tive
countries.

How great was the obstinacy with which the Jewish converts among the early
Christians adhered to the ceremonies of their ancestors, and how fervent
their eagerness to impose them on the Gentiles! Were not the first fifteen
bishops of Jerusalem all circumcised Jews, and had not the congregation
over which they presided united the laws of Moses with the doctrine of
Christ? Is it not a fact that no more than a twentieth part of the
subjects of the Roman Empire had enlisted themselves under the standard of
Christ before the conversion of Constantine? Was not the ruin of the
Temple, in the city of Jerusalem, and of the public religion of the Jews,
severely felt by the so-called Nazarenes, who persevered, above a century,
in the practice of the Mosaic Law?

How striking the contrast when we remember, in the light of the
afore-mentioned facts, the number of those followers of Baha'u'llah who,
in Persia and the adjoining countries, had enlisted at the time of His
Ascension as the convinced supporters of His Faith! How encouraging to
observe the undeviating loyalty with which His valiant followers are
guarding the purity and integrity of His clear and unequivocal teachings!
How edifying the spectacle of those who are battling with the forces of a
firmly intrenched orthodoxy in their struggle to emancipate themselves
from the fetters of an outworn creed! How inspiring the conduct of those
Muslim followers of Baha'u'llah who view, not with regret or apathy, but
with feelings of unconcealed satisfaction, the deserved chastisement which
the Almighty has inflicted upon those twin institutions of the Sultanate
and the Caliphate, those engines of despotism and sworn enemies of the
Cause of God!

Fundamental Principle of Religious Truth

Let no one, however, mistake my purpose. The Revelation, of which
Baha'u'llah is the source and center, abrogates none of the religions that
have preceded it, nor does it attempt, in the slightest degree, to distort
their features or to belittle their value. It disclaims any intention of
dwarfing any of the Prophets of the past, or of whittling down the eternal
verity of their teachings. It can, in no wise, conflict with the spirit
that animates their claims, nor does it seek to undermine the basis of any
man's allegiance to their cause. Its declared, its primary purpose is to
enable every adherent of these Faiths to obtain a fuller understanding of
the religion with which h