“Bahá'u'lláh established the Universal House of Justice in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas as the supreme administrative body of the Bahá'í Faith. Its Constitution was hailed by Shoghi Effendi as the ‘Most Great Law of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh’.” (From the book’s cover)
This book deals extensively not just with the Constitution itself, a document whose importance it would be hard to over-estimate, but with its background. It deals with how it came about and how it, and the functions of the supreme body it governs, are rooted in the words of Bahá'u'lláh Himself.
What we have here is not a dry dissertation on procedural matters, but an examination of how spiritual principles take practical form when applied to some basic issues affecting a faith. If they do not take such form then what is to hold the community together, and how is it to grow and develop and meet the ever more complex needs it must address?
History gives us the answer, of course. Spiritual principles are not enough if one is to build a coherent community that will survive the tests of growth and interaction with the wider world. Without the practical side of things, division and failure are inevitable. In a real sense what this book shows is how God has ensured that His Faith has a future.
ISP
BACK TO CONTENTS PAGE