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WORLD
ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
February, 1944
• Bahá’í Teachings for a World Religion . Horace Holley 363
• The New Dawn, Poem . . . . . . Ruby Dunn MacCurdy 382
• In Search of a New Way of Life . . Janet B. Whitenack 383
• He Calleth the Nations, Editorial . . Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick 389
• Science and Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G. A. Shook 391
• With Our Readers . . . . . . 397
FIFTEEN CENTS
THE UTTERANCE OF GOD IS A LAMP, WHOSE LIGHT ARE THESE WORDS: YE ARE THE FRUITS OF ONE TREE, AND THE LEAVES OF ONE BRANCH. DEAL YE ONE WITH ANOTHER WITH THE UTMOST LOVE AND HARMONY, WITH FRIENDLINESS AND FELLOWSHIP. HE WHO IS THE DAY STAR OF TRUTH BEARETH ME WITNESS! SO POWERFUL IS THE LIGHT OF UNITY THAT IT CAN ILLUMINATE THE WHOLE EARTH.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED
ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
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, Alice Simmons Cox, Gertrude K. Henning, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
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FEBRUARY, 1944, VOLUME IX, NUMBER 11
WORLD ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
VOLUME IX FEBRUARY, 1944 NUMBER 11
Bahá’í Teachings
for a World Religion
Horace Holley
THE PILLARS OF A NEW WORLD ERA
MAY 23, 1944 will signalize the ending of the first century
of the Bahá’í Era. That date marks an event of transcendent
importance in the evolution of religion and civilization.
From the dawn of the new Era one hundred years ago, religion, reborn and revitalized, has been a spirit encompassing all mankind. It has penetrated into every department of human activity, creating influences capable of destroying old, outworn ideas and their instruments and of disciplining and training the masses of human beings for unified association in an ordered and peaceful world. The rise of science, the spread of invention, the revolution in industry, the movement of peoples, the clash of nations and the implacable struggle of social philosophies, alike disclose the motivation of one spiritual impulse and energy which, laying hold on humanity, has been shaping its life in conformity with the possibilities of a new, a greater age.
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Denied, even resisted by the prevalent attitude of materialism,
this force of transmutation has, while the century closes,
manifested its irresistible power by gathering up the peoples
of East and West and plunging them into the crucible of a
common agony and trial.
Such an outcome can no longer be attributed to controllable human wills, acts and social trends. The groups and organizations, great and small, which so long have maintained the principle of independence and self-sufficiency, even nations and empires, find themselves confronted by menacing conditions both within and without. The universal upheaval is unprecedented. Its implications can not be grasped except by recognition of this spirit from God and the working of His divine intention. Sovereignty has been transferred from nations to world and from races to mankind. The direction of events has been grasped from human will and exercised through its own channels and instruments by the will of God.
Therefore the sects and creeds, reflecting the religious experience of an era that has departed, attached to and dependent on the principle of social isolation and self-sufficiency, have been deprived of divine guidance. Hence too the political and economic policies representing the material activity of that same disavowed principle have become ineffective and impotent except in their capacity to undermine the order on which they themselves depend.
Destiny has moved outside and beyond the ancient law of struggle and conflict to be the guardian of a new Dispensation of justice and order. The Bahá’í Faith, fulfilling the hope and vindicating the truth of former Revelations, is the conscious expression of the new, world-unifying spirit in its source, its purpose and its power to regenerate the life of mankind.
THE SOURCE OF FAITH
The source of religion is sacred and inviolate. Every Faith has come into this world from a higher realm. Every Revelation has conveyed light from the sun of truth to the darkness of human hearts and minds. In each Dispensation the life of the soul has been rekindled, releasing capacity for moral conduct, ethical truth and social cooperation. The life and teaching of the Founder of a religion is the essence and reality of that Dispensation, not the catalogue of dogmas and creeds which afterward registers the progress of disputation among His followers and enthrones the arbitrary authority of a few official religionists over the people.
Bahá’u’lláh has given the world today a fuller measure of spiritual truth, befitting the mature development of humanity and the larger responsibility laid upon men called to establish a world civilization imbued with the spirit of divine law.
“The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being,” He
declares, “hath ever been and will continue for ever to be,
closed in the face of men. No man’s understanding shall ever
gain access unto His holy court. As a token of His mercy, however,
and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He hath manifested
unto men the Day Stars of His divine guidance, the
Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge
of these sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge
of His own Self. Whoso recognizeth them hath recognized
God. Whoso hearkeneth to their call, hath hearkened to the
Voice of God, and whose testifieth to the truth of their Revelation,
hath testified to the truth of God Himself. Whoso
turneth away from them, hath turned away from God, and
whoso disbelieveth in them, hath disbelieved in God. Every
one of them is the Way of God that connecteth this world
with the realms above, and the Standard of His Truth unto
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every one in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. They are
the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of His
Truth, and the signs of His glory.”
In these words the touchstone of religious truth and sincerity, the mainspring of faith, has been set up by which the attitude of the individual and the worth of the religious group are being tested in this age as they were divinely tested by the words of Jesus in His Dispensation or by the commands of Moses in that Dispensation which Christ brought to an end.
The Founders of revealed religion, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muḥammad, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, “are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one being, one revelation,” and Bahá’u’lláh warns the people “lest ye be tempted to make any distinction between any of the Manifestations of His Cause, or to discriminate against the signs that have accompanied and proclaimed their Revelation. . . . Whoso maketh the slightest possible difference between their persons, their words, their messages, their acts and manners, hath indeed disbelieved in God, hath repudiated His signs, and betrayed the Cause of His Messengers.”
Thus we may realize today that the successive Faiths have
been different stages along the same path of revealed truth.
Their relationship is that of one religion in continuity, each
later Faith fulfilling all those that preceded it and preparing
the way for the future Faith to appear in its destined time. To
conceive of many religions and different faiths existing simultaneously,
their mutual tolerance sharing only their separateness
of inner purpose, is to identify men’s repeated denials of
God with obedience to God and their imitations of His merciful
Revelations with divine truth itself. It is when this identification
has become complete, and the name of religion connotes
some divisive sect, some militant creed or some impotent
affirmation of already accepted general ideals, that the Manifestation
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of God returns to earth with power to destroy error
and establish teachings for a new cycle.
