in
order to lay the foundation for a religious belief. Even Christ did not
become manifest that we should merely believe in Him as the Christ, follow
Him and adore His mention. All these are limited in scope and requirement,
whereas the reality of Christ is an unlimited essence. The infinite and
unlimited Reality cannot be bounded by any limitation. Nay, rather, Christ
appeared in order to illumine the world of humanity, to render the earthly
world celestial, to make the human kingdom a realm of angels, to unite the
hearts, to enkindle the light of love in human souls, so that such souls
might become independent, attaining complete unity and fellowship, turning
to God, entering into the divine Kingdom, receiving the bounties and
bestowals of God and partaking of the manna from heaven. Through Christ
they were intended to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, attain a new spirit
and realize the everlasting life. All the holy precepts and the
announcements of prophetic laws were for these various and heavenly
purposes. Therefore, we offer thanks to God that although no earthly
relation obtains among us, yet--praise be to God!--ideal and divine bonds
blend us together. We have gathered here in this meeting, eagerly
anticipating the showing forth of the divine bestowals.

In past centuries the nations of the world have imagined that the law of
God demanded blind imitation of ancestral forms of belief and worship. For
example, the Jews were captives of hereditary racial religious
observances. The Muslims, likewise, have been held in the bondage of
traditionary forms and ceremonials. The Christians also have been implicit
followers of ancient tradition and hereditary teaching. At the same time
the basic foundation of the religion of God, which was ever the principle
of love, unity and the fellowship of humanity, has been forsaken and cast
aside, each religious system holding tenaciously to imitations of
ancestral forms as the supreme essential. Therefore, hatred and hostility
have appeared in the world instead of the divine fruitage of unity and
love. By reason of this it has been impossible for the followers of
religion to meet together in fellowship and agreement. Even contact and
communication have been considered contaminating, and the outcome has been
a condition of complete alienation and mutual bigotry. There has been no
investigation of the essential underlying basis of reality. One whose
father was a Jew invariably proved t