True Bahá'í

Deep discussions at OBF conferences!

Chad, an Orthodox Bahá'í in another deep discussion had at last June's Orthodox Bahá'í conference.

What happened to the independent investigation of truth?

By Janet Steele
Guest Blogger

To the followers of the headless "UHJ":

The first principal of the Faith is being attacked by your organization.

The "UHJ" is dictating what you can read, who you associate with and what your personal relationships should be. Can you truly support an organization that is virtually eliminating a fundamental principal of the Faith that you love? What other principals of this Faith will become obsolete so they can stay in control?  The "UHJ" has taken away the Living Guardianship from you and now they are taking away your independence to search for truth.  What else will they take from you? How would it be if scientific study were conducted this way?

I'm guessing we would still think that the world was flat. We do not live in a flat world.

Read the "Tablet to the True Seeker", "The Will and Testament of Abdul Baha" and the one and only Proclamation of Shoghi Effendi.

The search for Truth does not end when we find the Faith, it begins.

I pray that the friends are fearless and brave in their quest for Divine Truth and that your search be fruitful.

I am an Orthodox Bahá'í and I would not have it any other way

In her YouTube debut, Megan Kathleen Olsen delivers this moving YouTube version of her essay "Being an Orthodox Bahá'í" (originally published here on 24 March 2008).

Stand in Support of the Guardian!

The sans-Guardian Bahá’ís take great comfort in the fact that the Orthodox Bahá’ís are so few in number.  At first glance one might think that the cause is hopeless and all effort is futile when you consider how few Bahá’ís there are in the world, and then out of that small number, it is rare to find very many who follow Joel B. Marangella, the Guardian of the Cause.  It matters not at all that there are so few of us.

Mason Remey, the second Guardian, wrote in his Second Encyclical Letter:

"The way of the Bahá’í Faith is difficult. At all times one must be awake to its perils, and particularly so in times of crisis such as the one in which the Faith now finds itself; for, at this present time, the very existence and the future of the Faith upon earth hangs in the balance. Should the Guardianship of the Faith lapse and the line be allowed to break (as these violators are making every effort to accomplish), the line of Guardianship will be broken, infallibility will be lost to the Faith, and all hopes will be lost for the Kingdom of God upon Earth.

"Such a condition we must not allow to happen. Even though we be but a mere handful – a very small number of followers faithful to the Covenant and the Administration of the Guardianship – we, with all the world in violation against us, must stand together and support the Guardianship.

"We must stand in firmness for the Guardianship, that is, the Administration of our Faith. Not only must we do this for our own sakes and for the present existence of our Faith; but it must be done for the Faith in the ages to come, for if we fail now and allow the Guardianship to pass out of existence and this spiritual line of heritage to become extinct, future generations will have no Cause. All infallible divine guidance will be at an end.

"Therefore, Friends of the Bahá’í Faith, arise and maintain the life center – the heart and the soul of the Abhá Kingdom upon earth that is the Guardianship – for only by our so doing will the Cause of El Abhá be saved for this world. Even though all the rest of the world be against us, nothing can destroy this Cause so long as even a small few believers stand in support of the Guardian and the continued Guardianship of the Bahá’í Faith."

We stand in support of the Guardian.  Join us!

The Guardian's web site:
http://www.bahai-guardian.com/

For heaven's sake, think for yourself!

"Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform."  Mark Twain - Notebook, 1904

I always thought the above quote was an astute observation.  If you find yourself in the grip of group-think, believing things and following along because everybody else does, then I think it is time to pause and reflect upon whether it is time for reform.  Group-think allows people to feel safe holding opinions that are just plain wrong and eliminating the need to examine one's beliefs or opinions.  "Everybody knows that...." is the refuge of fools.

"Everybody knows that" the Guardian must be an Aghsán.

"Everybody knows that" the Guardian must be able to speak Arabic or Persian.

"Everybody knows that" there was no promise that the Guardianship would continue into the future.

"Everybody knows that" the Hands, after the passing of Shoghi Effendi, acted in good faith to take leadership of the Faith until the UHJ could be elected.

"Everybody knows that" the Hands had an elevated spiritual station and therefore it would be absurd to believe that their actions violated the Covenant.

I don't know these things so I don't think that "everybody knows" them.  I think that upon examination these statements are proved to be false, that they are not consistent with the fundamental verities of the Faith as identified by Shoghi Effendi in The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh.  The fact that many people believe them is not relevant to me.  Nobody has been able to satisfy me that these are the correct teachings of the Faith.

