DOCSLIB.ORG

In Search of Martha Root: an American Baha'i Feminist and Peace Advocate in the Early Twentieth Century

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
In Search of Martha Root: an American Baha'i Feminist and Peace Advocate in the Early Twentieth Century Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses Studies 1-12-2007 In Search of Martha Root: An American Baha'i Feminist and Peace Advocate in the Early Twentieth Century Jiling Yang Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/wsi_theses Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons Recommended Citation Yang, Jiling, "In Search of Martha Root: An American Baha'i Feminist and Peace Advocate in the Early Twentieth Century." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2007. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/wsi_theses/11 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 IN SEARCH OF MARTHA ROOT: AN AMERICAN BAHA’I FEMINIST AND PEACE ADVOCATE IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY by JILING YANG Under the Direction of Ian Fletcher ABSTRACT Martha Root (1872-1939) was an exceptional religious and spiritual activist, a leading figure in the international women’s peace movement, and a new organism of a new world in the early twentieth century. This thesis represents Martha Root from three aspects: the early life of Martha Root, her four world teaching trips from 1919 to 1939, with a focus on her peace advocacy, and an investigation into her gender awareness and identity construction by reflecting on Tahirih the Pure, Iran’s Greatest Woman, Martha Root’s only book. INDEX WORDS: Martha Root, Baha’i Faith, World peace, Internationalism, Global feminism, Women in cross-cultural perspective 2 IN SEARCH OF MARTHA ROOT: AN AMERICAN BAHA’I FEMINIST AND PEACE ADVOCATE IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY by JILING YANG Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2005 3 Copyright by JILING YANG 2005 4 IN SEARCH OF MARTHA ROOT: AN AMERICAN BAHA’I FEMINIST AND PEACE ADVOCATE IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY by JILING YANG Major Professor: Ian Fletcher Committee: Ian Fletcher Christopher White Layli Phillips Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University December 2005 5 For Jim Milstead A Praiseworthy Baha’i Pioneer v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Duette Masumi, the sectary of Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of College Park in 2004-2005, first suggested to me that I should work on Martha Root, the foremost Baha’i teacher in the Faith, as my thesis. The Baha’i communities of College Park and Atlanta gave me infinite encouragement and valuable suggestions during the writing. I was blessed to live with a very devoted Baha’i community. Their selfless service to the goodness of their fellow human beings was my ultimate motivation in the writing of Martha Root. This work is also blessed with the help and kindness from the National Baha’i Archives of the United States in Wilmette, IL. Roger Dahl, the Archivist, lent me kind suggestions and generous help during my research. Nevertheless, this work will not be possible without the unlimited patience, precious help, and detailed instruction from Dr. Ian Fletcher, Dr. Chris White, Dr. Layli Phillips, and Women’s Studies Institute of Georgia State University. Here I would like to give my special thanks to Dr. Ian Fletcher. He is an example of intellectuals for me: open-minded, creative, philosophical, enthusiastic and profound. It has been a slow and painstaking process for me to recreate Martha Root with my poor knowledge of the language and history. Dr. Fletcher meticulously directed me through every step of this process. Every page, every line of this thesis speaks his encouragement and instruction. I own infinite gratitude to his wisdom and guidance! Finally, I wish to thank for the love from my husband, Ming Zhang, my family and friends during the writing of this thesis. Their love and kindness made the writing much easier and more interesting. The love, comments and humor from Ming Zhang has made the writing quite an inspiring and engaging journey of the soul. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………………v INTRODUCTION………………………………………………...……………………………1 CHAPTER 1: EARLY LIFE OF MARTHA ROOT…………….…………….……………….6 CHAPTER 2: HERALD OF UNIVERSAL PEACE…………………………...……………..17 CHAPTER 3: UNDERSTANDING TAHIRIH, UNDERSTANDING MARTHA ROOT, UNDERSTANDING THE NEW ORGANISM…………………………………………..…..65 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….……….92 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………..95 APPENDIX 1: MARTHA ROOT, “HOMOCULTURE” (1924?)….…….………………….100 APPENDIX 2: MARTHA ROOT, “INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION FOR WORLD PEACE” (1931)……………………………………………………………...…………………………107 APPENDIX 3: MARTHA ROOT, “WOMEN’S PLACE IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER” (1936?)…………………………………………………………………………………….