Samuel Graham Wilson

“ A blind man in Teheran sent to Baha praying that his eyes might be opened. He received answer that it was for the glory of God that he remain blind. The Bab, at his examination in Tabriz, was asked to restore the sick Mohammed Shah to health. He replied: "It is not in my power, but I can write two thousand verses a day. Who else can do that?" He thus appealed not simply to the quality of his poetry but to its quantity as a proof of his manifestation. In like manner, Manes, in old times, painted pictures in his "revelations" and appealed to them as proof of his inspiration. ”

“ They deny the belief of Christians that Christianity is the permanent religion of humanity; and that of Moslems, that Mohammed was the "seal of the prophets," and hold that Christianity was succeeded by Islam, Islam by Babism, and Babism by Bahaism. Abdul Baha says: "Time changes all things. Transmutation and change are requirements of life. All religions of God are subject to the same law. They are founded in order to blossom out and develop and fulfill their mission. They reach their zenith and then decline and come to an end." "A new cycle must begin, for the world needs a new luminary." ”

“ It is impossible for any one who has understood the teachings of Christ to prefer the teachings of Mohammed. As you say each Manifestation must be fuller, completer, and more perfect than the last, you must prove that the doctrines taught by Baha are superior to those of Christ—a thing that I confess seems to be almost impossible, for I cannot imagine a doctrine purer and more elevated than that of Christ. ”

“ In brief, Bahaism would set up in each town, in every country, ruling councils, and a central one universal in its sway, composed entirely of Bahais, clothed with supreme authority, because God-given, over kings, parliaments, and peoples; councils infallible and absolute, superior to appeal or protest; deciding and exacting obedience in every department of the life of humanity—religious, domestic, social, educational, financial, judicial, and political. ”

“ THE claims [249] of Bahais in regard to the conduct of Abdul Baha must be further considered. Mr. Phelps describes him as a man "who proves that self can be utterly forgotten: that all-embracing love can be substituted for egotism: the recorded love of Buddha and Christ may indeed be realized." M. Asad Ullah writes: "He sees the Moslem, the Christian and the Bahai, all with one eye,—he is equally kind to all." Mr. Sprague affirms: "Abdul Baha manifests universal love in every word and act." Mr. Chase says: "Bahaism does bring men into loving unity with each other." ”

“ It is not necessary to refute the fundamental fallacy of this first claim, for it is patent that Christianity is alive and growing. Its manifold spiritual activities, its varied and progressive efforts for righteousness and peace among men, for social and moral reforms, its zeal for Missions and their marvellous success, show that Christianity is neither stagnant nor dead. ”

“ When they address the Hindu, saying, "We are one with you," "We teach the original Hinduism of your fathers," it is simply to add: "Baha is the fulfillment of your books, follow him." When they allow the Jewish Bahai of Hamadan still to consort with the Jews as a Jew, and to be baptized and pass as a Christian at the same time, it is an inclusiveness which is unjustifiable and deceitful. It is teaching tagiya or religious dissimulation to other races after the manner of the Persian Shiahs. ”

“ The visit of Abdul Baha did not leave any great impression. His personality had no deep influence. He appeared conspicuous neither for intellectuality nor spirituality. Many a distinguished traveller has got hold of the public ear and heart to a greater extent. I was in Baltimore when he was there. He caused scarcely a ripple on the surface. His addresses were tame and full of platitudes. It was told me that his visit led to doubt and coldness on the part of some adherents. ”

“ The unity in Bahai Assemblies is on so small a scale as to be not worthy of mention. How little Abdul Baha knows of or appreciates the reality and power of Christian spiritual fellowship is shown in his remarks at West Englewood, N. Y.98 "This gathering (of Bahais) has no peer or likeness upon the surface of the earth, for all other gatherings and assemblages are due to some physical basis or material interests. Bahai meetings are mirrors of the kingdom." When Abdul Baha speaks about the results of Bahaism in bringing about unification in Persia, his claims seem utterly extravagant. ”

“ If quantity were an argument, the product of Baha's pen has been exceeded by many Christian and Moslem divines. Besides, what advantage is it for a religion to be set forth in 100 volumes? Will God be heard for His much speaking any more than man would be? The story of redemption and God's revelation through 4,000 years makes but one goodly volume. ”