The principle of independent investigation of truth means that you make your own inquiries before you accept any statement as true.  Think for yourself.  It is one of the principles revealed by Bahá'u'lláh for living in this Day.

"Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain't that a big enough majority in any town?"  Mark Twain - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Jeffrey

Really, Shoghi Effendi was not silent on the Guardianship!

By Martin Lavallee
Guest Blogger

Many of the heterodox Bahá'ís believe that Shoghi Effendi was silent about the Guardianship. He was not.  In 1954, Shoghi Effendi spoke about the Guardianship.

Here is a question for you:

Where will the Seat of the Guardians be built in this "far flung arc"?

Cable 27 November 1954 (Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World: 1950-1957):
"The raising of this Edifice will in turn herald the construction, in the course of successive epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, of several other structures, which will serve as the administrative seats of such divinely appointed institutions as the Guardianship, the Hands of the Cause, and the Universal House of Justice."

Joel B. Marangella wrote:

"In reviewing this stream of communications to the Bahá'í world that flowed from Shoghi Effendi's pen, one notes that he repeatedly endeavored to give the believers a vision of the future developments in store for the Faith at the World Center as well as throughout the world. If one were to search these communications as well as the other copious writing of Shoghi Effendi concerning the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, not a single word would be found alluding in the slightest to any possibility that the divine Charters referred to above would, in part, or in their entirety, become null and void.

"Quite to the contrary, all his acts and words were focused on their complete implementation and fulfilment. For example, only some three years prior to his passing he clearly wrote of the future edifices that would be raised on Mount Carmel to serve as the administrative seats for the highest institutions of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, edifices that included the seat of the Guardianship. Shoghi Effendi took the occasion of a message in which he described the acquisition of a piece of land on the slopes of Mount Carmel for the erection of 'the structure of the International Bahá'í Archives designed by the Hand of the Cause Mason Remey President of the International Bahá'í Council' to speak of the future edifices that would be built 'in the shape of a far-flung arc' surrounding the resting places of the members of the Holy Family of Bahá'u'lláh.

"Shoghi Effendi stated:

" 'The raising of this Edifice will in turn herald the construction in the course of successive epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith of several other structures which will serve as the administrative seats of such divinely appointed institutions as the Guardianship the Hands of the Cause and the Universal House of Justice.' And Shoghi Effendi went on to say in this message:

" 'The ultimate completion of this stupendous undertaking will mark the culmination of the development of a world-wide divinely-appointed Administrative Order whose beginnings may be traced as far back as the concluding years of the Heroic Age of the Faith.' And in the concluding passages of this message he proclaimed that 'The final establishment of this seat of the future Bahá'í World Commonwealth will signalize at once the proclamation of the sovereignty of the Founder of our Faith and the advent of the Kingdom of the Father repeatedly lauded and promised by Jesus Christ.' "
(Cable 27 November 1954)*
http://bahai-guardian.com/violation.html

Shoghi Effendi has written:

"The statement in the Will of `Abdu'l-Bahá does not imply that the Hands of the Cause of God have been given the authority to overrule the Guardian. `Abdu'l-Bahá could not have provided for a conflict of authority in the Faith. This is obvious, in view of His own words, which you will find on page 13 (p. 11 of 1944 U.S. edition) of the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá. 'The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the guardian of the Cause of God. It is incumbent upon...the Hands of the Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him. He that opposeth him hath opposed the True One,' etc."
from  Bahá'í News: http://www.rt66.com/~obfusa/newspage/288-55.htm

Then in 1956, the first Guardian referred to the interpretative infallibility reserved to the Guardianship:

"The infallibility of the Guardian is confined to matters which are related strictly to the Cause and interpretations of the Teachings; he is not an infallible authority on other subjects, such as economics, science, etc."