….114 1 INTRODUCTION Martha Root (1872-1939) was a unique figure in the international peace and women’s movement in the early twentieth century. Abdu’l-Baha, the Master of the Baha’i Faith, praised her: “Anyhow thou art really a herald of the Kingdom and a harbinger of the Covenant, and doest self-sacrifice. Thou showest kindness to all nations; thou art sowing a seed that shall in the long run, give rise to thousands of harvests; thou art planting a tree that shall, till eternity put forth leaf, blossom, and fruit, and whose shadow shall day by day grow in magnitude.”1 Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, called her “the leading Ambassadress of His Faith and Pride of Baha’i teachers, whether men or women, in both the East and the West.”2 Queen Marie of Romania, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England and Czar Alexander II of Russia, wrote to her expressing that “my heart overflowed with gratitude for the revelation you brought me.”3 People in India extolled her as “the fulfillment of the Qur’anic Prophecy” and “the living monument of renunciation.”4 This thesis will reveal to Women’s Studies readers who Martha Root was, what she had done that had earned her such high praises from the Master and the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, a crowned head, and millions of people worldwide. In retracing her peace advocacy based on her Baha’i beliefs, I argue that Martha Root was an exceptional religious and spiritual activist, a 1 Abdu’l-Baha to Martha Root, January 27, 1920, Roy Wilhelm Papers, National Baha’i Archives, Wilmette, IL (hereafter, NBA). 2 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 4th ed. (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1995), 386. 3 Delia L. Marcus, Her Eternal Crown: Queen Marie of Romania and the Baha'i Faith (Oxford: George 2000), 63. Queen Marie’s grandparents were among the heads of state who received Tablets from Baha’u’llah, the Founder of the Baha’i Faith, during His exile in late nineteenth century. 4 The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Bombay to “Miss Martha Root, the champion of the Baha’i cause,” December 27, 1938, Martha Root Papers, NBA. 2 leading figure in the international women’s peace movement, and a new organism who challenged mainstream knowledge of the “New Woman,” female identity, and the East-West division of the world. Scholarship and Sources Martha Root was revered as the foremost Hand of the Cause of God, the Herald of the Kingdom of Baha (Glory), and the leading Baha’i teacher in the Baha’i Faith, the youngest but second most widespread world religion. However, there is little or no scholarship about her life and work, especially her peace advocacy between the wars. The existing research about Martha Root is pretty rudimentary. Mable R. Garis’s Martha Root—Lioness at the Threshold (1983) is a comprehensive biography of Martha Root. The whole book is a tribute to her courage and service. Shoghi Effendi’s God Passes By (originally published in 1944, reprinted in 1995) is the only religious study I am aware of which discusses Martha Root. In fact, it is likely that my thesis is the first attempt to investigate Martha Root’s peace advocacy between the wars. One reason for this scarcity of scholarship is the relative novelty of the Baha’i Faith. Women in Christianity, Islam and Hinduism receive much more attention in Women’s Studies research. Nevertheless, there is a good deal of useful scholarship about missionaries, the international women’s movement, and women’s involvement in peace movements in the early twentieth century. Such studies provide a broader context for my research. Among them, Kumari Jayawardena’s The White Woman’s Other Burden (1995) has helped me understand the encounter between Western and South Asian women. Maria Chawla Singh’s Gender, Religion, and “Heathen Lands”: American Missionary Women in South Asia (2000), Dana L. Robert’s 3 American Women in Mission: A Social History of Their Thought and Practice (1996), and Western Women and Imperialism, a collection edited by Nupur Chaudhuri and Margaret Strobel (1992) have also strengthened my grasp of Western women missionaries in Asia, and given me a comparative background for discussing Martha Root’s experience of world traveling and teaching. There is a great deal of scholarly work on women’s peace activism, both historical and contemporary. Linda K. Schott’s Reconstructing Women’s Thoughts: The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom before World War II (1997) examines the ideas and activities of a group of educated women who formed the leadership of the U.S. section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Johanna Alberti’s Beyond Suffrage (1989) and Leila J. Rupp’s Worlds of Women (1997) show the close connection between the women’s suffrage and equal citizenship movement and the cause of international peace in the 1920s and 1930s.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Report Iran: the Situation of the Bahá'í Community