“ Sayid Kamil, a Bahai of Shiraz, said to Professor Browne555 with a look of supreme surprise, "You surely cannot pretend to deny that a prophet, who is an incarnation of the Universal Intelligence, has a right to inflict death, openly or secretly, on those who stubbornly opposed him. A prophet is no more to be blamed for removing an obdurate opponent that a surgeon for an amputation of a gangrenous limb." ”

“ He writes,542 "Numerous historical and tangible evidences can be furnished to prove that it was the pen of Baha Ullah which protected from death his own enemies, such as Subh-i-Azal, Nasr-i-Din Shah and certain great doctors and divines. Otherwise the Babis would not have allowed a single one of these people to have escaped alive." He certainly must include Bahais, for the Babis would not have desired to kill Subh-i-Azal. But the assertion of M. Abul Fazl, that Baha was as the "Prince of Peace" among a lot of untrained, untamed disciples, will not stand investigation. ”

“ Tares are many and Baha Ullah must come and uproot them.21
"The old order of things is passing away," says Sprague;22 "people are being tossed about with every wind of doctrine." "True religion is forgotten," says Phelps,23 "or has become a hollow name; faith has waned, men are wandering in the dark." ”

“ It asserts that it is actually bringing about this unification. "Abdul Baha is harmonizing Christians, Jews, Mohammedans, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Hindus in the one and true faith."95 Dreyfus says: "It is uniting all men in the great universal religion of the future." At Oakland, Cal.,96 Abdul Baha said, "The revelation of Baha Ullah is the cause of the oneness of the world of humanity. It is a unity which welds together all the races." ”

“ Abdul Baha says: "The same basis, which was laid by Christ and later on forgotten, has been renewed by Baha Ullah." "All that is true in all religions will stand; by the new Dispensation, new spirit is infused into these teachings."25 Phelps26 says: "The body of doctrine which Bahaism teaches is not put forward in any sense or particular as new, but as a unification and synthesis of all other religions." ”

“ In like manner Abdul Baha states the authority of the Manifestation,554 "He is not under the shadow of the former laws. Whatever he performs is an upright action. No believer has any right to criticize." "If some people do not understand the hidden secret of one of his commands or actions, they ought not to oppose it." ”

“ The narrative shows, however, that public sentiment among the believers at Acca strongly favoured taking more than one wife. They evidently had no desire to give up the license granted to them by the "Kitab-ul-Akdas." They inclined to follow it and the example of Baha Ullah rather than the example of Abdul Baha.
In conclusion, it is evident that the law and example of Baha Ullah both sanction polygamy. By this the social inequality of the sexes is fixed. Any claim that Bahaism teaches and establishes equal rights for man and woman is vain and groundless boasting. ”

“ The fundamental question is the unification of religious belief. In Persia, during the last fifty years99 ... the various religionists have united in the utmost love and fellowship. No traces of discord or difference remain: the utmost love, kindness and unity are apparent. They live together like a single family in [67] harmony and accord. Discord and strife have passed away. Love and fellowship now prevail instead. Whether they be Moslems, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Nestorians, Shiites, Sunnis or others—no discord exists among them. ”

“ The force of the new faith was not strong enough to free the women. Rather they have compromised with their environment. Only in the Caucasus and Trans-Caspia under Russian protection, have they partly unveiled. Not even their women of the second and third generation have been trained to act up to their precepts, but in Acca, as in Persia, they are secluded from the society of even brethren in the faith. They are more backward than some other sects and races of Moslems. I have been entertained in the households of Kurds and Ali Allahis and have dined and conversed with the host and his wife. ”

“ This sometimes takes the form of the suppression and concealment of documents, sometimes of the omission or perversion of essential facts or their presentation in such a way as to falsify history. In the writing of political history and in scheming for the triumph of a political party, we may expect crookedness in dealing with facts, but in the propagating of a new religion designed to supersede Christianity and Islam, and purporting to be an improvement on them, we do not expect to find dishonesty and misrepresentation. ”