"The Guardian's infallibility covers interpretation of the revealed word, and its application. Likewise any instructions he may issue having to do with the protection of the Faith, or its well-being must be closely obeyed, as he is infallible in the protection of the Faith. He is assured the guidance of both Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab, as the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá clearly reveals."  
American Bahá’í News.  Page 2 November 1945

And in 1957:

"Call upon Hands and National Assemblies, each continent separately, to establish henceforth direct contact and deliberate, whenever feasible, as frequently as possible, to exchange reports to be submitted by their respective Auxiliary Boards and national committees, to exercise unrelaxing vigilance and carry out unflinchingly their sacred, inescapable duties. The security of our precious Faith, the preservation of the spiritual health of the Bahá'í communities, the vitality of the faith of its individual members, the proper functioning of its laboriously erected institutions, the fruition of its worldwide enterprises, the fulfilment of its ultimate destiny, all are directly dependent upon the befitting discharge of the weighty responsibilities now resting upon the members of these two institutions, occupying, with the Universal House of Justice, next to the Institution of the Guardianship, foremost rank in the divinely ordained administrative hierarchy of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh."
Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Baha'i World - 1950-1957

Really, Shoghi Effendi was not silent on the Guardianship!

The definition of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh has changed dramatically since 1950

By Guest Blogger
Barbara Walsh

From reading posts in Talk Religion Bahá'í, I have been reminded of the book “The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh” that was published in 1950. I loved its introduction because it beautifully integrated the spiritual and administrative aspects of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh. The quotes below are from the introduction in referring to the establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth.

"It is with this culmination of the process of social evolution on the planet, analogous to the stage of adult maturity in the individual, that the Bahá'í Faith is directly associated. The conditions of its establishment are the conditions of the Covenant of God in this age. The complexities of a world grown adult are infinitely manifold. Because all men are created different, the opinions of men vary greatly. It is for this reason that there must exist some absolute standard by which men can be reconciled; for otherwise the descent into the anarchy of the kingdom of expedience is inevitable. It is solely through the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh that this standard will be upraised and maintained."

"The Eternal Covenant of God is the recognition of, and response to, His Ancient Beauty through whomsoever It may be revealed. The complete revelation of that Beauty in the 'Day of God' necessitates the complete response of the whole of mankind and the maintenance of the fullest relation of love towards It, through the Center of that Covenant, Who is appointed to sustain the Balance of truth amid the changing realities of the world."

"Of this one Eternal Covenant all other Covenants form a part, whether that between God and His Messengers allotting each His degree of revelation, or those between His Messengers and the faithful, keeping alive for forgetful mankind the fuller promise to come - the 'Greater Covenant', to accept the next Messenger, and the 'Lesser Covenant', of obedience to the appointed head of the divinely established faith."

Reading further: "...But this life, for man grown adult, is to be established in a unity founded upon a divine structure or organization, reconciling the expression of the individual conscience with the necessary restraint of the basic authority of the Word of God, and collective responsibility for the whole community, under the guidance of God's finger through the Center of His Covenant. For the first time God's representative will be continually associated with men in the work of safeguarding the interests of the whole earth as one entity and one family acknowledging one Father. Bahá'u'lláh, ‘the Blessed Perfection’, the Most Great Beauty through Whom truth shall be distinguished from error and the wisdom of every command shall be tested,’ the complete fulfillment of the age of prophecy, made a provision for the protection of His Cause that was not open to His great Predecessors, for men in those times, our New Testament tells us, were not ready, and could not have borne it. Bahá'u'lláh in unequivocal terms established His own first-born son, `Abdu'l-Bahá, in His written Will, the Book of the Covenant, as the Center of the Covenant of God, and `Abdu'l-Bahá in His turn established Shoghi Effendi, the first Guardian, as the Center of the Covenant of God. They, and all the Guardians who will succeed Shoghi Effendi, are alone the ones through whom the absolute truth of the Word of Bahá'u'lláh can be known whenever there is need for the authority of God to reconcile the divergent relative opinions of men. The Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá, providing as it does the Charter of the New World, gives the Guardianship the function of interpretative guidance of man."

The entire introduction to this book is a wonderful, and I think, comprehensive definition of the Covenant in 1950, seven years before the death of Shoghi Effendi, and remains the definition of the Covenant for the Orthodox Bahá'ís today. The heterodox Bahá'ís have changed the definition dramatically.