The oneness of revealed religion emerges also when we consider the connection between each Faith and its corresponding civilization and culture. In its primitive purity, religion comes as a creative spirit inspiring human beings to establish a community for the expression of their union in devotion to newly revealed laws. They feel that their faith opens for them a greater possibility of ordered life than man has ever before achieved. Out of this common experience a great civilization arises, runs its course of development, and decays with the lapse of the motivating sacrifice and loyalty. Once the process of dissolution has set in, the civilization can never regain its unity of purpose or restore the vital life of its faith. The disintegration of a civilization reveals a prevalent sickness of soul, for the cycle of religion coincides with the cycle of the civilization it came to found. Until the spirit is renewed by the divine will, the world has no power to heal its own disease. Attempts to reestablish the old order, or found a new society, by revivals, adaptations and experiments, are vain. Effort to seize the new spirit and render it servant to the maintenance of old ideas, old standards, old forms, and old authorities is fruitless. The continued existence of mankind depends upon the return of the Holy Spirit, and this dependence is the basis of true faith.
THE DIVINE PURPOSE
The second illuminating truth revealed by Bahá’u’lláh is
that revealed religion is not only continuous but progressive.
The race of man, under the manifest law of the universe,
grows and develops. Humanity passes through stages of development
and encounters greater opportunity and responsibility
as the stage of childhood recedes. Human capacity
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emerges and new faculties and talents unfold. This organic
process, the divine purpose for mankind, moves forward by
successive and enlarging spiritual impulses. At each stage,
the soul and mind of the race receives a new influx of inspiration,
human consciousness deepens, and when the direction and
possibility of the new cycle has become established in the
realm of faith, men express their enlarged capacity by forming
a greater civilization.
“The All-Knowing Physician,” in Bahá’u’lláh’s statement, “hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring Wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.”
In his capacity of interpreter of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings, Shoghi Effendi, first Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, has definitely traced the operation of this principle from stage to stage.
“Just as the organic evolution of mankind has been slow
and gradual, and involved successively the unification of the
family, the tribe, the city-state, and the nation, so has the
light vouchsafed by the Revelation of God, at various stages
in the evolution of religion, and reflected in the successive Dispensations
of the past, been slow and progressive. Indeed, the
measure of Divine Revelation, in every age, has been adapted
to, and commensurate with, the degree of social progress
achieved in that age by a constantly-evolving humanity. . . .
The Revelation associated with the Faith of Jesus Christ focussed
attention primarily on the redemption of the individual
and the molding of his conduct, and stressed, as its central
theme, the necessity of inculcating a high standard of morality
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and discipline into man, as the fundamental unit in human
society. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find any reference to
the unity of nations or the unification of mankind as a whole
. . . . The Faith of Islám, the succeeding link in the chain of
Divine Revelation, introduced, . . . the conception of the nation
as a unit and a vital stage in the organization of human
society, and embodied it in its teaching.”
With the creation of independent nations, replacing the tribal units of earlier faiths, the cycle of world order was providentially prepared. The divine purpose has manifested itself anew, the law of the oneness of mankind has been revealed, and the spiritual impulse by which the race can achieve world unification has been communicated through the agency of a new World Faith.
“No sooner had He revealed Himself,” Bahá’u’lláh Wrote concerning the appearance of the Báb in 1844, “than the foundations of the kindreds of the earth shook and trembled, and the learned swooned away, and the wise were bewildered, except such as have, through the power of Thy might, drawn nigh unto Thee. . . .” “Through that Word”, He wrote concerning His own appearance, “the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly kingdom, entities of a new creation, and revealing, in the unseen realms, the signs and tokens of Thy unity and oneness. Through that Call Thou didst announce unto all Thy servants the advent of Thy most great Revelation and the appearance of Thy most perfect Cause.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, who
promulgated His Faith through the East and West, exemplified
the perfect type of human character, intelligence and
soul expressive of the laws and principles of this World Era.
“Humanity has emerged,” He said, “from its former state of
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limitation and preliminary training. Man must now become
imbued with new virtues and powers, new moral standards,
new capacities. New bounties, perfect bestowals, are awaiting
and already descending upon him. The gifts and blessings of
the period of youth, although timely and sufficient during the
adolescence of mankind, are now incapable of meeting the requirements
of its maturity. . . . All nations and kindreds . . .
will become a single nation. Religious and sectarian antagonism,
the hostility of races and peoples, and differences among
nations, will be eliminated. All men will adhere to one religion,
will have one common faith, will be blended into one
race, and will become a single people. All will dwell in one
common fatherland, which is the planet itself.”
LAWS, PRINCIPLES, TEACHINGS
Religion is the depository of spiritual truth. Its laws and principles revealed by the Manifestations of God constitute the reality of man’s relations to God, to himself and to other men. What science is to the natural universe, religion is to mankind in all that pertains to its spiritual, its supernatural endowment and aim. There is no chaos nor void where truth ceases to exist nor laws to operate, but there is in man a realm of ignorance where he attempts to deny a divine law by substituting human desire and human opinion. The appearance of the new Manifestation brings all spiritual evasion and subterfuge to an end. He creates a condition in which only truth can survive.
In the Bahá’í Dispensation we find laws, principles and teachings, all reflecting the spirit of the new World Era. In this Dispensation religion brings fulfilment to feeling, will and reason in balance and harmony.
The western world first learned of the Faith through its
principles. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá expounded them in the form of general
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truths acceptable to the enlightened mind whatever its
class, creed, race or nation. In one of His public addresses in
America He presented the following summary:—
“The oneness of the world of humanity.
“The protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
“The foundation of all religion is one.
“Religion must be the cause of unity.
“Religion must accord with science and reason.
“Independent investigation of truth.
“Equality between men and women.
“The abandoning of all prejudices among mankind.
“Universal peace.
“Universal education.
“A universal language.
“Solution of the economic problem.
“An international tribunal.”
Of the source and meaning of these teachings He said: “His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has dawned from the horizon of the Orient, flooding all regions with light and life which will never pass away. His teachings . . . embody the divine spirit of the age and are applicable to this period of maturity in the life of the human world. . . .
“Every one who truly seeks and justly reflects will admit
that the teachings of the present day emanating from mere
human sources and authority are the cause of difficulty and
disagreement amongst mankind, the very destroyers of humanity,
whereas the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are the very healing
of the sick world, the remedy for every need and condition.
In them may be found the realization of every desire and aspiration,
the cause of the happiness of the world of humanity,
the stimulus and illumination of mentality, the impulse for
advancement and uplift, the basis of unity for all nations, the
fountain-source of love amongst mankind, the center of agreement,
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the means of peace and harmony, the one bond which
will unite the East and the West.”
Those who sought no further than this preliminary discussion, conceived of the Faith as a leaven gradually penetrating the masses of mankind, urged and promoted by the enlightened and the idealistic in and through the reformation of the traditional movements and organizations. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, however, plainly set forth the sovereign quality of revealed religion, as, for example, in the following Tablet addressed to American Bahá’ís.
