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Whatever the conception of the Kingdom of God at the end of the nineteenth century, it certainly did not hold before Christians the same supreme objective of prayer or aspiration which Christ had commanded in the Lord's Prayer. It was rather the Kingdom of Man than of God-- not of all men but of one race only and of certain members of that race who had achieved for themselves supremacy over the others. It would mean a world-wide Church, the domination of the white man, of white man's civilization, and it contemplated the perpetuation of an ever-increasing trade (104:1) 'Abdul-Baha's picture, painted in full length and glowing colour in His Western addresses, was different indeed. He saw the coming of the Kingdom as the opening of the treasuries of heaven, -- as the throwing wide of God's gates on splendours and glories hitherto beyond the reach of human imagination. So far were they from being a divine after-thought that they were, in fact, the originating motive of all creation, prepared before the foundation of the world. All the experiences of the whole human race, all the guidance and the education which the great Prophets had brought, all had been designed for and had led up to the human preparation for the Kingdom. Now, when the Prophets had completed their preliminary lessons and mankind was ready to attain maturity, God put forth His hand of power and sent the Lord of Hosts to release yet further spiritual energies and to establish at last the Kingdom of God on earth (104:2) It was inevitable that the Kingdom of God, so foreseen and so established, should be built into a vast system in which the spiritual and material should be closely conjoined. Such a system has been provided by the Manifestation Himself and made more perfect in all respects than any previous form of government or administration. Of it Baha'u'llah wrote, "Mankind's ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System-- the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.". (105:1) Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall-mark of the stage which human society is now approaching. Unity of family, of tribe, of city state, and nation have been successively attempted and fully established. World unity is the goal towards which a harassed humanity is striving.. (105:3) "The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Baha'u'llah, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded. This commonwealth must, as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world legislature, whose members will, as trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately control the entire resources of all the component nations, and will enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples. A world executive, backed by an international Force, will carry out the decisions arrived at, and apply the laws enacted by, this world legislature, and will safeguard the organic unity of the whole commonwealth. A world tribunal will adjudicate and deliver its compulsory and final verdict in all and any disputes that may arise.. A mechanism of world inner-communication will be devised.. A world metropolis will act as the nerve centre of a world civilization.. A world language will either be invented or chosen.. A world script, a world literature.. currency.. weights and measures.. science and religion.. will be reconciled.. The press will.. cease to be manipulated.. The economic resources of the world will be organized.. its markets co-ordinated and developed, and the distribution of its products will be equitably regulated
(105:4)
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