9 Erroneous Ideas You Would Have to Believe

In order to accept the claims of the leadership of the sans-Guardian Bahá'ís, you would have to believe the following plainly erroneous ideas.  It astounds me that so many Bahá'ís have blindly accepted their leadership without being critical of these radically wrong concepts:

1) Shoghi Effendi was unable to appoint a successor for the reason that
(choose all that you wish to believe): a) there was no Aghsán; b) he had no
children; c) there was no one in the Holy Family still loyal; d) there were
not 9 elected Hands to confirm the appointment. [The correct answer is, of course, none of the above. The Hands were obligated to accept any person the Guardian appointed]

2) The Hands had authority to seize control of the Faith after the passing
of Shoghi Effendi (because they were the "Chief Stewards" and since Shoghi
Effendi did not leave a Will, they might as well just take over). [Of course, they had no authority whatsoever]

3) The Hands had authority to call for the election of the headless UHJ
(because they were supposedly faced with a situation not covered by the
explicit Text so they needed a UHJ to ask what they should do). [The correct answer is that Shoghi Effendi had already established the International Bahá'í Council, the embryonic Universal House of Justice. If they needed guidance, then why didn't they consult this body?]

4) The headless UHJ has the authority to interpret the Texts as for
example....

a) that there is no way to appoint a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi
Effendi;

b) there is no way to appoint Hands;

c) the UHJ can supervise the Hands in the absence of the Guardian;

d) the UHJ can accept the Huqúq in the absence of the Guardian
[interesting that they found a way to take the Huqúq but could not find a
way to do the other things-- kind of selective, isn't it?]

e) that there was no guarantee in the Writings that the Guardianship would
never be broken [contrary to the explicit statements made by Shoghi
Effendi].

f) that the UHJ can appoint a Continental Board of Counselors to replace
the Hands [even though there is no such Institution called for in the Writings]

[By the way, the UHJ has no authority to interpret the Texts under any circumstances; that is the sole province of the living Guardian]

5) The headless UHJ can function properly without a Guardian [despite the
fact that Shoghi Effendi clearly stated that it could not].

6) The headless UHJ does not need a Guardian to "define the sphere of
legislative action" [despite the fact that the Master's Will says that it is
needed].

7) The headless UHJ can be infallible even though it does not have a
Guardian [even though the Master defined the UHJ as having the Guardian as its sacred head].

8) Covenant breaking means opposing the headless UHJ [even though
historically, in the Writings, it meant opposing the Center of the Covenant
and later, the Guardians, and this definition was unilaterally changed by the UHJ].

9)  The headless UHJ has the right to expel its own members [contrary to the
explicit statement of the Master's Will that this is the right of the Guardian].

They say that the Orthodox Bahá'ís claims are far-fetched.  But all we ask that you believe is that the teachings of the Faith that existed prior to 1957 continue exactly the same today, and that none of it has been abrogated.  I think it is far-fetched to believe the above 9 erroneous statements.

Jeffrey

    

Bahíyyih Khánum's Wisdom on the Center of the Faith

By Janice Franco
Guest Blogger

Bahíyyih Khánum was `Abdu'l-Bahá's sister. She was recently named by Joel B. Marangella as one of the 24 elders seated before God in heaven.  Because of this, it is fitting to take a look at what she has to say.  Relevent to Orthodox Bahá'ís is how she explained who the center of the Faith was and how important it was to regard him.  At the time of `Abdu'l-Bahá's passing Bahíyyih Khánum wrote some letters that clarify this.

On page 141 in a letter following the passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá, she writes: 

     "Although to outward seeming the Sun of the Covenant has hidden Himself behind the clouds, and the Orb of the Testament is concealed, and on the holy horizon of glory, He has now set, and is lost to view--still His rays are shining from out His hidden place, and forever will His light shed down its splendours.

    "For ever and ever will He, with all that invisible grace, and those bestowals of the spirit, lead the seeker onward, and guide the yearning, and ravish the hearts of the lovers.

    "The Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá is His decisive decree; it gathers the believers together; it preserves their unity; it ensures the protection of the Faith of God. It designates a specific Centre irrefutably and in writing establishing Shoghi Efffendi as Guardian of the Faith and Chosen Branch, so that his name is recorded in the Preserved Tablet by the fingers of grace and bounty. How grateful should we be that such a bounty was bestowed and such a favour granted."

After reading this it is clear that not only was `Abdu'l-Bahá the Center, Shoghi Effendi was designated the new Center as the Guardian of the Faith. Bahíyyih Khánum refers to`Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament in glowing terms as a book that was written that would "never be lost nor ever forgotten."