“In the contingent world there are many collective centers which are conducive to association and unity between the children of men. For example, patriotism is a collective center; nationalism is a collective center; identity of interests is a collective center, political alliance is a collective center, the union of ideals is a collective center, and the prosperity of the world of humanity is dependent upon the organization and promotion of the collective centers. Nevertheless, all the above institutions are, in reality, the matter and not the substance, accidental and not eternal—temporary and not everlasting. With the appearance of great revolutions and upheavals, all these collective centers are swept away. But the collective center of the Kingdom, embodying the Institutes and Divine Teachings, is the eternal collective center . . . The real Collective Center is the body of the Divine Teachings, which include all the degrees and embrace all the universal relations and necessary laws of humanity.”
Behind the principles of rational truth, therefore, we look for the deeper implications of law and ordinance.
The laws of Bahá’u’lláh include: the obligation of daily
prayer, an annual fasting period of nineteen days; prohibition
of use of alcoholic liquor or drugs; monogamy; marriage contingent
upon the consent of all four parents, or those living;
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obedience to civil government; obligation to engage in a useful
trade, art or profession; prohibition of a clergy in the
Bahá’í Faith.
In studying Bahá’u’lláh’s laws and ordinances, we note that He revealed nothing approaching a code or constitution. His teachings represent virtues and attitudes, or deal with matters which He did not intend to be altered during this cycle. The Bahá’í code will come into existence through the legislative institutions which Bahá’u’lláh created, whose enactments are subject to revision from time to time as conditions change.
Other ordinances and directions found in His writings can be summarized as follows:
Man’s first duty is to know his own self and the conditions
of progress and abasement. After maturity has been attained,
wealth is needed for the attainment of social personality,
and this is to be earned through the practice of a profession,
art, trade or craft. Associate in a joyous spirit with the
followers of all religions and the members of all races and
nations. The supreme obligation is to attain a good character.
Through trustworthiness mankind will obtain security and
tranquillity. Respect possessors of talent. Meet all obligations
due to others. Refrain from slander and backbiting. To acquire
knowledge is incumbent on all, but knowledge must be
of matters useful to mankind. Agriculture is of first importance.
Human existence rests upon the two pillars of reward
(for obedience to divine command) and punishment (for disobedience
to it.) Kings and rulers are to uphold religion as
the means to world order and peace. Schools must train children
in the principles of religion. Celibacy and seclusion from
the world are not approved. Warfare for religious reasons is
prohibited. Kings and rulers are exhorted to protect and assist
the Bahá’í community. Governments must appoint or elect to
office only such persons as have character and capacity. The
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repentent sinner must turn to God for forgiveness and not to
any human being.
The realm of law and ordinance is defined and given a firm basis in the establishment of social institutions with definite functions for the Bahá’í community, and the conveyance of specific authority to be effective after Bahá’u’lláh’s ascension. “The affairs of the people are placed in charge of the men of the House of Justice of God. They are the trustees of God among His servants and the daysprings of command in His countries.
“O people of God! The trainer of the world is justice, for it consists of two pillars: reward and retribution. These two pillars are two fountains for the life of the people of the world. Inasmuch as for each time and day a particular decree and order is expedient, affairs are therefore entrusted to the ministers of the House of Justice, so that they may execute that which they deem advisable at the time. Those souls who arise to please God will be inspired by the divine, invisible inspirations. It is incumbent upon all to obey.”
The relation of this function to the spiritual realm of the Faith has been placed beyond the possibility of doubt and disagreement. “Administrative affairs,” Bahá’u’lláh declared, “are all in charge of the House of Justice; but acts of worship must be observed according as they are revealed in the Book.”
The aim of this term of social and spiritual evolution has been firmly fixed: “The ministers of the House of Justice must promote the Most Great Peace.”
As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained in His Will and testament, this House of Justice is an international body whose members are to be elected by national representatives of the Bahá’ís.
In the Person of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’u’lláh established
authority as Interpreter of His Revelation and Exemplar of
the Faith. The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh in reality is to be
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viewed as more than an initial spiritual impulse breathed into
the human heart and left to humanity’s own devices to direct
and apply throughout an historical epoch. His Dispensation
is an organism created to function in and through the entire
epoch, for divine guidance has been promised to mankind
henceforth, the day of God’s Kingdom having dawned.
Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Faith, has disclosed this new dimension which religion in its fulfilment has attained. “For Bahá’u’lláh, we should readily recognize, has not only imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit, He has not merely enunciated certain universal principles, or propounded a particular philosophy, however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition to these He, as well as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after Him, has, unlike the Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically laid down a set of laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a pattern for the future society, a supreme instrument for the establishment of the Most Great Peace, and the one agency for the unification of the world, and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth.”
BIRTH OF A WORLD FAITH
The inmost soul of religion is its reflection of the divine
light and love. The Being men call prophet, messenger or
Messiah, outwardly a physical man, is inwardly a flame enkindled
from a higher world. By Him men are born from
their physical self to their spiritual reality. By His summons
a mighty tempest is unloosed which destroys evil attitudes,
habits and patterns. To recognize Him is man’s supreme
blessing, to serve Him is the essence of existence. Through
Him God destroys and creates, punishes and rewards, darkens
and illumines all things on earth. He sends an ocean of
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truth to confound men’s limited conceptions and lights a sun
of love to replace their flickering candles of personal affection.
Aside from Him there is no path to God.
The cherished mystery of true faith has been the sacred teaching of the Covenant which the Creator made with man, that He would not abandon the human race but send His messenger to redeem them from age to age for evermore. But the Covenant laid upon human beings the condition that they would remain firm in the Promise and recognize and obey the Lord of the Covenant whenever, wherever, however He might appear.
The proclamation uttered by Mírzá ‘Alí-Muḥammad in Shiraz, Iran, one hundred years ago, restored to the world in its night of darkness the power of the Holy Spirit. His Manifestation offered to the people of Islam the fulfilment of their hope; to Christians He was the return of Christ; and to Jews their assured Messiah. Against Him the inveterate forces of fanaticism, materialism and ruthless intolerance inflicted martyrdom six years after He undertook His mission to herald the imminent appearance of Bahá’u’lláh. He left behind Him among the Persian people such intense devotion and faith that thousands underwent torture and death rather than forsake their love for Him. But during that six years the Báb invoked the measure of faith and new spiritual life that was required to prepare the world for the greater Manifestation to follow.
The Báb was martyred in Tabriz on July 9, 1850. After
cruel imprisonment in Ṭihrán, the seizure of His wealth, and
exile to Baghdád, Bahá’u’lláh declared His mission in the
year 1863, surrounded by a small company of believers who
had succeeded in accompanying Him. From Baghdád,
Bahá’u’lláh was exiled successively to Constantinople, Adrianople
and ‘Akká, in the Holy Land, where He remained a
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prisoner until His ascension in 1892. Under such conditions
Bahá’u’lláh revealed the spiritual and social teachings for the
world civilization and divine order with which His dispensation
is identified.
