Fanwood, New Jersey
Published in Fanwood Newspaper, June 1, 1912
Material objects in the material world are subject to
change, but the cause of The Kingdom is never ending. Therefore it is the most
important. But alas! alas! day by day the power of the kingdom is weakened, the
material forces of nature gain the ascendency. The divine signs are becoming
less and less and the material powers more and more. It has reached such a
degree that the materialists are daily progressing and advancing, and the
divine are vanishing.
Irreligion has conquered religion. The reason for the
chaotic condition lies in the differences among the religions themselves, and
animosity and hatred among the sects and denominations. The materialists have
availed themselves of this difference amongst the religions and are constantly
attacking them so that they may uproot the tree of religion. As the religions
are contending among themselves they are being vanquished. If the general is at
variance with his army on account of military tactics there is no doubt that he
will be defeated by the enemy. Now religions are at variance; war and strife
exist among them, and they are backbiting each other, shunning each other's
association nay, rather, if necessary, they engage in shedding each other's
blood. Read history and see what horrible events have transpired. All the
prophets were sent for the sake of Christ, but alas! that the Talmud and
superstitions contained therein could veil Jesus to such a degree that they
crucified their promised Messiah. Had they forgotten the Talmudic traditions
and investigated in reality the religion of Moses there is no doubt that they
would have become believers in Christ. But imitations deprived them of their
Messianic bounty. They were not refreshed by the downpour of rain of mercy;
neither were they illumined by the rays of the sun of truth.
Imitation destroys the foundation of religion. Imitation
kills the spirituality of the human world. Imitation has changed into darkness
the heavenly illumination. Imitation has deprived man of the knowledge of God.
Imitation is the cause of victory of irreligion over religion. Imitation is the
cause of the denial of divinity. Imitation refuses the law of revelation.
Imitation sets aside the prophethood. Imitation denies the Kingdom of God.
When the materialist compares these imitations with the
intellectual criterion they find they are all superstitions; therefore they
deny religion. The Jews have two ideas of purity and impurity of different
religion. When you compare them with the criterion of science you will find
that they are without foundation.
Is it impossible for us to receive the infinite bounties of
God? Is it impossible to discover the virtues of the spiritual world because we
are not living in a day in the past ages -- the era of His Holiness Moses --
the era of the prophets of God and the era of His Holiness the Christ? Those
periods were spiritual periods of the world; therefore, is it impossible for us
to become perfect in spirituality as those in the past ages because we are far
from them and are living in a materialistic age? But the same God is able to
bestow the same favors nay, rather greater favors upon the present century.
For example, in past ages He granted to His servants reason,
intelligence and understanding. How can we say that He is not able to bestow
the same favors upon His people in this day? Is it just that He sends His
Holiness Moses for the guidance of the past nations and forgets entirely those
who are living today? Is it possible that this age has become deprived of the
bounties of God, when the ages of tyranny and conflict of the past ages
received an inexhaustible share of divine bounties?
The same kind God who has granted His favors in the past has
opened today the doors of the Kingdom. The rays of His sun are shining, the
breath of the Holy Spirit is encircling, that omniscient God is still able to
assist and confirm us by His spirit, to illumine our hearts and to gladden our
souls, to perfume our nostrils with the fragrance of holiness.
Divine wisdom has encircled all, has spread His heavenly
table before us, and we must take a bountiful share of this divine favor.
The work of the shepherd is to bring to gather the scattered
sheep and to collect the dispersed sheep. If, on the contrary, he scatters the
united flock, he is not the shepherd. As the prophets fulfilled their mission
in this respect, therefore they are the true shepherds, His Holiness Moses came
at a time when the Israelitish tribes were like scattered sheep; discord was
rampant among them, enmity and hatred increased their disunion.
Moses, with divine power, collected and united these
scattered flocks. He set within the shell of their hearts the pearl of love. He
freed them from captivity and carried them from Egypt to the Holy Land. In
science and art they made wonderful progress. Sociology and bonds were
established between them. Their progress in all the degrees of human virtues
was so rapid and marvelous they founded the Solomonic sovereignty. Is it
possible to say that Moses was not a real shepherd and did not gather together
these scattered flocks?
His Holiness Christ was a real shepherd. At the time of His
manifestation the Greeks, Chaldeans, Assyrians, the Egyptians and the Europeans
were like so many scattered flocks. Christ breathed in them the spirit of
unity. He harmonized.
Therefore it is established that all the prophets of God
have come to unite the children men and not to disperse them, and to put in
action the law of love and not enmity. Consequently we must throw aside all
these prejudices, forget the racial prejudice, the patriotic prejudice, the
religious and political prejudice. We must become the cause of unity of the
human race. Work for universal peace, sing about the means of love and destroy
the basis of enmity so that this material world may become the divine world,
the world of matter become the world of the Kingdom and humanity may attain to
the world of perfection.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Excerpts from a talk at Fanwood, New
Jersey, published in Fanwood Newspaper, June 1, 1912; Star of the West, vol. 5,
no. 11, September 27, 1914)