    Report Iran: The situation of the Bahá’í community Report Iran: The situation of the Bahá’í community LANDINFO – 12 AUGUST 2016 1 About Landinfo’s reports The Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre, Landinfo, is an independent body within the Norwegian Immigration Authorities. Landinfo provides country of origin information to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (Utlendingsdirektoratet – UDI), the Immigration Appeals Board (Utlendingsnemnda – UNE) and the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Reports produced by Landinfo are based on information from carefully selected sources. The information is researched and evaluated in accordance with common methodology for processing COI and Landinfo’s internal guidelines on source and information analysis. To ensure balanced reports, efforts are made to obtain information from a wide range of sources. Many of our reports draw on findings and interviews conducted on fact-finding missions. All sources used are referenced. Sources hesitant to provide information to be cited in a public report have retained anonymity. The reports do not provide exhaustive overviews of topics or themes, but cover aspects relevant for the processing of asylum and residency cases. Country of origin information presented in Landinfo’s reports does not contain policy recommendations nor does it reflect official Norwegian views. Translation provided by Cellule Relations internationales et européennes, Direction de l’immigration, Service Réfugiés, Luxembourg. © Landinfo 2017 The material in this report is covered by copyright law. Any reproduction or publication of this report or any extract thereof other than as permitted by current Norwegian copyright law requires the explicit written consent of Landinfo. For information on all of the reports published by Landinfo, please contact: Landinfo Country of Origin Information Centre Storgata 33A P.O.
    [Show full text]
  • The Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding Of
    The Importance of Deepening our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith The Importance of Deepening our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith A compilation of extracts from the Bahá'í Writings Prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice Bahá'í World Centre Baha'i Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois 60091 Copyright by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada 1983 Also in the Compilation of Compilations Vol. I, pp. 187-234 CONTENTS Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh Extracts from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá Extracts from the Utterances of `Abdu'l-Bahá Extracts from Letters written by Shoghi Effendi Extracts from Letters written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh 1. Recite ye the verses of God every morn and eventide. Whoso faileth to recite them hath not been faithful to the Covenant of God and His Testament, and whoso turneth away from these holy verses in this Day is of those who throughout eternity have turned away from God. Fear ye God, O My servants, one and all. Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 73 2. Were any man to taste the sweetness of the words which the lips of the All-Merciful have willed to utter, he would, though the treasures of the earth be in his possession, renounce them one and all, that he might vindicate the truth of even one of His commandments, shining above the Dayspring of His bountiful care and loving-kindness. Bahá'u'lláh, A Synopsis and Codification of the Laws and Ordinances of Kitab-i-Aqdas, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Some Aspects of Bahá'í Ethics
    The 20th Hasan M. Balyuzi Memorial Lecture Some Aspects of Bahá’í Ethics UDO SCHAEFER I am really overwhelmed and deeply touched by your warm-hearted wel- come and introduction. It is an unexpected, great honor to have been cho- sen by the Association to present the Hasan M. Balyuzi Memorial Lecture. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude and that of my wife for this invitation. The material that I am presenting—some aspects of Bahá’í ethics—is taken from the draft of a forthcoming book, Bahá’í Ethics in Light of Scripture.1 A systematic presentation of the new standard of values is, as I feel, not only timely, it is rather a matter of urgency in the face of the increasing disintegration of traditional morality and the truly apocalyp- tic dimension of spreading immorality all over the world. When choosing my topic for this conference I had to decide between an outline of the new morality which, in the given time frame, could not have been more than a general survey, or some few central issues that can be dealt with more in depth. I chose the latter option, inasmuch as I can refer to my article pub- lished in the Bahá’í Studies Review, “The New Morality: An Outline.” Let me start with a few general remarks on ethics: The term derives from the Greek ethikos which pertains to ethos (character). Ethics as part of practical philosophy is also called “moral philosophy,”2 and, if it is a religious ethics based on revelation (a revelatory ethics like Bahá’í ethics), one can call it “moral theology,” as it is termed in Catholicism.
