and it remains to be seen what
their outcome will be.[2058]

+1120+. _Babism and Bahaism_,[2059] the transformation of Babism
effected by Bahau'llah, is a church in all essential points, though its
organization consists merely in the devotion of its adherents to the
teaching and the person of its founder; it has no clergy, no religious
ceremonial, no public prayers, no connection with any civil government,
but its dogma is well-defined and it offers eternal salvation to its
adherents. Its chief source of inspiration is the belief that its
founder was an incarnation of God, the Manifestation of God announced
by his forerunner, the Bab (the "Gate" to God and truth). That its lack
of official ministers and public communal religious services is no bar
to its effectiveness is shown by the favor it has met with not only in
Persia and other parts of Asia but also in Europe and America. Possibly
its success is due in part to its eclectic character and its claim to
universality (it seeks to embrace and unite Buddhism, Hinduism,
Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity) as well as to the simplicity
of its dogma (theism and immortality) and its admirable humanitarian
spirit.[2060]

MONACHISM

+1121+. An effective outgrowth from the church is the monastic system,
which is an _ecclesia in ecclesia_, emphasizing and extending certain
features of the parent organization.[2061] It sprang from a dualistic
conception, the assumption of a relation of incompatibility or
antagonism between God and the world--a feeling whose germ appears in
savage life (in taboos and other forms). It has assumed definite shape
only in the higher religions and not in all of these--it is foreign to
Semitic, Persian, Chinese, and Greek[2062] peoples. Austerity there has
been and abstention from certain things but not with the aim of
ministering to spiritual life.[2063]

+1122+. The birthplace of monachism proper was India. In the Brahmanic
scheme the highest sanctity and the most brilliant prospects attached to
the man who forsook the life of men and devoted himself to solitary
meditation in the forest.[2064] The seclusion was individual--the man
was an eremite. The organization into communities was made by
Buddha[2065] and, apparently contemporaneously, by Mahavira, the founder
of Jainism. It is this organization that has made the institution a
power in religious history. Buddha's associations were open to all,
without distinction of social position o