Sep 1, 2024

Growth of the Faith and opposition by Christian clergy

Thou hadst written concerning the growth in stature of the Cause of God in thy country [Germany]. There is no doubt that the Faith of God will progress from day to day in that land, for it will be aided by the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit and the confirmation of the Word of God. Nor is there any doubt that members of the Christian clergy will rise up against it in implacable hostility, wishing to injure and oppress you, and seeking to assail you with doubts; for the spread of the Cause of God will lead to the waning of their fortunes--as the fortunes of the Pharisees had waned before them--and entail the loss of the dignity and standing that they now enjoy amongst men.

Reflect upon the time of Jesus and the deeds wrought by the Jewish divines and Pharisees. Such deeds will, in this day, be repeated at the hands of these Christian clergymen. Be not perturbed, however; be firm and constant, for it is certain that a company of souls shall, with infinite love, arise to enter into the Kingdom of God. These souls shall recompense you for the vexations, the humiliations, and disdain to which you are subjected by the clergy: to the injuries inflicted by these latter they shall respond with acts of kindness, until eventually, as the experience of former times hath shown, the children of the Kingdom shall gain the ascendancy, and victory shall be theirs. Rest ye confident of this. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet to an individual believer, compilation "Crisis and Victory", compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice; compilation ‘Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)