    [Show full text]
  • Examples of the Bahá'í Faith's Outward Expressions
    Examples of the Bahá’í Faith’s Outward Expressions Photo taken in 1894 Carmel means “Vineyard of the Lord”. Mount Carmel, of which the prophet Daniel called “the glorious mountain”. (KJV-Daniel 11:45) The New English Bible translation is “the holy hill, the fairest of all hills”. Mount Carmel, the home of the prophet Elijah, who challenged 450 prophets of Baal to prove their religious claims. “Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. (KJV, 3 Kings 18:19-29) He destroyed them, as well as the pervasive belief in Baalim, a false god. Caves where he lived in this Mountain are still revered. Mount Carmel, of which the Prophet Isaiah extolled “And it shall come to pass in the last days, [that] the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” (KJV, Isaiah 2:2-3) And again, “…let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (KJV, Isaiah 11:3) And again, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (KJV, 11:9) Mount Carmel, where Bahá’u’lláh (trans.
    [Show full text]
  • Martha Root's Interwar Lectures
    Martha Root’s Interwar Lectures: Cosmic Education and the Rhetoric of Unity Layli Maria Miron Abstract: This article introduces Martha L. Root’s cosmopolitan rhetoric, which ex- emplifies how women speaking from (religious) margins interpret traditions to cre- ate calls for social change. In lectures delivered between the world wars, Root ar- gued for “cosmic education,” a global peacemaking program promoting openness and civic service in learners, which she distilled from precepts of the Bahá’í Faith. Root implored every listener, from her US co-nationals to audiences worldwide, to evangelize peace. Her rhetoric of unity harnessed principle with practice to ani- mate the cycle of cosmic education, a cycle she modeled by inventing transnational sisterhood with the 19th-century Persian poet Táhirih Qurratu’l-Ayn. Keywords: cosmopolitanism, transnational rhetoric, religion, 20th century, Iran, Bahá’í Faith I would not travel the world uninterruptedly for so many years just as a journalist and certainly not as a tourist. I travel and write and speak because I know there can be an education to peace. —Martha L. Root, “Some Experiences in Broadcasting” (1939) To hasten the realization of world peace by advocating “an education to peace”: this purpose drove Martha Louise Root around the globe until in 1939, on Oahu, she succumbed to the cancer she had outstripped for nearly thirty years. In her speeches’ preambles, Root defines herself as a journalist, lectur- er, Esperantist, and peace activist. Her mission was to compose “constructive articles [and speeches] that will help to bring understanding among nations and to promote the highest ideals for enduring peace” (“How I Interview” 4), calling her peacemaking program “cosmic education.” Root theorized that in- tercultural communication could blossom in a universal (i.e., global) program of cosmic education that emphasized and encompassed humanity’s oneness.
