BahÃĄâ•Žuâ•ŽllÃĄh and the New Era - Knowledge Rush

The Administrative Order 46It has been the general characteristic of religion that organizationmarks the interruption of the true spiritual influence andserves to prevent the original impulse from being carried into theworld. The organization has invariably become a substitute forreligion rather than a method or an instrument used to give thereligion effect. The separation of peoples into different traditionsunbridged by any peaceful or constructive intercourse has madethis inevitable. Up to the present time, in fact, no Founder ofa revealed religion has explicitly laid down the principles thatshould guide the administrative machinery of the Faith He hasestablished.In the Bahá’í Cause, the principles of world administrationwere expressed by Bahá’u’lláh, and these principles were developedin the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, more especially in HisWill and Testament.The purpose of this organization is to make possible a true andlasting unity among peoples of different races, classes, interests,characters, and inherited creeds. A close and sympathetic studyof this aspect of the Bahá’í Cause will show that the purposeand method of Bahá’í administration is so perfectly adapted tothe fundamental spirit of the Revelation that it bears to it thesame relationship as body to soul. In character, the principlesof Bahá’í administration represent the science of cooperation; inapplication, they provide for a new and higher type of moralityworldwide in scope....A Bahá’í community differs from other voluntary gatheringsin that its foundation is so deeply laid and broadly extended that46 This section on the Administrative Order is taken from the article on ThePresent-Day Administration of the Bahá’í Faith by Horace Holley, publishedin 1933 in The Bahá’í World, Volume V, p. 191 et seq. Passages in this articlequoting from Bahá’í writings have been replaced by newer translations wherethese are available.