My Revelation.... O people of the Gospel! They who were not in the
Kingdom have now entered it, whilst We behold you, in this day, tarrying
at the gate. Rend the veils asunder by the power of your Lord, the
Almighty, the All-Bounteous, and enter, then, in My name My Kingdom. Thus
biddeth you He Who desireth for you everlasting life.... We behold you, O
children of the Kingdom, in darkness. This, verily, beseemeth you not. Are
ye, in the face of the Light, fearful because of your deeds? Direct
yourselves towards Him.... Verily, He [Jesus] said: 'Come ye after Me, and
I will make you to become fishers of men.' In this day, however, We say:
'Come ye after Me, that We may make you to become the quickeners of
mankind.'" "Say," He moreover has written, "We, verily, have come for your
sakes, and have borne the misfortunes of the world for your salvation.
Flee ye the One Who hath sacrificed His life that ye may be quickened?
Fear God, O followers of the Spirit [Jesus], and walk not in the footsteps
of every divine that hath gone far astray.... Open the doors of your
hearts. He Who is the Spirit [Jesus] verily, standeth before them.
Wherefore keep ye afar from Him Who hath purposed to draw you nigh unto a
Resplendent Spot? Say: We, in truth, have opened unto you the gates of the
Kingdom. Will ye bar the doors of your houses in My face? This indeed is
naught but a grievous error."

Such is the pass to which the Christian clergy have come--a clergy that
have interposed themselves between their flock and the Christ returned in
the glory of the Father. As the Faith of this Promised One penetrates
farther and farther into the heart of Christendom, as its recruits from
the garrisons which its spirit is assailing multiply, and provoke a
concerted and determined action in defense of the strongholds of Christian
orthodoxy, and as the forces of nationalism, paganism, secularism and
racialism move jointly towards a climax, might we not expect that the
decline in the power, the authority, and the prestige of these
ecclesiastics will be accentuated, and further demonstrate the truth, and
more fully unfold the implications, of Baha'u'llah's pronouncement
predicting the eclipse of the luminaries of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Devastating indeed has been the havoc wrought in the fortunes of the
_Sh_i'ih hierarchy in Persia, and pitiable the lot reserved for its
remnant now groaning under the yoke of a civil authority it had for
centuries scor