    [Show full text]
  • Marzieh Gail Dawn Over Mount Hira and Other Essays
    MARZIEH GAIL DAWN OVER MOUNT HIRA AND OTHER ESSAYS GR GEORGE RONALD OXFORD George Ronald 46 High Street, Kidlington, Oxford Introduction, selection and notes © George Ronald 1976 ISBN 0 85398 0632 Cased 0 85398 0640 Paper SET IN GREAT BRITAIN BY W & J MACKAY LIMITED AND PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. ii Contents FOREWORD vii I Paradise Brought Near Dawn Over Mount Hira 1 From Sa‘dí’s Garden of Roses 9 ‘Alí 12 From the Sayings of ‘Alí 14 II Take the Gentle Path There Was Wine 19 ‘For Love of Me …’ 29 Notes on Persian Love Poems 33 Current Mythology 43 III Headlines Tomorrow The Carmel Monks 49 Headlines Tomorrow 50 IV Bright Day of the Soul That Day in Tabríz 57 Bright Day of the Soul 62 The White Silk Dress 80 The Poet Laureate 91 Mírzá Abu’l-Faḍl in America 105 iii V Age of All Truth The Goal of a Liberated Mind 117 This Handful of Dust 121 The Rise of Women 128 Till Death Do Us Part 137 Atomic Mandate 145 VI The Divine Encounter Echoes of the Heroic Age 153 Millennium 165 Easter Sunday 170 Bahá’u’lláh’s Epistle to the Son of the Wolf 176 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America 184 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Portrayals from East and West 194 VII Where’er You Walk In the High Sierras 219 Midnight Oil 222 Will and Testament 226 Where’er You Walk 232 NOTES AND REFERENCES 237 iv Foreword THE UNION OF EAST AND WEST has been and is the dream of many.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion Asserts That Its Central Concerns Are Discovering Truth and Implementing the Measures Called for by That Truth
    1 Truth: A Path for the Skeptic 2 Truth: A Path for the Skeptic Robert Vail Harris, Jr. First Edition (PDF Version) Copyright 2018 Robert Vail Harris, Jr. Website: truth4skeptic.org Email: [email protected] What is truth? Is there meaning in existence? What are life and death? These and similar questions are explored here. This work draws on techniques and examples from science and mathematics in a search for insights from ancient and modern sources. It is writ- ten especially for the skeptical scientist, the agnostic, and the athe- ist. It is informal but rigorous, and invites careful reflection. 3 Contents Page Questions 4 Answers 84 Actions 156 Notes and References 173 Truth: A Path for the Skeptic 4 Questions Overview The search for truth is a lifelong endeavor. From the time we open our eyes at birth until we close them at the hour of death, we are sorting and sifting, trying to determine what is true and what is not, what is reality and what is illusion, what is predictable and what is random. Our understanding of truth underpins our priorities and all our activities. Every thought we have, every step we take, every choice we make is based on our assessment of what is true. Knowing the truth enriches our lives, while false beliefs impover- ish and endanger us. The importance of truth can be illustrated by countless exam- ples. Contractual arrangements are accompanied by an assertion of truthfulness. Participants in a trial are required to tell the truth. Various implements have been used to try to ascertain truth, from the dunking and burning of accused witches to the use of lie detec- tors.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions in Russia and Its Territories
    Published in the Journal of Bahá’í Studies Vol. 5, number 3 (1992) © Association for Bahá’í Studies 1992 Notes on the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions in Russia and its Territories Graham Hassall Abstract The impact of the emergence of the Bábí and Bahá’í religions in nineteenth-century Iran was almost immediately felt in neighboring countries, including Russia and the territories under Russian rule. Those who followed these movements most closely were diplomats, academics, and intellectuals. Bahá’í communities emerged in Russia mostly through Persian migration. Despite their suppression during Soviet rule, scattered remnants of these communities survived until recent political and social changes in the former Soviet Union allowed their full re- emergence. This phenomenon of persecution followed by emancipation was alluded to in the writings of Shoghi Effendi from the 1920s. Résumé L’impact de l’émergence, en Perse, des religions bábí et bahá’íe au XIXe siècle s’est fait sentir presqu’ immédiatement dans les pays avoisinants, dont la Russie et les territoires sous sa tutelle. Ceux qui, à l’époque, observaient de plus près ces mouvements se recrutaient parmi les diplomates, les érudits et les intellectuels. Des communautés bahá’íes ont pris naissance en Russie, principalement por suite de l’émigration de croyants persans vers ce pays. En dépit de leur suppression sous le règne soviétique, il est resté ça et là des vestiges de ces communautés qui ont pu réémerger complètement à la faveur des événements politiques et sociaux survenus récemment dans l’ex-U.R.S.S. Déjà, pendant les années 20, Shoghi Effendi avait fait allusion dans ses écrits à ce phénomène, c’est-à-dire à l’emancipation qui allait suivre cette période de persécution.