A prisoner and an exile, Bahá’u’lláh addressed letters to kings and rulers, to heads of religion, expounding the laws of peace and calling upon them to heed the counsels revealed in the Greatest Name of God. The mystery of worship, the realities of faith, the principles of conduct and the evolution of justice and order were given the world in innumerable tablets and books at a time when in the countries of Islam it was a capital offense to even possess a copy of His sacred Word.
From 1892 until 1921, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá led the Bahá’í community, guided its development, inspired its efforts, clarified its teachings, unified its members, and preserved its spiritual integrity. Released from prison by the revolution in Turkey which overthrew the Sultan, Caliph of Islam, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá traveled from 1911 to 1913 in Egypt, Europe, the United States and Canada. During this journey He established the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in the West and brought it into contact with innumerable public leaders and organizations. The result of this unique teaching mission was the enrichment of Bahá’í literature by the recorded addresses He delivered in Paris, London and in many cities of North America. Upon the American Bahá’ís, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the great responsibility for carrying the Faith to the ends of the world after His earthly work had come to an end.
It was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, likewise, who developed the administrative
order of the Faith, guiding the progress of the
Bahá’ís in many countries through the early stages of the local
and national Bahá’í communities upon which the future international
Bahá’í order is to rest. For He, in addition to His
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station as Interpreter, was also appointed by Bahá’u’lláh to be
the Center of His Covenant with mankind. Through Him
the formative and evolutionary spirit of this Dispensation
carried forward the work of Bahá’u’lláh without interruption
for thirty years, assuring the preservation of the fundamental
aim and character of the new Faith.
Concerning the nature of the mission bestowed upon Him by Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá declared: “In former cycles no distinct Covenant was made in writing by the Supreme Pen (i.e., the Manifestation); no distinct personage was appointed to be the standard differentiating falsehood from truth . . . But in this Dispensation of the Blessed Beauty (i.e., Bahá’u’lláh), among its distinctions is that He did not leave the people in perplexity. He entered into a Covenant and Testament with the people. He appointed a Center of the Covenant.”
“One of the enemies of the Cause,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá warned, “is he who endeavors to interpret the Words of Bahá’u’lláh and thereby colors the meaning according to his capacity, and collects around him a following, forming a different sect, promoting his own station and making division in the Cause.” Acting on this truth, for the protection of the unity of the Faith, and to symbolize forever the fundamental difference between superficial tolerance and oneness of faith, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself expelled treacherous persons, including members of Bahá’u’lláh’s own family, from the Cause.
“He is,” the Guardian has written, “and should for all time be regarded, first and foremost, as the Center and Pivot of Bahá’u’lláh’s peerless and all-enfolding Covenant, His most exalted handiwork, the stainless Mirror of His light, the perfect Exemplar of His teachings, the unerring Interpreter of His Word . . . the Ensign of the Most Great Peace.”
Since 1921 the Bahá’í community throughout the world
has been unified and directed by the Guardian, within the
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administrative order set forth and established in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
written Testament. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá provided details for the
formation of local, national and Universal Houses of Justice.
He created the Guardianship in a line of succession through
His eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi; endowed this office with
sole authority to interpret the Bahá’í writings after His own
departure; made the Guardian the presiding officer of the
future International House of Justice, attributed to him the
payment of the special donation known as Huquq, and authorized
the Guardian to appoint a body to be known as the Hands
of the Cause. “The creative energies released by the Law
of Bahá’u’lláh, permeating and evolving within the mind of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have . . . given birth to an Instrument which
may be viewed as the Charter of the New World Order which
is at once the glory and the promise of this most great Dispensation”,
the Guardian explains.
During the present formative period, sacred writings of
the Faith have been translated into some thirty-five languages,
comprehensive selections made by the Guardian from words
of Bahá’u’lláh have been published, works of Bahá’í history
made available, the institutions developed, and the Faith
carried into thirty or more countries where the light had not
penetrated in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ministry. In North America,
properties have been transferred to Bahá’í trustees for educational
activities in Eliot, Maine; Geyserville, California and
Pine Valley, Colorado Springs, Colorado, in addition to properties
dedicated as memorials to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in West Englewood,
New Jersey and Malden, Massachusetts. A vigorous
publishing activity has long been maintained, and local communities
founded in more than one hundred cities. The spiritual
and administrative activities of the American Bahá’í community
revolve around the impressive House of Worship in
Wilmette, Illinois, the superstructure of which was constructed
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in 1930 and 1931, and the exterior ornamentation completed
in January, 1943.
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh expresses itself through a community and not through a church. Since this Dispensation began, the power of the Faith to assimilate and unify diverse peoples has been demonstrated with ever-increasing might. Nowhere else in the world today does there exist any social body similar to the unique community which has arisen in response to His call. Spread in many parts of the world, separated by difference of language, custom, tradition and outlook as well as by the operation of conflicting political and economic policies in their environment, this community of believers could not be held together by personal agreement but by a power which surrounds them and combines them through a superhuman force.
The Bahá’í community feels itself immersed in a spiritual reality which encompasses it as by an invisible but potent atmosphere or sea. The influence of that surrounding spirit makes itself continuously felt, like the virtue of health in a physical organism which adjusts it to continuous growth and development.
The believers think of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh not as doctrines but as truths which come to life in their application to problems of conduct and human association. The concept of foreignness or the alien in mankind has been replaced by the ideal of fellowship. Bahá’u’lláh has given assurance that the process of destruction now operating is but the necessary preliminary to the process of construction which will eventually produce the harmonious coordination of the views and feelings, the interests and the institutions, the activities and the aims of all mankind.
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On the foundation of spiritual equality before the law and
the authority of their Faith, the Bahá’ís maintain their community
worship and activity through local, national and international
institutions which distribute power and authority in
accordance with the natural duties and functions of an ordered
society. All that pertains to daily action is assigned to the
local Spiritual Assembly under the principle of decentralization
of administrative control. The local communities are
coordinated by a National Spiritual Assembly elected by delegates
chosen on the basis of proportionate representation. These
National Assemblies in turn will be the electoral bodies by
whom the members of an International Assembly, or House of
Justice, will be selected. In the delegation of authority, the
source or reservoir of power lies at the Center of the world
community, and duties and functions are assigned downward
to the progressively smaller national and local units. This
order follows inevitably from the fact that the whole body
of authority was created in and through Bahá’u’lláh and by
Him assigned to His ministers and institutions as servants of
mankind. Historically, the Bahá’í World Order originated
at the Center, unlike those social bodies which develop from
local units and Whose central institutions reflect a secondary
and imperfectly delegated power.
