ned and dominated. Cataclysmic indeed has been the collapse
of the most preeminent institution of Sunni Islam, and irretrievable the
downfall of its hierarchy in a country that had championed the cause of
the self-styled vicar of the Prophet of God. Steady and relentless is the
process which has brought such destruction, shame, division, and weakness
to the defenders of the strongholds of Christian ecclesiasticism, and
black indeed are the clouds that darken its horizon. Through the actions
of Muslim and Christian divines--"idols," whom Baha'u'llah has stigmatized
as constituting the majority of His enemies--who failed, as commanded by
Him, to lay aside their pens and fling away their fancies, and who, as He
Himself testified, had they believed in Him would have brought about the
conversion of the masses, Islam and Christianity have, it would be no
exaggeration to say, entered the most critical phase of their history.

Let none, however, mistake my purpose, or misrepresent this cardinal truth
which is of the essence of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. The divine origin of
all the Prophets of God--including Jesus Christ and the Apostle of God, the
two greatest Manifestations preceding the Revelation of the Bab--is
unreservedly and unshakably upheld by each and every follower of the
Baha'i religion. The fundamental unity of these Messengers of God is
clearly recognized, the continuity of their Revelations is affirmed, the
God-given authority and correlative character of their Books is admitted,
the singleness of their aims and purposes is proclaimed, the uniqueness of
their influence emphasized, the ultimate reconciliation of their teachings
and followers taught and anticipated. "They all," according to
Baha'u'llah's testimony, "abide in the same tabernacle, soar in the same
heaven, are seated upon the same throne, utter the same speech, and
proclaim the same Faith."

THE CONTINUITY OF REVELATION

The Faith standing identified with the name of Baha'u'llah disclaims any
intention to belittle any of the Prophets gone before Him, to whittle down
any of their teachings, to obscure, however slightly, the radiance of
their Revelations, to oust them from the hearts of their followers, to
abrogate the fundamentals of their doctrines, to discard any of their
revealed Books, or to suppress the legitimate aspirations of their
adherents. Repudiating the claim of any religion to be the final
revelation of God to man, disclaiming f