teachings of Jesus you will realize that they are the light of the world. Nobody can question their Truth. They are the very source of life and the cause of happiness to the human race. The forms and superstitions which appeared and 0bscured the Light did not affect the Reality of Christ. . . . His Holiness Christ was a real Shepherd. At the time of His Manifestation, the Greeks, Romans, Assyrians and Egyptians were like so many scattered flocks. Christ breathed upon them the spirit

of unity and harmonized them.

(Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 82, 157)

When the Lord Christ was crowned with thorns, He knew that all diadems of the world were at His feet. All earthly crowns, however brilliant, power! ful and resplendent bowed in adoration before the Crown of Thorns! It was from this sure and certain knowledge He spoke, when He said;—“All power is

given unto Me, in Heaven and

in Earth.” (Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l—Bahd, p. 156)

“Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all cre, ated things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the

WORLD ORDER

earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.

We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sin ner sanctified . . .

(Glean’nm from the Writings of Behri’u’lla’h, p. 85)

When Christ appeared He manifested Himself at Jerusalem. He called men to the Kingdom of God, He invited them to eternal life, and He told them to acquire human perfections. The Light of GuidanCe was shed forth by that Radiant Star, and He at length gave His life for humanity. All through His blessed life He suffered oppression and hardship, and in spite of all this, humanity was his enemy. They denied Him, scorned

[Page 321]STATION OF CHRIST

Him, ill-treated Him and cursed Him. He was not treated like a man—and yet in spite of all this, He was the embodiment of pity and of supreme goodness and love. He loved all humanity, but they treated Him as an enemy and were incapable of appreciating Him. They set no value on His words, and were not illumined by the flame of His love.

Later they realized Who He was: that He was the sacred and Divine Light, and that His Words held eternal life. His heart was full of love for all the world, His goodness was destined to reach each one—and as they began to realize these things they re pented, but He had been crucified

It was not until many years after His ascension that they knew who He was, and at the time of His ascension He had only a few disciples; only a comparatively small following believed His precepts and followed His Laws. The ignorant said, “Who is this individual; He has only a few disciples?” But those who knew said, “He is the Sun who will shine in the East and in the West; He is the Manifestation Who will give life to the world.” What the first dis ciples had seen the world realized later.

(Abdu’l-Bahá, W isdom Talks in Paris, 1717., 107, 108)

321

Consider the days of His Holiness Christ, how the light of Guidance brightened twelve hearts. How limited it seemed but how expansive it became aft erward and illumined the world!

(Promulgation 0/ Universal Peace, p. 189)

The Reality of Christ, that is to say the Word of God, is the cause of spiritual life. It is a “quickening spirit,” meaning that all the imperfections which come from the requirements of the physical life of men, are transformed into human perfections by the teachings and education of that spirit. Therefore Christ was a quickening spirit, and the cause of life in all mankind . . . The position of Christ was that of absolute perfection; He made His divine perfections shine like the sun upon all believing souls, and the bounties of the Light shone and radiated in the reality of men. . . . The Reality of Christ was a clear and polished mirror of the greatest purity and fineness. . . .' The Sun of Reality, that is to say, the Essence of Oneness with its infinite perfections and attributes, became visible in the Mirror.

(Some Answered Questions, pp. 130-138)

Consider to what extent the love of God Makes itself manifest. Among the signs of His love which appear in the world are the dawning-points of His Mani [Page 322]

322

festetions. What an infinite degree of love is reflected by the divine Manifestations toward mankind! For the sake of guiding the people they have willingly forfeited their lives to resuscitate human hearts. They have accepted the cross. . . . If His Holiness Jesus Christ had not possessed love for the world of humanity, surely He would not have welcomed the cross. He was crucified for the love of mankind. Consider the infinite degree of that love . . . It has been likewise with all the Proph ets and holy souls . . .

(Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 250, 251)

In the Word of God there is still another unity, the Oneness Of the Manifestations of God, His Holiness Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. This is the unity divine, heavenly, radiant, merciful; the one reality appearing in its successive manifestations. For instance, the sun is one and the same but its points of dawning are various. During the summer season it rises from the northern point of the ecliptic; in winter it appears from the southern point of rising. Each month be WORLD ORDER

tween it appears from a certain zodiacal position. Although these dawning points are different, the sun is the same sun which has appeared from them all. The significance is the reality of prophethood which is symbolized by the sun, and the Holy Manifestations are the dawning places

or zodiacal points.” (Bahá’í World Faith p. 259)

The Cause of Bahá’u’lláh is the same as the Cause of Christ. It is the same Temple and the same F oundation. Both of these are spiritual springtimes and seasons of the soul-refreshing awakening and ths cause of the renovation of the life of mankind. The spring of this year is the same as the spring of last year. The origins and ends are the same. The sun of today is the sun of yesterday. In the coming of Christ, the divine teachings were given in accordance with the infancy of the human race. The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh have the same basic principles, but are according to the stage of the maturity of the world and the requirements of this illumined age.

(Bahá’í World Faith p. 400)

[Page 323]

WITH OUR READERS

“GOSPEL Times Today,” the lead

article this month, was written by Annamarie Kunz Honnold, a contributor of whom we last heard in 1945 (“Signs of the Times,” June, 1945). Mrs.- Honnold lives in Havertown, Pennsylvania, with her husband—a member of the law faculty of the University of Pennsylvania — and her two children. She is a graduate of the University of llinois. She has made several trips abroad. The last one was in 1939 with her husband. They returned-to this country after the outbreak of war. In teaching the Bahá’í way of life, Mrs. Honnold has served as editor of Bahá’í Youth and for four years as secretary of the Regional Teaching Committee of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. At present, as chairman of the Child Education Committee, her most important work is educating children for world peace.

Floyd H. Munson (“Lords of Creation”, July, 1948), mentions at the beginning of “This Is Our Faith,” his most recent contribution, that the knowledge of the Bahá’í teachings will first of all cause a person to appreciate the truths of God’s testament as revealed by the Prophet of his own particular creed. We believe that Mr. Munson’s article, the piece by Mrs. Hutchens, and the compilation on the “Station of Christ” will contribute something towards deepening the understanding of all those, who this month, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Eleanor Sweney Hutchens is well known to readers of W. 0'. She is one of our editors, lives in Champaign, and constantly contributes articles and editorials. Her piece this month‘‘—“Do You Believe in Christ?”written as a letter to a friend, takes a step further Mr. Munson’s comment on the relationship of the Bahá’í Faith to Christianity. Bahá’ís believe in Jesus and His Teachings, says Mrs. Hutchens. Believe that He came, taught, was crucified. Still

‘more: they believe He has now come

again. And Mrs. Hutchens explains that the body of Jesus, being a physical thing, can be crucified, can perish. But the Spirit of God that spoke through Jesus is eternal, and the Spirit has returned in the body of Bahá’u’lláh. Bahá’ís can see therefore in Christmas not only the birth, but also the rebirth of Christ.

Our editorial, “Crisis and Creation,” was written by Elsa Blakely. Mrs. Blakely is one of our new editors.

When Bahá’ís speak of sworld peace and a slowly emerging‘world civilization, they are often asked if

the Bahá’í plan will really work. AIthur Dahl (“Mullá Husayn: First First Letter of the Living,” June, 1948), discusses the issue in his article “How ‘Practical’ is the Bahá’í Faith.” He questions the concept of “practical” and “impractical” as applied by the U.S. citizen in everyday life, where the ‘thinkers’ and the ‘planners’ are confronted by the more positive ‘doers’, losing out be 323

[Page 324]324: WORLD ORDER

cause they cannot manage success in the near future. Mr. Dahl would rather oppose the idea of “practical”, as something that will work whether in the next few years or in a historical span of time. And he proceeds to show why anything short of a historical, long-range program is bound to fail—is bound to be “impractical”~——-in solving the basic problems facing mankind today.

Incidentally, Mr. Dahl, who lives in Palo Alto, California, wrote this piece when he was forced to stay in bed for three days with the flu. We don’t like to see our'contributors catch the flu, ,but if this is necessary for them to write articles, well then we shall have to be “practical.”