The Bahá’í thus realizes himself as part of a newly-created world, a world raised up by God above the tumults of the past, and endowed with a new destiny which the forces of disunity can assail but never destroy. The believer need no longer be partisan to the titanic struggles of competitive social values, whether capitalism, communism or state socialism, because such conflicts can never be resolved. What the world needs, He has learned, is a new mind and a new heart.
“This Administrative Order,” Shoghi Effendi points out,
“is fundamentally different from anything that any Prophet
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has previously established, inasmuch as Bahá’u’lláh has Himself
revealed its principles, established its institutions, appointed
the person to interpret His Word and conferred the necessary
authority on the body designed to supplement and apply
His legislative ordinances. Therein lies the secret of its
strength, its fundamental distinction, and the guarantee against
disintegration and schism. . . . Alone of all the Revelations
gone before it, this Faith has, through the explicit directions,
the repeated Warnings, the authenticated safeguards incorporated
and elaborated in its teachings, succeeded in raising
a structure which the bewildered followers of bankrupt and
broken creeds might Well approach and critically examine, and
seek, ere it is too late, the invulnerable security of its world-embracing
shelter.”
THE NEW DAWN
Ruby Dunn MacCurdy
- Dawn. There is mystery in thy name.
- Thou art an end and a beginning.
- It is thou for whom we wait in the long hours of the night.
- To thee our hearts are turning
- When all is darkness.
- Dawn, we wait for thee.
- Thou dost bring the sun,
- And thou dost bring us hope.
- Thou art our new beginning,
- And thou art the end of all our hours of darkness
- And of doubt.
- Thou, O God again hast sent us Dawn.
- Dawn, and sun and hope,
- And a new Day.
- Ended are the long dark hours of night and waiting.
- For Thou hast given us the light,
- Thy light, O God, Thy light.
In Search of a New Way
of Life
Janet B. Whitenack
“INDEED, God’s ways are mysterious and unsearchable” said
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. That certainly seems to have been true for me.
For, although I lived only two blocks from the Bahá’í Center
in New York City, the headquarters for hundreds of Bahá’ís, I
had to travel five thousand miles all the way across the continent
and up to Alaska, a vast Territory of half a million
square miles, to find the one Bahá’í there, and to accept the
Bahá’í Faith.
I had lived in and near New York City all my life but gradually became very dissatisfied with the high pressure tension, the hustle and bustle, the dirt and noise, and the swarms and swarms of people. There was too little nature, or space unfilled by humanity and buildings.
But above all, I was fed up with the feverish intensity of “keeping up with the Joneses”, with the general acceptance of false standards of worth governed by money, social position, ancestry, etc.
Inspired by stories of Alaska, I set out alone for America’s last frontier to find a “new way of life”, where the individual, any individual, would be accepted on the basis of his own worth only; and to find the peace that comes with nature’s unspoiled domain. As Bahá’u’lláh has so graphically expressed it, “The country is the world of the soul, the city is the world of bodies.”
I was not consciously looking for a religion and probably
would have denied it if anyone had suggested it to me, although
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the relation between religion and “a new way of life”
is too obvious to need pointing out. I was a member of a
Protestant Church and had always been a very faithful member
in attendance and in contributions, but had never been
really enthusiastic about it or about any other Christian sect.
I had enjoyed going to church at home to hear the music, see
the pretty altar flowers, hear the sermon, and above all, to see
my friends. But it had been merely a comfortable and pleasant
once-a-week habit.
My first introduction to the Bahá’í Faith came in New York City. I worked for a social service organization (the American Birth Control League) there and one memorable day in the fall of 1935 at last acquired a secretary, Grace Bastedo. I was naturally interested in her as a human being and took her to lunch soon to become better acquainted with her. She told me of her interests outside the office and inquired if I had ever heard of the Bahá’í Faith. My answer was, “No. Tell me about it.” Grace’s brief resumé was thought-provoking. Then she asked if I would like to go to a Fireside at her apartment to learn more about it. In saying, “Yes”, my main conscious reason was to see her apartment, meet her husband, and in general to fill in my picture of her with her home background.
Soon the Fireside was held, with Judy Blakesley as the speaker. There were twenty-five or thirty in the audience and most of us sat around the floor informally on pillows. The earnestness of the speaker impressed me greatly and her theme, the cycles of nature, of civilizations, and of religion fascinated yet bewildered me. It seemed as though the door of my horizon had opened just a tiny crack, showing a dazzling, brilliant light on the other side.
After that Fireside, I went to three or four more that winter
at various homes and each time the door opened a little
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wider and my perception became a little clearer. However,
I told Grace then that I was “too busy” to go to any more
Firesides as I was afraid that if I learned much more about
the Bahá’í Faith I might want to drop everything else and
devote all my time to it. How prone we mortals are to put
everything first but religion!
In the Spring of 1939, when I was preparing to go to Alaska, Grace asked if I wanted to look up the new Bahá’í pioneer in Alaska. I replied in the affirmative, more to be polite than anything else. But Grace couldn’t get the name for me before I left. Details of the new Alaskan pioneer had not yet reached New York. She didn’t know if the pioneer were a man or a woman, or where the pioneer was planning to settle. So I promptly forgot all about it. I wasn’t consciously interested in the Bahá’í Faith at the time so avoided Chicago and its environs on my way West, not liking big cities. How I regret that now, as I have never seen the Temple at Wilmette and do not know when I can get back East again!
From Seattle I sailed on the S.S. Alaska and arrived in Juneau, Alaska, on May 30, 1939. I made some very good friends on the boat and, after getting a room at the Baranof Hotel, went down to the dock again to see them continue their trip northward on the S.S. Alaska to Seward. . . . Little did I realize how much a new passenger on that boat would come to mean to me two months later.
Before leaving New York I had decided to spend the whole summer selecting my new home and occupation in Alaska and had promised myself that I would not be lured into settling down any place until I had looked over Juneau, Anchorage and Fairbanks. Accordingly, I spent a month in Juneau, and although I made some good friends there, knew that I would not like it well enough to stay permanently.
I then flew to Fairbanks—a magnificent flight over snow
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covered mountains, and then rolling, fertile fields—and liked
it immediately. In less than two weeks I had decided that
Fairbanks was the one place in the whole world for me. I
loved the spirit of friendliness, of community-mindedness, of
the general respect for one’s fellowmen regardless of station.
They were wholesome, intelligent, courteous people who insisted
on being themselves regardless of what others might
think of them.
However, before settling down in Fairbanks, I went to Anchorage in order to carry out my original promise. At the time there seemed to be no other reason for going.
When people asked me what I was going to do, I said that I was thinking of starting a bookstore. At a tea a few days after my arrival, Vivian Kinsell[1] said that another lady, Honor Kempton, had gotten ahead of me in Anchorage, had ordered her books and found a location for her store.