    [Show full text]
  • Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l‐Bahá Preface
    Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá Compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice Translated by a Committee at the Bahá’í World Centre and by Marzieh Gail • • • Table of Contents Preface Introduction Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá Notes on Translations Notes and References in this Publication • • • References to the Qur’án In footnotes referring to the Qur’án the súrihs have been numbered according to the original, whereas the verse numbers are those in Rodwell’s translation which differ sometimes from those of the Arabic. Preface ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s exposition of the Bahá’í Revelation is recorded in His written works, in the many compilations of His recorded utterances, and in His correspondence. The written works such as The Secret of Divine Civilization, A Traveler’s Narrative, the Will and Testament, are available in English translations. Likewise many compilations of His recorded utterances, among which may be mentioned Some Answered Questions, Memorials of the Faithful, Paris Talks, are kept in print. Not for sixty years, however, has any large compilation, in English, of His innumerable letters been made; the three volumes of Tablets of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá published in the United States between 1909 and 1916, although running into second editions, have long been out of print. The present compilation attempts a much wider selection than was made for those early volumes, and its perusal will give some indication of the vast range of subjects dealt with by the Master in His correspondence. Included are a number of Tablets translated by a Committee at the World Centre using early drafts made by Shoghi Effendi during ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s lifetime, and a large number by Marzieh Gail, sent to her from the World Centre’s collection of more than 19,000 original and authenticated copies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Eternal Quest for God: an Introduction to the Divine Philosophy of `Abdu'l-Bahá Julio Savi
    The Eternal Quest for God: An Introduction to the Divine Philosophy of `Abdu'l-Bahá Julio Savi George Ronald, Publisher 46 High Street, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 2DN Copyright © Julio Savi, 1989 All rights Reserved British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Savi, Julio The eternal quest for God: an introduction to the divine philosophy of `Abdu'l-Bahá. I. Bahaism. Abd al Baha ibn Baha All ah, 1844-1921. I. Title II. Nell'universo sulle tracce di Dio. English 297'.8963 ISBN 0-85398-295-3 Printed in Great Britain by Billing and Sons Ltd, Worcester By the same author Nell'universo sulle tracce di Dio (EDITRICE NÚR, ROME, 1988) Bahíyyih Khánum, Ancella di Bahá (CASA EDITRICE BAHÁ'Í, ROME, 1983) To my father Umberto Savi with love and gratitude I am especially grateful to Continental Counselor Dr. Leo Niederreiter without whose loving encouragement this book would have not been written Chapter 1 return to Table of Contents Notes and Acknowledgements Italics are used for all quotations from the Bahá'í Sacred Scriptures, namely `any part of the writings of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh and the Master'. (Letter on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, in Seeking the Light of the Kingdom (comp.), p.17.) Italics are not used for recorded utterances by `Abdu'l- Bahá. Although very important for the concepts and the explanations they convey, when they have `in one form or the other obtained His sanction' (Shoghi Effendi, quoted in Principles of Bahá'í Administration, p.34) - as is the case, for example, with Some Answered Questions or The Promulgation of Universal Peace - they cannot `be considered Scripture'.
