Christ announced, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," meaning that man must be born again. As the babe is born into the light of this physical world, so must the physical and intellectual man be born into the light of the world of Divinity.
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (From a talk; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)
Then He spoke at length of the "Composure of Heart," or "Tranquility of the Soul":
"This is a state of true faith which gives man such assurance and conviction of God's bounty, that all the trials and sufferings of this earth cannot affect him."
Speaking of true joy and happiness. He said in part:
"… True joy comes from the tranquility of heart, and this state comes from faith! Praise be to God who gave us tranquility of heart! This is why we are always happy. I pray and supplicate to the Beauty of Abha to bless all the servants and maid-servants with true happiness resulting from the tranquility of heart."
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, recorded by Ali-Kuli Khan, one of His secretaries, during his pilgrimage in 1906)
Know thou that all the powers combined have not the power to establish universal peace, nor to withstand the overmastering dominion, at every time and season, of these endless wars. Ere long, however, shall the power of heaven, the dominion of the Holy Spirit, hoist on the high summits the banners of love and peace, and there above the castles of majesty and might shall those banners wave in the rushing winds that blow out of the tender mercy of God.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha’; The Compilation of Compilations, Vol. II, Peace)
Australia: Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
Brazil: Bahia
China: Shanghai
Egypt: Port Said
England: London, Manchester, Dorset
France: Paris
India and Burma: Burma, Mandalay, Rangoon; India: Bombay,
Calcutta, Camp Karachi, Poona
Japan: Robe
Korea: Seoul
Palestine: Haifa
Persia: Hamadan, Kirman, Kashan, Mashhad, Sultan-Abad
(Aragh)
Russia: Moscow
South Africa: Pretoria
Switzerland: Assembly of Lausanne
Syria: Alexandretta, Beirut
Tasmania: Hobart
Turkey: Constantinople
United States and Canada
- ‘Abdu'l-Bahá ('The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá')
These concluding years of His [the Báb’s] earthly life will go down in history as the time when the new Dispensation attained its full stature, when the claim of its Founder was fully and publicly asserted, when its laws were formulated, when the Covenant of its Author was firmly established, when its independence was proclaimed, and when the heroism of its champions blazed forth in immortal glory. For it was during these intensely dramatic, fate-laden years that the full implications of the station of the Báb were disclosed to His disciples, and formally announced by Him in the capital of Ádhirbáyján, in the presence of the Heir to the Throne; that the Persian Bayán, the repository of the laws ordained by the Báb, was revealed; that the time and character of the Dispensation of “the One Whom God will make manifest” were unmistakably determined; that the Conference of Badasht proclaimed the annulment of the old order; and that the great conflagrations of Mázindarán, of Nayríz and of Zanján were kindled.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)
The first Baha’i national conference was held in Chicago on 26 November, 1907. Delegates from various local communities in America attended this event, including a dozen Baha’is from Chicago. It was held at the house of Corinne True. The purpose of this informal gathering was to choose a suitable site for the Temple. It should be noted that they didn’t visit the site in Wilmette where the Temple was eventually built.
(‘The Baha’i World’, volume X; ‘The Baha’i Faith in America’, vol. 2, by Robert Stockman)
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi, ‘The World Order of Baha'u'llah’)
Answer by George Townshend, Hand of the Cause (sometime Cannon of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland):
Yes. Isaiah shows that God Himself wishes man to reason with Him. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord ..." (Isa. 1:18)
Peter, too, wrote ". . .be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you . . .” ( I Pet. 3:15)
Paul likewise wrote, "Prove all things: hold fast that which is good." (I Thess. 5:21) He acted accordingly himself when "...he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." (Acts 18:4), and again when he "...three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." (Acts 17:2)
Jesus Christ taught men to use reason to support faith when He said, "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field , which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" (Matt. 6:30) (Also see Luke 12:27)
- George Townshend ('Questions About the Second Coming Asked by Baha'is of Kampala, Uganda, Africa: Answers by George Townshend'; Wilmette Baha'i Publishing Committee, 1953)
In The Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi explained to the Bahá’ís of America that, given the restricted size of their community and the limited influence it wielded, they must focus, at that time, on its own growth and development as it learned to apply the Teachings. He promised, however, that the time would come when they would be called upon to engage their fellow citizens in a process of working for the healing and betterment of their nation. That time has now come. And it has come not only for the Bahá’ís of America, but for the Bahá’ís of the world, as the society-building power inherent in the Faith is released in ever-greater measures.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 28 November 2023 addressed to the Bahá’ís of the World; online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
...'Abdu'l-Bahá asserts: "In this divine age the bounties of God have encompassed the world of women. Equality of men and women, except in some negligible instances, has been fully and categorically announced. Distinctions have been utterly removed." That men and women differ from one another in certain characteristics and functions is an inescapable fact of nature; the important thing is that He regards such inequalities as remain between the sexes as being "negligible".
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 8 January 1981 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Women)
God testifieth to the unity of His Godhood and to the singleness of His own Being. On the throne of eternity, from the inaccessible heights of His station, His tongue proclaimeth that there is none other God but Him. He Himself, independently of all else, hath ever been a witness unto His own oneness, the revealer of His own nature, the glorifier of His own essence. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty, the Beauteous.
He is supreme over His servants, and standeth over His creatures. In His hand is the 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 dominion are His; all glory and greatness are His. He, of a truth, is the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful, the Unconditioned.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
According to the Government Census Bureau statistics gathered in 1906, dealing with the religious life of the United States, and now in press at Washington, D.C., Baha'is have twenty-four assemblies, aggregating a membership of 1,280.
(Star of the West, vol. 1, No. 9, August 20, 1910)
Say: Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, Creator. Its manifestations are diversified by varying causes, and in this diversity there are signs for men of discernment. Nature is God's Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world. It is a dispensation of Providence ordained by the Ordainer, the All-Wise.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Conservation of the Earth’s Resources)
