The divine Manifestations since the day of Adam have striven
to unite humanity so that all may be accounted as one soul. The function and
purpose of a shepherd is to gather and not disperse his flock. The Prophets of
God have been divine Shepherds of humanity. They have established a bond of
love and unity among mankind, made scattered peoples one nation and wandering
tribes a mighty kingdom. They have laid the foundation of the oneness of God
and summoned all to universal peace. All these holy, divine Manifestations are
one. They have served one God, promulgated the same truth, founded the same
institutions and reflected the same light. Their appearances have been
successive and correlated; each One has announced and extolled the One Who was
to follow, and all laid the foundation of reality. They summoned and invited
the people to love and made the human world a mirror of the Word of God.
Therefore, the divine religions They established have one foundation; Their
teachings, proofs and evidences are one; in name and form They differ, but in
reality They agree and are the same. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, excerpt from a talk, 28 May
1912, New York;
‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace’)