    [Show full text]
  • Internationalismes Éducatifs Entre Débats Et Combats (Fin Du 19E – Premier 20E Siècle)
    Education: Histoire et pensée Education: Histoire Exploration La pluralité des disciplines et des perspec- tives en sciences de l’éducation définit la vocation de la collection Exploration, celle de carrefour des multiples dimensions de la recherche et de l’action éducative. Sans exclure l’essai, Exploration privilégie les travaux investissant des terrains nouveaux ou développant des méthodologies et des problématiques prometteuses. Collection de la Société Suisse pour la Recherche en Education, publiée sous la direction de Rita Hofstetter, d’Isabelle Capron Puozzo, Bernard Schneuwly et Bernard Wentzel. Joëlle Droux & Rita Hofstetter (Éds.) Internationalismes éducatifs entre débats et combats (fin du 19e – premier 20e siècle) PETER LANG Bruxelles • Berlin • Bern • New York • Oxford • Warszawa • Wien Information bibliographique publiée par « Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek » « Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek » répertorie cette publication dans la « Deutsche Nationalbibliografie » ; les données bibliographiques détaillées sont disponibles sur Internet sous ‹http://dnb.d-nb.de›. Publié avec le soutien du Fonds national suisse de la recherche scientifique. Réalisation couverture : Didier Studer, Peter Lang AG. ISSN 0721-3700 br. ISSN 2235-6312 eBook ISBN 978-2-8076-1668-4 br. ISBN 978-2-8076-1669-1 eBook ISBN 978-2-8076-1670-7 EPUB ISBN 978-2-8076-1671-4 MOBI DOI 10.3726/b17507 D/2020/5678/71 Cette publication élaborée entre 2017 et 2020 a fait l’objet d’une évaluation par les pairs. © P.I.E. PETER LANGs.a. Éditions scientifiques internationales Brussels, 2020 avenue Maurice, B-1050 Bruxelles, [email protected] ; www.peterlang.com Tous droits réservés. Cette publication est protégée dans sa totalité par copyright. Toute utilisation en dehors des strictes limites de la loi sur le copyright est interdite et punissable sans le consentement explicite de la maison d’édition.
    [Show full text]
  • Lev Tolstoi and the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths a Bibliography
    Published in the Journal of Bahá’í Studies Vol. 3, number 3 (1991) © Association for Bahá’í Studies 1991 Lev Tolstoi and the Bábí and Bahá’í Faiths A Bibliography William P. Collins and Jan T. Jasion Abstract The great spiritual crisis of Tolstoi’s life led him to a rejection of Christian dogma and the search for a pure faith. Late in life, this search led to his examination of the Bábí–Bahá’í religions. A bibliography of material on Tolstoi’s association with the religion has been needed for some time. This bibliography sets these sources in context for researchers. Résumé La grande crise spirituelle de la vie de Tolstoi le conduisit au rejet des dogmes chrétiens et à la recherche d’une religion pure. Tard dans sa vie, cette recherche l’entraîna à étudier les religions bábí–bahá’íe. Il était grand temps d’avoir une bibliographie des documents émanant etc 1’association de Tolstoi avec la religion. Cette bibliographie replace ces éléments dans leur contexte pour l’intérêt des chercheurs. Resumen La gran crisis espiritual en la vida de Tolstoi produjo en él un rechazo del dogma cristiano y una búsqueda de una fe pura. Mas tarde en su vida, esta búsqueda resultó en su estudio de la religión Bábí–Bahá’í. Hace tiempo que ha faltado una bibliografía de la materia que se refiera a la asociación de Tolstoi con esta religión. Esta bibliografia pone estas fuentes en contexto apropiado para los investigadores. ev Nikolaevich Tolstoi1 (1828–1910) was an author of such profound talent and perception that none of his L contemporaries rival him.
    [Show full text]