In order to make sure of this I went to see Honor. (This was on July 28th.) It was true; she was starting a bookstore and had invested all the money she could spare for books. She was delighted to know that I was only in the thinking stage as Anchorage was not big enough for two bookstores. I told her frankly that I really planned to settle in Fairbanks, and that I probably would start a bookstore there.
We spent several hours comparing notes on how to establish
a bookstore, and talking over our impressions of Alaska.
Strangely enough, Honor had also looked over Juneau before
finding her “anchorage” in Alaska, preceding me by about six
weeks. She had actually taken the S.S. Alaska from Juneau
the very day I had disembarked from her, and I had watched
the boat sail! But it was meant for us to meet, and meet we
did in Anchorage, although each of us reached that city from
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opposite directions—Honor from the South and I from the
North. She did not tell me then that she had left San Francisco
that Spring in response to the Guardian’s plea in his cablegram
of January 26, 1939, for nine “holy souls” to pioneer
in virgin territories. We did not mention the Bahá’í Faith
that day.
But three days later, on August 1st (the Feast of Perfection) Honor invited me to dinner and then asked me if I had ever heard of the Bahá’í Faith. I said “Yes”, but had to grope consciously to remember the principles I had heard discussed in New York City four years earlier. I suddenly realized that Honor was the pioneer Grace Bastedo had referred to before I left New York.
Honor gave me several pamphlets to read later at my leisure, and they gripped me instantly. From then on, I sought out Honor daily and we had wonderful long walks, picnics, and discussions, and I could feel myself being irresistibly seized by a Great Power. Those few days of deep companionship with Honor were a rare treat as neither of us had any family or business ties, and we could walk and talk endlessly without thought of responsibilities to others.
On August 6th, just nine days after meeting Honor, and only five days after Honor first mentioned the Bahá’í Faith to me, I told her I wanted to be a Bahá’í. She was standing by the window of her apartment, a radiantly beautiful woman. There was no audible response to my declaration. She seemed stunned. She turned from me and looked out the window. So I repeated my wish, and asked, “What do I do, Honor?” Then she came to me, patted me on the head, and said, “God bless you, Janet.”
To my surprise, when I got settled in a log cabin in Fairbanks
a month later, and opened my trunks for the first time
since leaving New York, I found four Bahá’í pamphlets which
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Grace Bastedo had given me four years earlier. When I had
pulled up stakes in New York I had thrown out literally barrels
of old papers and “stuff”, but I now recalled looking at
these pamphlets and thinking, “I’d like to read these again
some time.” So I had sent them thousands of miles through
the Panama Canal to Seattle and all the way to Interior Alaska!
As I had an appointment in Fairbanks the middle of August, I reluctantly left Anchorage on August 10th. I had known Honor for less than two weeks, and had seen her on just nine different days, but I was returning to Fairbanks a new woman who had truly found a “new way of life.” For Bahá’u’lláh had seized my life. “Then will the manifold favours and outpouring grace of the holy and everlasting Spirit confer such new life upon the seeker that he will find himself endowed with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind. . . . He will discover in all things the mysteries of Divine Revelation and the evidences of an everlasting Manifestation.”
- ↑ Vivian became a Believer in the Spring of 1942.
Religion must reconcile and be in harmony with science and reason. If the religious beliefs of mankind are contrary to science and opposed to reason, they are none other than superstitions and without divine authority; for the Lord God has endowed man with the faculty of reason in order that through its exercise he may arrive at the verities of existence. Reason is the discoverer of the realities of things; and that which conflicts with its conclusions is the product of human fancy and imagination.
He Calleth the Nations
THIS YEAR Bahá’ís throughout the world, wherever there is freedom,
are celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the birth of their Faith.
In these hundred years has been enacted, in the words of Shoghi
Effendi, “the greatest drama in the world’s spiritual history.” The
meaning of this greatest event is that again God has vouchsafed divine
revelation to mankind. For fifty years first the Báb, then Bahá’u’lláh,
undeterred by bitter opposition and unremitting persecution, poured
forth words of divine revelation proclaiming that this is the Promised
Day, the Day of God, the dawn of the Age of Peace and of the
Oneness of Mankind. Another fifty years has seen these revealed words
spread throughout the world bringing spiritual revitalization to those
who in their hearts received them. This is the Revelation which in
Bahá’u’lláh’s own words “from time immemorial hath been acclaimed
as the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God” and heralded
in all the sacred Scriptures.
This Revelation is definitely a call to the nations. Those familiar with Christian and Jewish holy Scriptures are aware of a note of expectancy that runs through them, of a time of fulfillment, of a Promised Day when all nations shall come together. This expectant theme culminates in almost identical words in Isaiah and Micah: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountain . . . ; and all nations shall flow unto it. . . . For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; . . . nation shall not rise up against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
Many, hearing for the first time, the story and message of
Bahá’u’lláh, are startled to find how literally, in many ways, the words
of the prophets of old have been fulfilled. No sincere seeker for truth
who studies the writings of Bahá’u’lláh can doubt that the Word and
Law of God, supplying man’s great need today and calling the nations
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to unity, have gone forth from Zion, the Holy Land. Regardless of
prophecies and expectancy the Revelation is, in itself, sufficient proof.
Bahá’u’lláh, in this fresh revelation which God in His bounty has given mankind, has renewed Christ’s injunctions for individual rectitude and purity. In addition He has taught that the same high standards must be maintained between nations. It is evident that the time of Christ was not the time for calling the nations to unity, since much of the world was unknown. Is not this call of Bahá’u’lláh’s for the unification of mankind one of the things that Christ promised would be revealed later when He said: “I have yet many things to tell you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.” Referring to these words and addressing Christians Bahá’u’lláh exclaims: “Behold how, when He did bring the truth, ye refused to turn your faces towards Him.”
How strange it seems that when “He Who is the Desire of the World” has come again revealing God’s Will for mankind in the present day and addressing many of His words clearly and directly to rulers and religious leaders, they have not heeded. Yet we know that so it has been in times past. Was it not the religious leaders and rulers who rejected the Christ while His followers were from the humble?
But this call of Bahá’u’lláh for unity among the nations has not gone unheeded. Along two channels the unification of the world is proceeding. Many leaders, both religious and secular, quite unaware of the source of their guidance, but awake to the economic necessity, are bending their energies toward world unification; for the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh has “lent a fresh impulse and set a new direction, to the birds of men’s hearts.” And on the other hand this hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Bahá’í Faith finds thousands of believers in Bahá’u’lláh who are building, all over the world and according to His instructions, the foundation and the pattern for the new world order assured that they are following the path that leads to the time, not far distant, when “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”.
