consider religious
strife and conflict.

It is evident that the divine prophets have appeared in the world to
establish love and agreement among mankind. They have been the shepherds
and not the wolves. The shepherd comes forth to gather and lead his flock
and not to disperse them by creating strife. Every divine shepherd has
assembled a flock which had formerly been scattered. Among the shepherds
was His Holiness Moses. At a time when the tribes of Israel were wandering
and dispersed, he assembled, united and educated them to higher degrees of
capacity and progress until they passed out of the wilderness of
discipline into the holy land of possession. He transformed their
degradation into glory, changed their poverty into wealth and replaced
their vices by virtues until they rose to such a zenith that the splendor
of the sovereignty of Solomon was made possible and the fame of their
civilization extended to the East and the West. It is evident therefore
that His Holiness was a divine shepherd for he gathered the tribes of
Israel together and united them in the power and strength of a great
nationhood.

When the Messianic star of Jesus Christ dawned, he declared he had come to
gather together the lost tribes or scattered sheep of Moses. He not only
shepherded the flock of Israel, but brought together people of Chaldea,
Egypt, Syria, ancient Assyria and Phoenicia. These people were in a state
of utmost hostility, thirsting for the blood of each other with the
ferocity of animals; but His Holiness Jesus Christ brought them together,
cemented and united them in his cause and established such a bond of love
among them that enmity and warfare were abandoned. It is evident therefore
that the divine teachings are intended to create a bond of unity in the
human world and establish the foundations of love and fellowship among
mankind. Divine religion is not a cause for discord and disagreement. If
religion becomes the source of antagonism and strife, the absence of
religion is to be preferred. Religion is meant to be the quickening life
of the body politic; if it be the cause of death to humanity, its
nonexistence would be a blessing and benefit to man. Therefore in this day
the divine teachings must be sought, for they are the remedies for the
present conditions of the world of humanity.

At a time when the Arabian tribes and nomadic peoples were widely
separated, living in the deserts under lawless conditions, strife and
b