“ If it means that Christianity refuses to put itself on a level with other religions and consort with them as equals, this is true, for Christianity is an exclusive religion. It has entered the world, as it entered the Roman empire, to displace all others. It refuses to have Christ occupy a niche in the Pantheon. But Bahai writers mean rather that Bahaism is to be the bond of unity by all races and religions accepting Baha. ”

“ Baha's claim is antichristian. The day of Christ's power through the Holy Spirit has not passed. It is still His day. The knowledge of Christ is yet more covering the earth. Men of diverse races and religions in Asia, Africa, and the isles of the seas are being joined in the common faith and fellowship of Jesus Christ as Saviour of Men. There are more Christians in Korea than Bahais in Persia. More Jews have become Christian since Baha was born than have become Bahais from all races and religions outside of Persia. ”

“ Abbas Effendi, the only son of the oldest wife, proclaimed himself the successor, the Interpreter, the Centre of the Covenant, the Source of Authority. Mohammed Ali and his brothers strenuously opposed Abbas and intense animosity was engendered which divided the followers in Acca and Persia. Abbas drew the greater number with him. He assumed the title of Abdul Baha (Servant of Baha) . He has the ambition to make the faith a world religion and has inaugurated a propaganda in the West. After the proclamation of constitutional liberty in Turkey, he resided in Egypt. ”

“ Freedom from the marriage bond is made easy by desertion. "Married men who travel must fix a definite time for their return and endeavour to return at that time. If their wives have no news from them for nine months, after the fixed period, they can go to another husband. But if they are patient it is better, since God loves those who are patient."
How the husband who is away from his wife can act, we may judge by the example of a celebrated Bahai,358 Maskin Kalam, who was agent for Baha to watch over and spy upon Azal and the Azalis in Cyprus. His wife was in Persia ”

“ Among the specific claims put forth by Bahaism is that of being specially adapted to promote the unification of mankind, and of accomplishing that end. Bahaism reiterates the Christian ideas that God hath made of one blood all nations and that all shall be united in God's spiritual kingdom. ”

“ Abdul Baha repudiates Pantheism, and so does M. Abul Fazl in "The Brilliant Proof." Kheiralla, while maintaining that Baha taught Theism, accused Abdul Baha of Pantheism. In "The Epistle to the Shah" Baha simulates a monotheism almost as rigid as Islam: "We bear witness that there is no God but Him. He is independent of the worlds. No one hath known Him.... God singly and alone abideth in His own place which is holy, above space or time, mention and utterance, sign, description, definition, height and depth.... The way is closed and seeking is forbidden." ”

“ Abdul Baha teaches that matter is eternal, self-existent, and fills all space.223 "God always had a creation; the universe has neither beginning nor end."224 "Creation out of nothing is unthinkable. Separate entities come into being through the operation of God—are the perceptible manifestations of Him." ”

“ Can Bahaism make good its claim to be the fulfillment of and substitute for Christianity? It has no place for Christ except as one of a series, one, moreover, whose brief day of authority closed when Mohammed began to preach in Mecca.... If the claim be admitted that Bahaism is a republication of Christianity, the whole interpretation of the death of Christ contained in the Epistles must first be rejected.—W. A. Shedd, in "Miss. Rev. of World," 1911. ABDUL BAHA [83] says: "Some say Abdul Baha is Antichrist. They are not informed of Bahai principles. ”

“ Baha wishes to stop the claimants, so he declares that none is to be expected "for a thousand or thousands of years." Persia has had numerous incarnations, so-called. They were found among the Ismielis, Assassins, Ali-Allahis and all the Ghulat. The veiled Prophet Mukanna, Babak and many pretenders have proclaimed themselves God. In truth Persia never lacks for an incarnation or two. One of these, of the Ali-Allahi sect, arrived in Tabriz some years ago, and made an appointment to visit me at three o'clock P. M. My somavar was set to boiling and I awaited his arrival. ”