Science and Society
G. A. Shook
THE RISE of science in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
cannot be treated as an isolated event in history. In fact
it must always be associated with a number of other movements
which have produced a profound effect upon modern
thinking.
In the first place, it coincides, roughly, with the political expansion which started in the latter middle ages.
Again it played an important role in the general warfare against authority, dogma and tradition.
Finally it saw the end of the divine right of kings and the beginning of the separation of church and state, which led to the complete secularization of society.
Society had to make a new start and it had to find some sanction for its laws, outside the church. It turned to natural law. In the eighteenth century it was affirmed by many leading thinkers that God’s will could be known only through the laws of nature and for men like Locke the laws of nature were operative in social relations as in the material universe.
The church had failed to respond to science and the church was not equal to the general awakening. The way of science was apparently the only path to a new order and so the philosophers of the period began to think in terms of science, in particular, mechanics.
Now in mechanics, as in geometry, we start with a few
simple ideas that are self-evident and derive more complicated
relations by logical deductions, that is by reasoning. Natural
law, so these philosophers argued, needs no authority, no
standards, since it is the product of pure reasoning and the
intellect is a sure guide to knowledge. Moreover they assumed
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that natural law was morally right. The idea was not
new. Greek philosophers like Plato had exploited it for two
thousand years before this period but Plato had no technology
to offer while Newton’s mechanics was destined to lay the
foundation for a new civilization. Then we must remember
that the philosophers of this period came from the middle
class and this class was on the side of liberalism and enlightenment.
The so-called age of reason or enlightenment began in the early part of the eighteenth century. In the middle ages men relied entirely upon the authority of the church and then came the ignominious defeat of the church in the field of science. Men started to think for themselves. The theologians were in constant warfare over interminable controversies and consequently they were retarding the advance of useful knowledge while the scientists were living in harmony and making real progress.
Perhaps, the philosophers reasoned, God works through natural laws rather than theology.
Science emerged therefore as the herald of a new type of knowledge, a new way of thinking, and also the champion of intellectual and religious freedom. Science threw off a galling yoke and in so doing it released an enormous amount of energy. The scientists of the day were not particularly concerned with the disturbance they created nor the significance of their movement but many scholars, outside the field of science, saw or thought they saw a new way of discovering truth. In time they looked to science for the solutions of all problems.
But what is the connection between the laws of mechanics
and the laws of society? Well, according to mechanics, if you
know the position of a body at this moment, and if you also
know the velocity with which it is moving you can predict
where it will be at any particular moment in the future. This
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is still a sound doctrine and we apply it today to the so-called
material particles. To those intellectual refugees of the seventeenth
century, however, this idea was a door of hope and they
began to apply it not to particles, but to men.
Let us start with individual man as our unit. Is there anything in man, like position and velocity, which can be stated with precision? If there is then perhaps we can treat men as particles, atoms. Hobbes thought there was. Individuals have desires and they are motivated by self interest. If a number of men are brought together, they will live in perpetual warfare and therefore to protect the rights of each, there must be some sovereign power to which they agree to surrender the right to govern themselves. This is the starting point of Hobbes’ Contract theory.
It was Locke, however, who put the contract theory or social contract in a more workable form. Locke is not as materialistic as Hobbes, he assumes that if men are left to themselves they will use their minds. For Locke, man is endowed with a moral sense and he can therefore distinguish right from wrong. He maintains that every individual has a right to life, liberty and property, but he assumes that self-preservation is the primary motive of man. However liberty must be limited to the law of nature; one must respect the rights of others. In a civil society, then, there must be a common organ for interpreting and enforcing the law of nature. To enforce the law, men enter into a social contract whereby each yields to the whole group the right to govern himself.
For Hobbes morality and justice are mere conventions created by the state. For Locke the world order is rational and therefore ultimately good.
A natural consequence of this mechanistic theory of society
is the doctrine of majority rule. In physics it is practically
impossible to predict the behavior of any particular atom in
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a group of one million, but we can say with some precision
what the majority will do under given condition. The modern
scientist makes constant use of this idea. If we assume that
society is merely an aggregation of individuals and that individuals
can be treated as atoms, then the majority rule
follows.
Today, of course, we realize that there is no foundation for such ideas. In fact there was opposition to natural law even in the eighteenth century. We know that men cannot be treated as atoms and that the majority, merely because it is a majority, isn’t always right. Innovations are usually rejected by the majority. Finally, historians admit that the state, as conceived by Hobbes and Locke, is a lifeless machine incapable of development.
However, we cannot say that this turning to science or natural law was fatal to the social order. It was an age in which traditions and institutions were wrecked and the greatest minds probably did the best they could, but unwittingly they left little room for revealed religion. Then came the industrial revolution, the founding of a new empire in the west, and general prosperity. Men were too busy to question fundamentals.
This does not mean that the leaders of the period were not religious, far from it; but they had freed society from an absolute and intolerant ecclesiastical system and they were skeptical about religious institutions. A natural religion (deism) was the result. From the seventeenth century to the present time the field of religion has gradually narrowed while the field of the materialist has enlarged.
To a few, the law of nature was independent of God,
nevertheless man was supposed to be able to interpret this law.
In short, the supporters of the mechanistic concept began by
making man an atom and ended by making him a potential
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god. And yet Locke is impelled to write, “He that shall collect
all the moral rules of the philosophers and compare them
with those contained in the New Testament, will find them to
come short of the morality delivered by our Savior.”
We should not be discouraged, however, for history shows that at fixed intervals in the past the fortunes of human society have been rehabilitated; but we should learn something from experience. It is true that a social order founded upon natural law is incapable of development, but it is no less true that a religion based upon natural law is also incapable of development.
In this connection we should not overlook the aims and goals of a contemporary world religion, the Bahá’í Faith, for as Sir Francis Younghusband once said, “Its roots go deep into the past, and yet it looks forward into the future.”
The Bahá’í Faith insists upon a reconciliation between science and religion, upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth, removes the distinction between secular and spiritual affairs, lays the foundation upon which a new world order can be erected and finally stresses the absolute need for individual spiritual development.
Like all the prophetic religions of the past the Bahá’í Faith claims that the Prophet, or divine revelator, is the real educator of humanity and a little reflection will indicate that this claim is substantiated by history. Can anyone point to a single case in history where a race like the savage Arabs has lifted itself from a barbarous state to a highly developed state? And yet under the influence of Muḥammad, a race of savages was transformed into a civilized nation in a few centuries.
Our debt to Islám is very great, particularly in the field of science. Up to the twelfth century, the West had made no substantial contribution to experimental science.
Moreover, it is important to observe that the zeal with
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which the Arabs advanced science was a direct result of the
influence and teaching of Muḥammad. He inspired them with
words like the following:
“Acquire knowledge, because he who acquires it in the way of the Lord performs an act of piety.”