Unfortunately all too soon many of the Heterodox Bahá'ís have already forgotten that book. (It is unbelievable that at one visit to Panama in 1999 not a single copy of the Will and Testament, neither in English nor in Spanish could be found in the House of Worship there.) Bahíyyih Khánum goes on to state that the book contains all "that is essential and obligatory for the upraising of the Thy cause in this world below.  It is a book in which all things are explained in minute detail, in such wise that no matters whether small or great have been left out."  How can it be that the heterodox organization has declared null and void a large portion of that text?  In another letter she states just how important this center is and the idea that it is "one holy being".  Those that follow the heterodox Universal House of Justice are taught that their elected body is now the center of the faith.  How could one holy being now suddenly be several holy beings? 

Bahíyyih Khánum has some very compelling things to say and her letters can shed some light on questions that some of the believers may be pondering regarding the importance of a Guardian or Center.

In another letter (#33 pages 125-139) written to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í's of Tabriz, 1922, following the passing of `Abdu'l-Bahá, she states:

     "O my kind Lord!  Thou didst make a clear compact and a Covenant explicit and firm, not in veiled and allusive language, that all should turn unto the Centre of Thy Covenant and the Protector of Thy Cause--so that no doubts whatever would remain for the hostile and the suspicious to exploit; and then Thy lone Servant rose up to lift Thy banner high, and carry the day for Thy Faith. For thirty years He summoned the people unto Thee, publicly, privately, and spread Thy Teachings and Thy principles to every corner, every country of the earth.....
   
     "Then, O my Lord, Thou didst make Him to ascend unto Thee, to place Him at Thy side and by this the pillars of joy were shaken to their base, and the hearts of the devoted were terrified and the smoke of their sorrow overspread the earth....

    "But the Centre of Thy complete and flawless Covenant, He Who occupies the seat of servitude to Thee in Thine exalted and all-glorious Cause, had written by Thy will and Thy power a Book that shall never be lost nor ever forgotten.  Within it by Thy predestinating knowledge and might, He had set forth all that is essential and obligatory for the upraising of Thy Cause in this world below.  It is a book in which all things are explained in minute detail, in such wise that no matters whether small or great have been left out.  And by Thy will and pleasure He designated therein, in place of His own Person, a Branch grown out from the Tree of Thy holiness, one fresh and tender, verdant and flourishing, arising to serve Thee, dwelling in the groves of Thine eternity, and Thine immortal gardens. ....

     "Over a span of thirty years the Centre of God's Covenant rested not, nor was His human temple ever tranquil and at peace.  By day, by night, He would be teaching and guiding stranger and friend alike, and protecting the Cause, and seeing to its progress, and for these things He sacrificed His life. Now does loyalty to Him require that the beloved should rise up in obedience to His instructions , and devote their efforts to teaching the Faith and to passing around from one to the next this winecup tempered at the camphor fountain, and to protecting God's Cause from the evil suggestions and the mischief of the adversary, and to guarding the structure of the holy Covenant from disruption at the hands of the Covenant-breakers....
    
     "...the divine Beauty had made His Covenant so strong, and appointed its Centre so explicitly, in writing, unmistakably, that He had left no room for any questions or doubts. In the Most Holy Book of Aqdas, which in this most excellent of all ages is the Mother Book, and embraces all, and again in the Kitab-i-Ahdi, the last revealed Tablet by the Tongue of knowledge and wisdom, which contains the final wishes of God--the people of Bahá are directed with perfect clarity to turn their faces toward Him Whom God has purposed, and He is designated as the Interpreter of the Book, the Resolver of all complex and difficult questions, and the Centre of the Faith. Therein as well are the other Branches, the Afnan and the rest of the believers bidden to direct themselves unto that One so that all might face one and the same Centre, and all be bound thereto. Thus would the basic foundation of God's Cause, which is unity, remain unassailable. Thus the root of heresy and rebellion would wither away and just as in the days when He Who is the Truth was made manifest, so too in the day of His Covenant the light of unity would pervade all things, and put to flight the murk of disbelief and dualism and rebellion and opposition--and thus the tree of His holy Cause would grow and flourish, and the rich fruits borne by the holy Teachings would satisfy all needs and be sweet in the mouth of all mankind.

    "This fact of there being only one Centre and of turning unto a single holy Being is, in the Kingdom of His Cause, as the shaft or spindle of a millstone, and all the other laws and ordinances must needs revolve around this one.  In the temple of God's religion the Centre of the Cause can be likened to the heart, for upon it depends the life of the human body as one entity, as well as the relationships of its organs and their essential growth and vitality. In human society the Centre of the Cause can be compared to the sun, whose magnetic force controls the movements and orbits of the planets. The Centre of the Cause is also like the spine of a book, for by it the pages are all banded together into one book, and without the spine the papers would become loose and scattered."