“ Abdul Baha might be called the Lord of dogmas, for from his dicta none must vary by a hair's breadth. Remey himself dogmatizes as follows: "The religion of Baha is the cause of God, outside of which there is no truth in the world." Much in Bahaism must be taken on faith, without logical proof. Professor Browne130 puts it mildly when he says: "The system appears to me to contain enough of the mysterious and the transcendental to make its intellectual acceptance at least as difficult as the theology of most Christian churches to the sceptic." ”

“ He, alive forevermore, is its Light and its Life.
II. Bahaism claims to be the divine Revelation in this new cycle—a new Dispensation or Covenant. It disclaims being a new religion, affirming rather that it is a renewal of religion or religion renewed. One writes: "The Revelation is not a new religion, but the very essence of God's word as taught by Christ (and Moses and Mohammed) , but not perceived by Christians at large" (nor by Jews nor Mohammedans) . Baha Ullah24 says: "Of the utterances of the prophets of the past we have taken the essence, and in the garment of brevity clothed it." ”

“ I. First of all, Bahais claim that a new religion is needed. All the great religions, they say, were true in their day; not only Moses, Christ, and Mohammed, but Zoroaster, Confucius, and Buddha were Divine Manifestations, and revealed God's truth. But now the old religions are dead. Abdul Baha18 says: "The Spirit has passed away from the bodies of the old religions. While the forms of their doctrines remain, the Spirit has fled." "The principles of the religion19 of Christ have been forgotten. It is then clear and evident that in the passage of time religions become entirely changed. ”

“ Spiritual, and have pleasure in being called the "divine philosopher," "priest of the Prince of Peace (Baha) ," and being compared to St. Paul as a herald of the Kingdom, and write himself a "member of the Bahai community." At the same time Doctor Cheyne wrote himself down as a "member of the Nava Vidhan, Lahore" (Brahma-Samaj) .
At present there are Bahai congregations in sixteen of the United States, in Canada, Hawaii, South Africa, England, Germany and Russia, as well as in India and Burmah. The future of its propaganda in Christendom lacks promise. ”

“ One day it is the garment of Abraham, who is Zoroaster, then Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Christ, Mohammed, the Bab, and Baha Ullah.158 Abul Fazl says: "All the prophets are respectively the Manifestations of the single Reality and one Essence."159 The "Ikan" says: "All are one, as the sun of yesterday and to-day are one. The sun is one, the dawning-points of the sun are numerous. ”

“ They displayed no love of country by striving for the cause of the people, nor any real love or loyalty to the autocratic Shah. Yet the influence of Abdul-Baha Abbas was thrown in favour of Mohammed Ali Shah, and after he had scattered parliament at the cannon's mouth and annulled the constitution, Bahais were granted appointments in the civil service and rejoiced in the reactionary régime. A tablet of Abdul Baha was circulated prophesying a long and prosperous reign for Mohammed Ali Shah, who before many months was driven from his throne into exile. ”

“ Confusion also arises from the fact that Baha is set forth as the Manifestation of all the "promised ones." He is set forth as the Messiah for the Jews, God the Father, the Word, and the Spirit for the Christians, Aurora or Shah Bahram for the Zoroastrians, the fifth Buddha for Buddhists, reincarnated Krishna for Brahmans, the Mahdi or the twelfth Imam or Husain for the Moslems.170 "All are realized in the coming of Baha [93] Ullah."171 In accord with this, Baha declared in his "Epistle to the Pope": "Consider those who turned away from the Spirit [Christ] when He came to them. ”

“ The world of humanity is in the dark." One chapter in Thornton Chase's "The Bahai Revelation" is headed "The Bahai Revelation is needed." This he argues, stating (1) that Christianity is condemned because after [32] 1900 years it has not been accepted by all people; (2) because it refuses to reject miracles and the blood atonement and will not confine itself to the "principles of Jesus," as the Brahma Samaj; (3) because it tends to separate peoples, holding itself to be the only religion authorized by God; (4) because people are dwelling in bondage and are no longer satisfied. ”

“ No Christian can give allegiance to Baha as incarnate God and accept, as he then must, Islam,468 Babism and Bahaism as successively true, and as higher revelations abrogating Christianity, and still be loyal to Christ. Bahaism is not a philosophy like Tolstoism, nor a theory of economics like the "single tax"; it is a religion as much as Mormonism is. ”