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While people were beginning to reject the inspiration of the Bible and to view prophecy with skepticism, the Faith of the Bab had successfully heralded the appearance of Baha'u'llah. This period, which came to be known by historians of Christianity as the 'Great Disappointment', had, in the lands of the Bible, witnessed the triumph of Baha'u'llah's Faith, despite severe persecution, and the beginnings of its steady spread throughout the world. (160:1) Its significance was as under-appreciated by the world as were the early beginnings of Christianity, but its birth and growth had not gone by unnoticed. Christian missionaries set forth accounts and appraisals of circumstances in foreign lands that were widely published and read. Slowly the emergence of the Baha'i Faith began to be reported in books and missionary journals. All of the most well-known missionaries in Persia, men such as Dr George W. Holmes, P.Z. Easton, Dr Shedd, The Revd James W. Hawkes, The Revd N. Wright, The Revd J.L. Potter and many others, noted the early beginnings and emergence of the Faith and sent reports back to the West. (160:2) These reports, often clouded by extreme prejudice, were largely inaccurate and misinformed due to reliance on hostile sources of information or, in some cases, because their missionary authors were eager to gather converts and feared the competition of a religion that was having dramatic success. For Christian missionaries, this success presented a disconcerting contrast to the failure Christian missions were experiencing in Muslim countries, a failure that was both long-standing and well known.
(160:3)
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