mblies of today will be replaced in time by the
Houses of Justice, and are to all intents and purposes identical and not
separate bodies, is abundantly confirmed by 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself. He has
in fact in a Tablet addressed to the members of the first Chicago
Spiritual Assembly, the first elected Baha'i body instituted in the United
States, referred to them as the members of the "House of Justice" for that
city, and has thus with His own pen established beyond any doubt the
identity of the present Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies with the Houses of
Justice referred to by Baha'u'llah. For reasons which are not difficult to
discover, it has been found advisable to bestow upon the elected
representatives of Baha'i communities throughout the world the temporary
appellation of Spiritual Assemblies, a term which, as the position and
aims of the Baha'i Faith are better understood and more fully recognized,
will gradually be superseded by the permanent and more appropriate
designation of House of Justice. Not only will the present-day Spiritual
Assemblies be styled differently in future, but they will be enabled also
to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives
necessitated by the recognition of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, not merely as
one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State
Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. And as the Baha'i Faith
permeates the masses of the peoples of East and West, and its truth is
embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign
States of the world, will the Universal House of Justice attain the
plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Baha'i
Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent
upon the world's future super-state.

It must be pointed out, however, in this connection that, contrary to what
has been confidently asserted, the establishment of the Supreme House of
Justice is in no way dependent upon the adoption of the Baha'i Faith by
the mass of the peoples of the world, nor does it presuppose its
acceptance by the majority of the inhabitants of any one country. In fact,
'Abdu'l-Baha, Himself, in one of His earliest Tablets, contemplated the
possibility of the formation of the Universal House of Justice in His own
lifetime, and but for the unfavorable circumstances prevailing under the
Turkish regime, would have, in all probability, taken the preliminary
steps for