Amelia Bowman writes from Stockholm, Sweden, where she has been living since the end of 1947 as a Bahá’í pioneer teacher. Mrs. Bowman’s “Modern Vikings” are the people of Sweden who take up the challenge of a new world civilization, who have felt the great love and compassion for mankind and wish to build a better world. The youth of Sweden that need adventure (because they did not go to war and forcibly come into contact with peoples of other countries) can find today in the Bahá’í teachings, ‘Mrs. Bowman suggests, a challenge that is just as real and vital as was the challenge of the ehrly vikings. And 'it is these people who want a better world that history will one day record as the spiritual descendants of the early vikings.

We are indebted to Nellie French, Gertrude Struven and Mariam Haney, three Bahá’ís of long standing, for the compilation on the “Station

of Christ.” For many years they have been serious students of the Bahá’í teachings, and of the relationship of the words of Bahá’u’lláh to the words of the Bible.

These selections appear this month instead of part III of “What Modern Man Must Know About Religion.” This compilation will be resumed in January.

• it ‘I'

W hat is the ultimate objective of the Bahá’í Faith?

Answer: Bahá’u’lláh said to Professor Edward C. Browne of the University of Cambridge in 1890: “. . . We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer-up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment. . . . That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and diflerences of race he annulled—What harm is there in this? . . . Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, thes ruinous wars shall pass away, and e Most Great Peace shall come. . . . Do not you in Europe need this also? Is not this that which Christ foretold? . . . Yet do we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more. freely on means for the destruction of the human race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind. . . . These strifes and this

.bloodshed and discord must cease,

and all men he as one kindred and one family. . . . Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.” ‘

[Page 325]Bahá’í Sacred Writings Works of Bahá’u’lláh

Distributed by Bahá’í Publishing Committee 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois

KITAB-HQAN (Book of Certitude) .

In this work Bahá’u’lláh reveals the oneness of religion, traces its continuity and evolution through the successive Manifestations of God, and correlates revelation with the major movements of history. Translated by

Shoghi Effendi. HIDDEN WORDS

The essence of all revealed truth, expressed in brief meditations impregnated with spiritual power. fl‘ranslated by Shoghi Effendi.

THE SEVEN VALLEYS, THE FOUR VALLEYS

Treatises On the progress of the soul and the action of Spirit on human being, revealed to disclose the difference between religion and philosophy.

Translated by ‘Ali-Kuli Iglén. ‘ EPISTLE TO THE SON OF THE WOLF

The force and significance of divine Revelation opposed by the ruthless deniers in church and state. One _of Bahá’u’lláh’s last works, 'it cites from and recapitulates the meaning of many other Tablets.

TABLETS OF Bahá’u’lláh

The Tablet of Tarézét, Tablet of the World, Words of Paradise, Tablet of Tajalliyét, Glad Tidings, and Tablet of Ishréqét, containing social principles and laws, are found in Chapter Four af Bahá’í W 0er Faith. The Tablet of the Branch and Kitáb-i-‘Ahd, setting forth the station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, are found in Chapter Five of the same work. Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets to the Kings form part of Chapter One of that work.

GLEANINGS FROM THE WRITINGS OF Bahá’u’lláh

These excerpts were selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi, and offer a representative compilation of wards of Bahá’u’lláh: the Bahá’í teachings

on the nature of religion, the regeneration of the soul and the transformation of human society.

PRAYERS AND MEDITATIO‘NS BY Bahá’u’lláh

In these passages, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi, the relationship of man to God attained by prayer and meditation has been

firmly established above and beyond the influence of superstition and imagination.

[Page 326]Words of Bahá’u’lláh

Inscribed Over the Nine Entrances of the

1.

House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois

The earth is but one country; and mankind its citizens.

. The best beloved of all things in My sight

is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me.

. My love is My strongfold; he that entereth

therein is safe and secure.

Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner.

. Thy heart is My home; sanctify it fqi'My

descent.

. I have made death a messenger of joy to

thee; wherefore dost thou grieve?

. Make mention of Me on My earth that in

My heaven I may remember thee.

. 0 rich ones on earth! The poor in your

midst are My trust; guard ye My trust.

. The source of all learning is the knowI edge of God, exalted be His glory.