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He taught His auditors to meet the materialism of the day with reason and hard facts and He gave them Himself examples of how it could be done. (95:1) 'Abdul-Baha's first aim in His Western teaching was, as He says Himself, to create in the minds of His hearers capacity to understand and appreciate this great new Revelation. He did not wish them to be as the kings had shown themselves to be, so infected by the pride of man and the haughty scepticism of the age that they could not see the truth when it was put plainly and clearly before them. Christ, He reminded His auditors, had had the same difficulty and had spoken the parable of the sower to show it. 'Abdul-Baha sought, as Christ in His day had done, to transform and spiritualize the very hearts and outlook of those to whom He spoke. Unless He could do this the exposure of one error in the minds of the people would only be followed on the next occasion by another error. No remedy was adequate except that of creating a real capacity in the human heart to see and love the truth. This and nothing less was the first and last aim of 'Abdul-Baha.
(95:2)
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