I am certainly grateful to have found the current Center of the faith, Joel B. Marangella, and am glad to be under the shadow of that blessed tree.

Quotations above from: Bahiyyih Khanum The Greatest Holy Leaf, a compilation from Bahai sacred texts and writings of the Guardian of the Faith and Bahiyyih Khanum's own letters made by the Research Department of the Bahai World Center Haifa 1982.

The Guardian announces identity of last 5 of the 24 elders

By Janice Franco
Guest Blogger

Upon reading the Guardian's Ridván, 2008, letter a great announcement brought me much joy. Apparently back in November of 1944, Shoghi Effendi's answer to  a letter written by Mrs. George R. True, dated July 22, 1943, was published in the Bahá'í News, No. 171.  In it she had asked him about the twenty-four elders mentioned in the Book of Revelation.  Shoghi Effendi answered as follows:

"Regarding the four and twenty elders: The Master in a Tablet, stated that they were the Báb and the eighteen letters of the Living, and five others who would be known in the future. So far, we do not know who these five others are."

But now, thanks to this great announcement we do finally know the identity of the other five. They are:

`Abdu'l-Bahá -Center of the Covenant
Bahíyyih Khánum -The Greatest Holy Leaf
Shoghi Effendi -First Guardian of the Cause of God
Charles Mason Remey -Second Guardian of the Cause of God
Martha Root -Prominent Teacher

A reference to the 24 elders can be found in Some Answered Questions, Ch. 11 Commentary on St. John:

"In each cycle the guardians and holy souls have been twelve. So Jacob had twelve sons; in the time of Moses there were twelve heads or chiefs of the tribes; in the time of Christ there were twelve Apostles; and in the time of Muhammad there were twelve Imams. But in this glorious manifestation there are twenty four, double the number of all the others, for the greatness of this Manifestation requires it. These holy souls are in the presence of God seated on their own thrones; meaning that they reign eternally.

"These twenty four great persons, thought they are seated on the thrones of everlasting rule, yet are worshippers of the appearance of the universal Manifestation, and they are humble and submissive saying, 'We give thanks to Thee, O Lord God Almighty, which art and wast and art to come, because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power and reigned' that is to say,Thou wilt issue all Thy teachings, Thou wilt gather all the people of the earth under Thy shadow, and Thou wilt bring all men under the shadow of one tent. Although it is the Eternal Kingdom of God, and He always had and has a Kingdom, the Kingdom here means the manifestation of Himself; and He will issue all the laws and teachings which are the spirit of the world of humanity, and everlasting life. And that universal Manifestation will subdue the world by spiritual power, not by war and combat; he will do it with peace and tranquillity, not by the sword and arms; He will establish this Heavenly Kingdom by true love, and not by power of war.  He will promote these divine teachings by kindness and righteousness and not by weapons and harshness. He will so educate the nations and people that notwithstanding their various conditions, their different customs and characters, and their diverse religions and races, they will, as it is said in the Bible, like the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the sucking child and the serpent, become comarades, friends and companions. The contentions of races, the differences of religions, and the barriers between nations will be completely removed, and all will attain perfect union and reconciliation under the shadow of the Blessed Tree."

Further reading in Chapter 11 of Some Answered Questions reveals the importance of the Covenant and the Will and Testament.

" 'And there was seen in His temple the ark of His Testament.'  That is to say, the Book of His Testament will appear in His Jerusalem, the Epistle of the Covenant will be established, and the meaning of the Testament and of the Covenant will become evident. The renown of God will overspread the East and West, and the proclamation of the Cause of God will fill the world. 

The violators of the Covenant will be degraded and dispersed, and the faithful cherished and glorified, for they cling to the Book of the Testament, and are firm and steadfast in the Covenant.'

'And there were lightnings and voices, and thunderings and an earthquake and great hail,' meaning that after the appearance of the Book of the Testament there will be a great storm, and the lightnings of the anger and wrath of God will flash, the noise of the thunder of the violation of the Covenant will resound, the earthquake of doubts will take place, the hail of torments will beat upon the violators of the Covenant, and even those who profess belief will fall into trials and temptations."

Perhaps the announcement of the remaining elders is an indication that we are advancing toward that day when all the people of the earth will be gathered under the shadow of the Blessed Tree.