“One hour of meditation on the work of the Creator is better than seventy years of prayer.”
“To listen to the instruction of science and learning for one hour is more meritorious than attending the funerals of one thousand martyrs, more meritorious than standing up in prayer for one thousand nights.”
“To the student who goes forth in quest of knowledge, God will allot a high place in the mansions of bliss; every step he takes is blessed, and every lesson he receives has its reward.” (The Spirit of Islam, Ameer Ali, page 360)
As for man and his capacity to develop; he is the apex of all creation and his progress is without limit but Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Faith, maintains that these qualities which make for development and progress lie latent within man . . . “even as the flame is hidden within the candle and rays of light are potentially present in the lamp . . .” “Neither the candle nor the lamp can be lighted through their own unaided efforts . . .”
Over seventy years ago, in numerous passages, Bahá’u’lláh anticipated the plight of humanity should it continue to ignore the influence of religion. In one place he says, “Should the lamp of religion be obscured, chaos and confusion will ensue, and the lights of fairness, of justice, of tranquility and peace cease to shine.”
WITH OUR READERS
A letter from Auckland, New
Zealand, reminds us that our
magazine still reaches distant
countries. The writer says: “Since
receiving your letter the postman
has brought me a packet of six
World Orders. Please thank the
publishing committee for me. I
feel I owe them for the books but
cannot send money out of the
country, but tell my Bahá’í friends
the books will be used in furthering
the Cause and will be sent to
different parts of the world. We
have two American soldier
Bahá’ís in New Zealand. One of
these boys came into the shop one
day last week all thrilled at the
reception he had received when
speaking to a club of two hundred
people. We find his presence most
refreshing and are grateful to
Bahá’u’lláh for sending us an
American brother.”
Another correspondent writing about this same Bahá’í soldier says: “Tonight Mrs. A. is going through the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with two of B’s youth.”
We have not space to print the story of a young woman who learned of the Bahá’í Faith through this same soldier and was enabled to rise above great adversity. She writes: “Thank God for the Bahá’í Message which is being given to the world today. I wonder how many others have a story like mine. I wonder, too, if they have been given the privilege of investigating the joy and wisdom of a Bahá’í World. ‘Seek and ye shall find’ God is the Most Glorious!” And our correspondent adds: “There is no doubt about it that the Beloved is using B as an important instrument in paving the way toward the second part of the Divine Plan.”
We might add as we think of Bahá’ís being sent over the world with our armed forces, “My calamity is My providence.”
* * *
For a number of years the
John O’Groat Journal has spoken
appreciatively of World Order
and the Bahá’í Faith to the readers
of this paper published in
Wick, Scotland. In the May issue
of that paper Mr. R. G. Millar
wrote as follows: “World Order,
the Bahá’í monthly, always contains
thought inspiring articles
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and notes of spiritual and economic
concern. In the April number
there is much that bears
directly and indirectly on the
evolution of Peace in the world
on the lines of Bahá’í teachings.
No one can rise from a perusal
of this magazine without recognizing
not only the deep spiritual
significance of these teachings
but their practical bearing on
modern problems of world reconstruction
in which we are all,
as well as the world’s statesmen,
so greatly concerned.”
* * *
Throughout this centenary year of the Bahá’í Faith, World Order joins with all other Bahá’í teaching facilities in increased effort to present Bahá’u’lláh’s Message to the world in all its fullness and greatness in clear and pointed language. Sometimes this presentation dwells on one particular phase of the Teachings and again it is a comprehensive exposition of the Teachings. In such a comprehensive paper Horace Holley, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada and one of the editors of this magazine, unfolds to the reader Bahá’u’lláh’s unrivalled plan for world regeneration and world peace. This article, “Bahá’í Teachings for a World Religion” will give increased understanding of the Bahá’í Faith both to Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís.
The poem by Ruby Dunn MacCurdy, “The New Dawn,” is also most appropriate for the Centenary theme. Miss MacCurdy, a Buffalo believer, has contributed verse on several occasions in recent years.
In her brief spiritual biography which she calls “In Search of a New Way of Life” Janet B. Whitenack speaks for herself. We can only add to her story that there is now a Bahá’í Assembly in Anchorage.
Our readers will remember an article by Glenn A. Shook entitled “Common Prayer” in our August, 1943, issue. In his article “Science and Society” in this present issue Dr. Shook writes on a subject where he is very much at home since he is professor of physics and astronomy in Wheaton College, Massachusetts.
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In her editorial, “He Calleth the Nations,” Mrs. Kirkpatrick reminds us that 2500 years ago the prophets visioned a time when a Great Prophet would arise to call the nations to unity.
Bahá’í Literature
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated
by Shoghi Effendi. The Bahá’í teachings on the nature of religion,
the soul, the basis of civilization and the oneness of mankind. Bound
in fabrikoid. 360 pages. $2.00.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, translated by Shoghi Effendi. Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh toward the end of His earthly mission, this text is a majestic and deeply-moving exposition of His fundamental principles and laws and of the sufferings endured by the Manifestation for the sake of mankind. Bound in cloth. 186 pages. $1.50.
The Kitáb-i-Íqán, translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work (The Book of Certitude) unifies and coordinates the revealed Religions of the past, demonstrating their oneness in fulfillment of the purposes of Revelation. Bound in cloth. 262 pages. $2.50.
Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The supreme expression of devotion to God; a spiritual flame which enkindles the heart and illumines the mind. 348 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.00.
Some Answered Questions. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's explanation of questions concerning the relation of man to God, the nature of the Manifestation, human capacities, fulfillment of prophecy, etc. Bound in cloth. 350 pages. $1.50.
The Promulgation of Universal Peace. In this collection of His American talks, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the basis for a firm understanding of the attitudes, principles and spiritual laws which enter into the establishment of true Peace. 492 pages. Bound in cloth. $2.50.
Bahá’í Prayers, a selection of Prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, each Prayer translated by Shoghi Effendi. 72 pages. Bound in fabrikoid, $0.75. Paper cover, $0.35.
The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, by Shoghi Effendi. On the nature of the new social pattern revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for the attainment of divine justice in civilization. Bound in fabrikoid. 234 pages. $1.50.
BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILLINOIS
One Truth, One Love,
One God
Human strife and religious disagreement complicate
and disfigure the simple purity and beauty
of the divine Cause until clouds obscure the light
of Reality, and disunion results. Therefore make
use of intelligence and reason so that you may
dispel these dense clouds from the horizon of
human hearts and all hold to the one Reality of
all the Prophets. It is most certain that if human
souls exercise their respective reason and intelligence
upon the divine questions, the power of
God will dispel every difficulty and the eternal
Realities will appear as one light, one truth, one
love, one God, and a peace that is universal.